#villain nerds are even cooler

[frankenbuggee]

Testing Devious with sharing an expression with his younger self (though his older self isn’t really that expressive out and about).

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

…. could you talk more about the document leak in pez? if you can’t talk about it in the fic, because of how unrelated it is to the main plot, would you be cool with talking about it on tumblr a la battle of yokohama? your world building is so fantastic, i always want to know more, even if it’s not technically necessary

I’m fine talking about it here because it truly will have little to no function in pez itself. The most it does in the actual fic is add to the reasons why the entirety of Japan is so unreasonably fixated on Izuku. It will barely have any mention in the fic itself.

Dabi in the background of pez is fumbling his way through a redemption arc. he and the league are bitter fucking divorcees who still blame the other's in law for the break up. its messy and complicated between them right now okay. everyone's crying and refusing to admit that they're crying. societal collapse is being delayed because shigaraki won't stop crashing out over his ex with the piercings and the scars. dabi refuses to fucking admit he misses them (he fucking misses them)

Effectively, one day, Dabi donned his shitty fucking Matrix coat and went out to get a strawberry danish and listened to some lady sobbing to her mother on the phone about how she was scared to let the kids go to school and scared to go outside now because of how bad it was getting, about how she knew three people who had been attacked by villains in the last month when she used to not know any, and how afraid she was every single day that she'd be the next one. Money was tight, they'd lose everything if she ended up hospitalized or worse, the baby was sick and she couldn't get her to a doctor because the entire street got shut down for another goddamn villain attack, and she's scared every day.

And he didn't feel good about it. He didn't feel good about it at all.

In fact, it reminded him a lot of being five years old and being afraid to wake up every morning because he didn't know what his dad would do to him that day. It reminded him a lot of hiding in his closet with his hand clamped over his own mouth, listening to the creaks in the house to try and figure out if his father was angry.

Anyway, it was an intolerable amount of self reflection. couldn't recommend it less.

It ended up making him go back to the league and being like "okay are we really being true to stain's message" to see if maybe they should do a bit of a rebrand.

Except they all have the communication skills of a half-deaf wolverine with a hormonal imbalance, so it quickly devolved into a lot of "fuck you and your daddy complex" on both sides and "you just wish stain fucked you huh" weirdly also on both sides and spinner ended up crying in the back room because it reminded him of his parents divorcing. shigaraki's been listening to a weird amount of taylor swift since and all for one just isn't sure what to do with. that.

Now Dabi Is Rebranding And He's Going To Be Like The Cooler Stain Stain 2.0 The Stain That Kills His Fucking Dad. No He Doesn't Just Wish Stain Fucked Him Shut The Fuck Up Shigaraki.

He has admittedly suffered some setbacks. His own sister kidnapping him was not ideal. The fact that he can't go a week without getting in a public and embarrassing screaming match with the rest of the league that usually involves at least one person crying is also not ideal. That one time he accidentally got caught up in some mission involving Quirkless Tin Tin and his baby brother's pet psychopath and now they keep insisting that he's their CI now and he keeps telling them to fuck off before he kills them because he's not going to be their fucking CI and he made the mistake of complaining about it to fuyumi and now she won't stop crying tears of joy because he's bonding with the boyfriend shouto hasn't figured out he has yet?

So not fucking ideal.

But after much trial, much error, he managed to get this fucking rebrand on the rails. He found a computer nerd for the HPSC who had the right kind of dirt on him to make blackmail a dream and threw in a "i'm going to set you on fire if you don't do what i say" for good measure and He Fucking Did It He Got It Stuff To Strike At The Heart of This Society's Corruption Fuck You Shigaraki He Is Not A Washed Up Wannabe With Daddy Issues Shigaraki's The Washed Up Wannabe With Daddy Issues He Doesn't Miss Them Every Day Fuck Off.

He was hoping for shit on his dad but the computer nerd mostly got him all the shit about the HPSC buying boy slaves or whatever which was ultimately disappointing so he made a bunch of copies of the data at a shitty gamer cafe that he did not run into shigaraki at absolutely not no one cried at all and then mailed a flash drive to every single major and minor news network and called it a fucking day.

he uh.

the package.

he forgot to sign it.

so the credit. he didn't. get it. exactly.

And he could make an announcement that it was totally him but 1) like 97 different villains and criminal organizations and vague dissidents living in their moms' basements who didn't put in the fucking work immediately took credit and 2) how the fuck does he like. take credit for things. does he make a twitter account. does he tweet it. there are 17 fake twitter accounts pretending to be him how does he even authenticate this shit.

he immediately started lying to himself about how he was planning to do this anonymously from the start and called it a fucking day. great job, dabi, 100% according to plan, he's killing this anti-hero thing.

Hawks woke up one morning and oh, look at that, his entire life was ruined. It was already on the rocks and now it's at the bottom of the sea. Funny how he missed that bit.

The computer nerd had grabbed a fuck ton of HPSC's worst and most corrupt things that they'd ever done and, haha, a lot of them were done to him. So. So fun. That.

As it turns out, the press has Multiple Field Days when they get their hands on the invoice for the actual government buying you. That time they hired a therapist to literally gaslight him because he started to question his training? Haha, there. All those times he was hospitalized while being raised as their boy slave?

Haha. There.

He knows this is his situationship's fault he fucking knows it dabi you son of a bitch--

It's not all about him. There's a bunch of scattered bullshit bad things the HPSC had done. But, weirdly enough, the other guy that featured prominently in this data dump was All Might.

The HPSC had apparently set a standard of backing the fuck off of anything All Might so much as looked at. There's a weird number of memos over the years hurriedly canceling whatever shady project they were involved in and making sure every single thing was above board if All Might so much as sneezed in the direction of something. The HPSC had set a policy of ducking for fucking cover every single time All Might became more than passively aware of their existence.

Because All Might was the kind of guy who could go up against the system and win.

The HPSC had only grown as powerful as it was because of All Might, in a way. They rode his fucking coattails the entire path up to relevance. All Might's career revolutionized modern heroics, and well. If you have a revitalized heroics system, then you need to give more power to the agency watching it, right?

The HPSC was disturbingly aware of the fact that All Might had, in a way, brought them into the world and could take them out of it again. They were afraid of him in a way they were not afraid of any other hero alive.

Because they had nothing on him.

The man was a fucking ghost. He was legally required to give them his real information and that still gave them fucking nothing to work with. They could find no scandals attached to his name. They could dig up absolutely no personal ties or links. Yagi Toshinori had no family, no social media, and had barely any paper records associated with him outside of his schooling. He was as squeaky clean as he appeared, maybe, or maybe he was just good at hiding dirt. The HPSC found out that he was injured at the same time as everyone else, and that fucking terrified them. They had nothing to keep him in line with, and they couldn't figure out if it didn't exist or if he was just better at the game than they were.

So they watched themselves if All Might took more than a passing glance their way.

They got scared.

Hawks learned, for the first time, that he was a little bit of an answer to All Might. Which was a weird revelation this late in the game. He thought he'd managed to dig up most of what the HPSC had on him, but apparently not. He wasn't exactly designed to replace All Might or beat all might. He was meant to do what All Might did, just for the HPSC.

They made him to be a young, popular, attractive hero. They could have raised him to operate from the shadows and have more freedom and less scrutiny, but they pushed him into the spotlight early, and they did it to try and replicate the threat that All Might posed to them.

All Might was so dangerous because the public loved him. The public trusted him. The public would tear down the government if he gave the word. So if they were able to manufacture a hero that the public loved, then maybe the public would protect the HPSC at that hero's word.

Hawks found out some things about himself from that data dump right at the same time as the rest of the world. He wasn't thrilled by it.

Anyway he woke up after a sixteen hour shift to 732 emails and the police at his front door.

The Japanese government freaked out, see, because press had been sort of shit since All Might retired, and society had sort of been on the verge of chaos for a while, and quite literally the biggest thing standing between them and the total collapse of the yen for the past year and change has been the fact that the entire world developed a parasocial relationship with twenty random fucking japanese teenagers. And those twenty teenagers were borderline inaccessible because their teacher threatened to bomb government buildings if anyone so much as suggested allowing a camera to exist in their vicinity. And they can't fucking push their luck with it either. One of the kids is all might's secret son. All Might will look at them.

So instead, the Japanese Government said, "WE ARE TAKING THE BOY SLAVE ALLEGATIONS VERY SERIOUSLY. WE THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT ARE AGAINST BOY SLAVES AND DO NOT HAVE ANY. HERE IS A GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG PANEL WE ARE ASSEMBLING TO INVESTIGATE THE BOY SLAVE CLAIMS."

And the HPSC said, "WE ARE FULLY COOPERATING WITH THE BOY SLAVE INVESTIGATION. WE DO NOT HAVE ANY BOY SLAVES. THAT IS CRAZY TALK. THESE ARE OBVIOUSLY FABRICATED FILES. WHY WOULD WE HAVE 2398 TOP SECRET MEMOS TALKING ABOUT HOW AFRAID WE ARE OF ALL MIGHT SEEING WHAT WE'RE DOING. WE LOVE ALL MIGHT. HUGE FAN OF HIM AND HIS SECRET SON. LOOK THE PERSON WHO DID THIS DIDN'T EVEN SIGN IT. OBVIOUSLY FAKE NEWS."

And then they went to Hawks, their boy slave, and they said, "you better fucking tell that government watchdog that you aren't our boy slave"

And Hawks stared at the ceiling for an extraordinarily long time.

When he was done, Hawks said to the government watchdog, "I'm not their boy slave," But He Was.

And the government watchdog said, "We have 827 pages of reports that are just the team of psychiatrists they hired trying to figure out the best way to make sure you would say that if anyone ever asked and frankly some of the methods they were using violate the Geneva convention so we low key can't believe you"

And Hawks, who knew that happened, because it happened to him, said, "That never happened."

And the government watchdog said, "We can't believe you about that either."

And Hawks said "that's fair" and went home to scream into his pillow.

And the government watch dog had told the HPSC, "please do not talk to hawks for the duration of this investigation" and the HPSC said to them "of course we would NEVER" and then they immediately texted Hawks 73 times about how he better fucking make this government watchdog investigation go the fuck away.

Hawks doesn't actually believe this is going to save him. He's not going to inspect whether or not that belief is the product of the years and years of careful manipulation and abuse that were apparently religiously documented and are now archived on the fucking new york times website.

The thing is that He Had A Plan To Stop Being A Boy Slave. It Had 923 Steps. He Was Going To Fucking Do It Okay. He Was Going To Get Out And Go Be A Fisherman Or Herd Sheep Or Whatever The Fuck Former Government Boy Slaves Did After Attaining Freedom. It involved an extraordinary amount of blackmail and political maneuvering and he was going to fucking manage it, okay? And--and this is fucking key--it did not involve his tragic backstory becoming publicly available information.

He is in hell right now. The HPSC won't stop blowing up his phone. The government watchdog people won't stop asking him if the HPSC is blowing up his phone, which they told them not to do. they keep trying to send him a government therapist to try and unpack what, if anything, happened to him, and he has a profound distrust for therapists and particularly government therapists for No Particular Reason. Teenage girls won't stop making sad edits of him on tiktok. Podcasts are now dedicated to him. Not that he's a topic covered by the podcast in an episode or even a season--entire podcasts are dedicated to going through and unpacking government records discussing how they should better torture and condition him, their boy slave, to do exactly as they say. Too many people have his medical documents about all those times the real life government gaslit him in childhood to think it was normal to have the real life government beat you. Fucking Buzzfeed wrote some article about him and some American government heroics training program fuck up and it was still the number one trending article 24 hours after Midoriya Izuku's cosmically bad luck kicked in and landed him on the globally trending page of twitter. All Might's secret son trended twice and separately in like a thirteen minute span and it was still not enough to dethrone that fucking article.

Anyway this has been going on for like a month and a half, two months in pez and Hawks is fucking miserable. Izuku and Tokoyami actually have little to no idea what is in the HPSC document dump out of respect for Hawks, because they both have violently confronted their own fame on multiple occasions and determined that they hated it. They were not going to read another man's medical records, especially not one that they knew.

This came out when they and Miruko ended up at Hawks' apartment in the immediate aftermath, eating takeout and listening to Tokoyami's halloween ambiance playlist, because Hawks has no other friends. Following a profoundly uncomfortable three hours and Mr. Aizawa texting them multiple times to confirm if they were actually engaging in approved activities under the UA internship guidelines (he refused to believed that Izuku was able to exist outside as long as he had without causing massive property damage or ending up on the news and also was under the correct impression that Hawks was on leave to deal with the fallout so what the fuck was tokoyami interning for), Izuku and Tokoyami confirmed for Hawks that they had no goddamn clue what happened because they had decided to avoid it unless Hawks told them otherwise. They set up filters on their social media accounts wherever they could and just didn't click on any goddamn links. This made Hawks cry and once again confirm that Izuku and Tokoyami were some of his best (only) friends.

The weird side effect of all of this has been an added focus on Izuku, strangely enough.

Because society doesn't want to deal with the mess that is reforming the HPSC. They want a return to normal. They want All Might back. All Might apparently had the HPSC diving for fucking cover with a glance, and so surely, Deku can manage the same.

He's the next All Might, after all.

[moonyasnow]

Dancing in the Dark.

PROMPT : Dancing in the dark with him

CHARACTER(S) : Idia

TYPE : short fic (~1.3k words)

CONTENT: nerd references ahoy, Reader implied to be shorter than 180cm, Apparently the Phantom Bride event takes place after Book 6 in this one

After such a close brush with death, even knowing you'd made it in time and he was safe, you still felt anxious not being able to see Idia in the dining-hall turned Wedding venue as the band started up a song meant for dance.

With the newlyweds twirling happily in the air behind you, you ventured out into the dark halls of NRC to find him...

Idia had never breathed a bigger sigh of relief in his life…he'd just been saved from a 100% certain one-hit-kill spell, with barely seconds to spare. Talk about clutch.

The bride got her groom and her happily ever after, sure, yay, whatever— he was just glad it wasn't him. At least this groom wouldn't be on the literal chopping block. He'd already done that 500 years earlier, after all.

…But Idia was still stuck in those fancy duds. Even if the other guys said he looked cool or whatevs he just couldn't see it.

He wandered out of the party as quick as he could, untying his hair to let it flow free and cloak him once more. In every mirror he passed all he saw was fire, sharp teeth, and glowing yellow eyes— accentuated by deep eyebags too. He wasn't generic-looking enough to be an NPC, but not cool enough to be the MC either. Was he the villain, then? He stopped to gaze at the pool-like surface of a mirror in the dark hallway. Sounded cooler than NPC, at least… But he doubted he was that cool. He was probs the throwaway 2nd villain in some tactical JRPG— not remembered as fondly as the introductory first boss, not as interesting as the 3d or those that followed. For every second that passed his scowl deepened in the mirror to match his thoughts.

'Healthy, lustrous skin, lidded eyes, a charming smile…'

LOLOLOLOL Eliza was INSANE if she thought ANY of that applied to him.

The smile he'd forced his face into looked all kinds of wrong in his eyes.

He sighed. Then he heard footsteps and his pulse sped up to what he knew Ortho would call 'very unhealthy levels for only having someone walk past him'.

Standing in the dark corner on the hallway with his hair acting like a glow-in-the-dark lamp, he, and his mortified expression, weren't that hard to spot. He didn't need to be able to see your face to know you were probably smiling. 'Because I look like the free clothing option in those normie cash-grab phone ""VNs""' he thought. But he knew from experience that wasn't the case when it came to you. You were even weirder than him, fwee-hee-hee… Ah, and now he was remembering how you'd stared at him the first time you heard his laugh, how he was expecting you to make fun of him but you just called his laugh 'nice'… And now his hair had started turning pink.

Great. /s

“I wondered where you went.” He was never gonna admit the sound of your voice made his heart race a little. There was a reason he always asked Ortho to leave the two of you alone when you hung out. If you really did find out he thinks he could just die on the spot.

"Away from the party, DUH." He rolled his eyes. You laughed at that. "Ha-ha, go ahead; laugh at my misery."

"No, no, it's just…it's so very like you."

"Uh…yyyup. Shut-in's gonna shut-in." He rubbed at his arm awkwardly. Yet even in the dark you recognized the small smile adorning his face.

You loved that expression of his…you could simply stare at it for hours. Yet you knew if you were to ever tell him that, he might stop talking to you for a week out of sheer inability to handle it. So for as much as you would love to compliment him— felt the urge tugging at you at every second you were with him— you refrained.

"You…you're beautiful…"

…Except for now, apparently. You quickly slapped your hand over your mouth. "I-I'm sorry!" The look on his face was like a cat sadly watching you take away its food bowl. "Not that I didn't mean it! I did!" There came another flare at the tips of his hair, coloring a deeper shade of pink. "I just…I know compliments can be difficult for you, and I—"

"N—np…" his flushed face begged to differ.

Silence filled the space between you. He thought it was awkward as all hell. You found it comforting, using it to work up the courage to ask him what you'd set out to.

"They're dancing right now, in the wedding hall. And I was wondering if…"

"No thanks— I do NOT want some rando to know how sweaty my hands are. I'd just step on their toes anyway."

"Oh, that's..." your face fell in disappointment.

[ Idia.exe is loading... ]

...

WAIT WAIT WAIT THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU MEANT HOLD ON ABORT, ABORT—

"I—" he could feel himself choking, words refusing to unclog from his throat. Here you were, his crush, his #1 Oshi if you will, and you wanted to dance. With HIM. EVEN AFTER HE MENTIONED HIS SWEATY PALMS (Sevens whyyyyyy did he do that)

"…If you don't want to I—"

He suddenly regretted he'd never clicked on those random dance videos he sometimes got recommended. And not taking Ortho's advice of playing one of those dancing games 'for his health'.

"I-I'd just suck at it— I'd moodkill. Big time."

"I don't mind. I'm not a very good dancer either…I've actually never done it before. So if anything, we'd both suck.” you said, cheeks flushed a gentle red he could just barely make out in the darkness.

He considered pretending he didn't see it for a moment; couldn't let himself get his hopes up.

This was probably just some prank, and the second he said 'sure' a laugh-track was gonna start playing and someone was gonna pop out and laugh and put an arm around his shoulder and gesture to some hidden camera somewhere—

"Idia?"

He'd been so stuck in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed you trying to talk to him. And now you'd gotten closer to him. WAY TOO CLOSE—

"EEP!"

All those things Eliza had said: "Bright, shimmering hair! Lips so arresting that you just have to kiss them!"

They'd be much more fitting applied to you, and not him. If it wasn't for the whole '180cm' requirement thing, he can't imagine you NOT being the one picked. It should've been you. Not because he wanted you gone or anything, obvs! You were just…out of this world kinda beautiful.

Out of his league, too.

Obvs.

That of course someone else was gonna come steal you away eventually, so why even hope? Why even try—

"It will always be a zero-percent chance as long as you believe it impossible and refuse to act."

Those words tore at the flesh of his chest like a word knife in that high-school murder trial game franchise he liked. Why were they showing up in his head now, like some kind of cutscene? This was sounding like that part in the 3d act where the hero's been demoralized and remembers the words of their fallen mentor to give them enough motivation to go in and K.O. the BBEG.

"S-so…" you said, nervously looking up at him through your lashes. "Do you want to dance with me?" your voice sounded so shaky, devoid of your usual confidence. You sounded almost scared. Kinda like him. (was this what he always looked like through other people's eyes?)

Maybe... Maybe it was ok to listen to that advice. Just this once. Just a tiny bit.

"S-sure..."

Awkwardly, he held his hand out. And you smiled.

He didn't think he was LI material, probably never would. But maybe, rather than cursing his luck at being an NPC in whatever Otome that had you as the MC, he'd celebrate his luck at being able to dance with you like this in spite of it.

He had you in his arms, and he could barely believe it was real, waiting for it to be revealed as just a dream-sequence. But somehow it was real. His palms were sweaty and his expression twisted in panic as he tried not to step on your toes and he probably looked like the worst 'suitor' ever.

But you were smiling, still holding his sweaty hand, and that blush was somehow still on your cheeks.

If this was just the preview of what his route, or life, rather, might look like were he to break free from the 'non-romancable NPC' category…

He better get to re-coding the game.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: just so everyone who reads this is aware, I do in fact take writing requests!

I'm testing out a new format This isn't exactly a 'headcanon' as much as it's literally just a short-fic

Publishing this as a bit of an experiment If people like it, maybe that'll finally convince my perfectionist brain that not every single thing I write has to be perfect according to my own, almost impossible-to-reach standards I set for my own writing

My friend told me the skull I used for Idia's partition gives "14 year old edgy COD kid vibes" It's perfect.

Also damn writing Idia is so fun. Including all his references is SO FUN. I get to pretend to be an extremely terminally online reddit gaming subreddit guy who hasn't touched grass or spoken to a real person in years, who bases his beliefs of how real life works off of anime. He is SO CRINGE (affectionate) and I LOVE HIM FOR IT.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I'm putting this under Anon because I'm not getting involved in fandom drama anymore, but yeah, this fandom is more conservative than they realize. I think one of the most common times this comes up is when people forgive Steve for slut shaming Nancy, but Jonathan is never let off the hook for taking pics of her. We actually see Jonathan apologize and both him and Nancy talk about it and move on. But Jonathan is dorky and a bit of a loner so it makes people uncomfortable. Steve is cool so it doesn't matter that she was crying and slapped him because he changed and has hair. There is a big double standard here where we see both of them learn and grow from their mistakes and apologize. Neither of them makes those mistakes again, but it's only Steve that gets the fandoms forgiveness and Jonathan is still a creep. This plot point made sense for both of their character arcs so I hate when people try to erase it or make into something else or miss the point entirely. They try to replace Jonathan in Will's life too by saying Steve is going to be such a great friend to Will next season because he is to Robin. No. Jonathan is his support and his friend. He doesn't need Steve. Stop trying to replace the dorky characters with the cooler ones. Jonathan and Will have such a sweet relationship and he gets totally overlooked because this fandom is more comfortable with Steve. (It's the same attitude with babysitter Steve. Steve doesn't like babysitting and says it a lot. But you know who is great with kids? Jonathan.)

And for the Billy and Jason fans - I think for me, I don't care if people like a villain. Sometimes the villain characters are really interesting and well-written. If people like those characters that's fine. I don't like moral purity bs where people think it means something negative about someone because they think a bad character is interesting. They are supposed to be interesting, it's a story. But I do think there is a line where people openly will say that they identify with them and don't see that they are the bad guy as a result. Not only does this show a problem with them figuring out right v. wrong but they end up completely re-writing the story which is frustrating too. I normally don't care what character people like or what ships they like even if they are controversial. Sometimes people are just drawn to a complex story and it has nothing to do with them personally or their sense of ethics. It's fiction, so it's a safe place to explore a darker character or plot point where no one gets hurt. But there are definitely people who don't know where the line is and just excuse shitty behavior and openly say they do the same awful things and those people are huge red flags. I don't think this show has ever excused the bad guys. People like Jason are clearly the bad guy and the show never suggests otherwise. You are supposed to root for the nerds and the outcasts. So whenever the fandom ignores this it's really frustrating. I also hate when people get so upset over pro-shipping. It's fiction so it shouldn't matter. But again there are boundaries. I am not a mileven fan and never was, but I don't give a fuck if people like that ship. I do think this falls into conservative ways of thinking though, because it's a typical Born Pretty Yesterday trope and people want the thing that is conventional. It's problematic because the show is throwing out convention and I don't think people who ship this understand that. I have noticed sometimes that there are grown men who will write really sexual mileven fics and include AI art of young girls who are supposed to be El. This is the shit that is creepy. Especially when you consider that a lot of people who like that ship are young girls. It feels more like grooming. There isn't inherently anything wrong with an adult liking a ship with younger people, but they do need to be more conscious of the way they interact with that media and the other fans in the fandom space. There is also not something inherently wrong with people writing stories about younger characters figuring out their sexuality regardless of if they are gay or straight. But it does matter how they are doing it. I think for the most part, people are just trying to think back to their own childhood/teenage years and reflecting on that through the younger fictional characters. There are definitely some creeps around though, but I think I'm just as annoyed with them as I am by the kids who freak out that there are adults talking about the younger characters. They act like we can't even mention them or think about them without being perverts in real life. Most of the adults around here don't want to interact with the younger people at all and aren't thinking about them at all. They are just talking about the story but this fandom tries to control a lot of conversations rather than work through why they are uncomfortable.

"this fandom tries to control a lot of conversations rather than work through why they are uncomfortable" <- this is a big one!!! "I'm uncomfortable with people talking about sex so no one should be allowed!" WRONG! Personal issues do not reflect on communities as a whole. It goes back to what fandom is in the first place, as well as community. We don't have to all agree or engage with or even like one another. A lot of different people are here. We have to find ways to coexist. Sometimes it's making a connection but sometimes it's learning how to navigate mixed spaces and sometimes it's being challenged in our thinking and experiences and SELF REFLECTING. Also A LOT of the issues we're specifically dealing with ARE rooted in homophobia and we need to call that out. Even unintentional, it still is. Even from "young queer fans" it still is.

I'm not gonna harp on repeating tooooo much more because you've hit a lot of good points - but here's a big one. There are ACTUAL predators in this fandom. A random author on AO3 writing off-color fanfic or explicit fanfic you don't personally enjoy isn't actually harming anyone because zero people are obligated to interact with them or read it. An adult leaker exchanging false information under pretenses of exploiting money or inappropriate photographs from minors is an ACTUAL PROBLEM. Byler nsfw writers/artists simply being present in fandom is on its own a neutral reality. People making manips of actual children are not to be supported, as well as AI photos of underage girls. What's an actual pervasive fandom issue?? Easy answer in my opinion...

[greatspacerace]

My problem with Kevin's characterization in Ben 10 UAF

Okay this is my view on the character. I'm going to make another post replying to everyone's additions on my other post if i have time.

First, Kevin was so much more interesting as a villain. I loved the concept of him joining the main trio and being a main character, but it was executed so poorly. The big appeal of his character to me was always his chaotic nature -- a trait that lends itself better to villains than heroes. I would've loved the idea if they kept that in UAF.

Second -- aesthetically, I HATED how they drew him. Personally, I really don't like in shows when they give a character the "superman" build EVEN in shows about superman. If they were going to make him more muscular - which I guess is in character - they should've kept his tall awkward stature.

Also -- he should've really kept his grunge look. In the original series, he's introduced with a black sleeveless shirt, cuffs, COMBAT BOOTS, a necklace with a lock on it, a MULLET? (8 year old greatspacerace was QUAKING.) He was characterized so well in his design... then in UAF, he's wearing... a t shirt ontop of a long sleeve. (I'll give them this tho -- that was a specific type of guy in 2008, and a specific look, but i still don't think it's "kevin")

(Someone submitted fanart to me once of how kevin should've looked and i'll link it to this post if i find it.)

Third -- and this is nuanced but hear me out -- there was no reason kevin should've been in bellview. If I recall correcting, it wasn't an alien hub or anything. To me, what made Kevin interesting also was that he was distinctly unique to Ben's experiences and summer before fifth grade. He wasn't someone he went to school with. He wasn't someone who had mutuals with friends back home. He was truly a stranger. (This is something that bothers me about the reboot but i have to remember sometimes that this is a show designed to sell toys.) Why would he be in Ben's hometown? I always imagined he lived close to New York to have run away from home and lived there.

I don't remember if this is the reasoning -- but the only reason he would be in Bellview would be to kill Ben. (HEAR ME OUT.) Ben lost his watch between the original series and UAF. (Excluding the Omniverse retcon.) Kevin prob came back to get revenge?? I also like the distinctly dream-like nature of this -- the idea that someone you knew momentarily in a liminal time in your life comes back to haunt you - LITERALLY. (Also if other people find this interesting, I have a long ass fic about it I've never posted lmaoooo.)

Fourth, okay this is just the show over all -- but I don't like where they went with his powers. I HATE the osmosian thing. I hate the absorption thing as his main power. He's so much cooler as a guy who can control electricity. Like he's SO COOL in his intro episode and instead they're like "and what if there was body horror" BYEEE. This is something they actually did in generator rex though and i was sooo happy when man of action finally gave one of their characters true electricity/machine powers. (But I digress.)

Also as a subset of this ^ I hated his weird shirtless, every alien absorption thing they did in AF. Like girl why. And for what.

Fifth, his main characteristics are: (1) he is intensely insecure because he's traumatized from being bullied for being a "freak." (This serves a foil to ben who's a hero for being different.) (2) He is incredibly selfish. (He's literally introduced to show Ben what would happen if he continues down a selfish path.) (3) Also, as an aside, he's into nerd shit. (Went to steal video games with Ben. Love that for him.)

Usually, a villain has delusions of grandeur as a baseline. Kevin was different. He just wanted to cause chaos and get whatever he wanted. It would've been so cool for them to expand upon that. As a hero (or at least leaving his villaindom), he would've been shy as hell in my opinion. He already has that baseline insecurity from trauma and now it's so much more exasperated from spending his formative years in Space Jail™. I think he would've just been so awkward in public settings, and quiet in a way you don't expect from someone with his aesthetic and background. That would've contrasted so well with Ben's ego and confidence, ESPECIALLY in AF. Ben's a soccer player who's relatively well-liked in high school. Gwen is a preppy smart girl. Kevin should've just been this awkward dude who still listens to green day and other pop punk bands.

In terms of positives -- Kevin as a car guy: A++++. Yes this man would put his personality into his car. Yes he WOULD drive a muscle car. And yes. It would be green.

The thing is -- I don't know how I would've wanted Kevin to be characterized in my dream version of this show. (However, I do know in my dream version of Ben 10 as a fan fiction -- where I'm allowed to add angst and nuance and bs like that.) (This is all a sponsored ad for my fanfiction.) (Just kidding.) (Unless?) I want to be realistic and be like "this is a kid's show from 2010 or whatever." Like, if it was today or even 2014, we'd have the steven universe effect and have the benefit of biblically accurate panic attacks. We didn't have that back then. (We were in the trenches...)

Because, if I were to say on paper what I would've wanted, technically the show did do it. They had him teeter morally within the first few episodes. They had him still have tension with Ben. Like... girl what would I have wanted instead. The thing is -- I really don't know.

Problems I have with the show writing wise might just be the very nature of the show. It isn't a show with complexity. It's pretty straight-forward. If I want nuance, Generator Rex is right there. If I want characterization on a deeper level, other animated shows exist and do it very well. Ultimate Alien - imo - bodies Alien Force in certain ways but I even have trouble articulating why.

A favorite moment in UA for me is when Ben splits himself 3 ways, and one of the emotional Bens goes with Kevin. Emotional!Ben is like "we used to fight for so long. and we NEVER talk about it." and Kevin's like "I don't want to talk about my feelings." GOLDEN. 10/10. Should've incorporated that energy into all of AF.

This might just be fully digressing -- but I would've loved if AF pulled the Danny Phantom route of part-time hero, part-time student. I so badly wanted Ben to go to school in AF and deal with exams and BS. I so badly wanted him to have a Dash Baxter style bully. Hide his identity from his parents. HAVE A GENUINE SECRET IDENTITY AND HAVE PEOPLE BE SHOCKED BY THE EXISTENCE OF ALIENS??? The Gauntlet should be a case study in missed opportunities because I have sooo many views on what I would've done differently and better in that episode... Like there's sooooo much to build on.

But that's for another future rant. :') Anyway moral of the story is my ben 10 fanfiction is single-handedly saving my views on the show and i need to finish and post it one day. (If I'm brave enough.)

[demonslayedher]

Shall we talk ☆Pillar Filler???☆

(As well as the rest of the episode?)

Keeping it behind a cut because it's not yet available for everybody and a lot of people will appreciate being surprised (I know I did)!

First, how about that new OP??

I love how it sets this arc up for being a pause in the constant life or death struggle (for the Pillars anyway, hahaha), and pricks at how the Pillars always feel they are struggling to compensate for their weaknesses, and the inky hatred that fills their hearts which Oyakata-sama knows they've channeled into defeating Kibutsuji Muzan at all costs. I also had a passing thought the other day about how so many Japanese legends of demon slaying require the hero to call upon a non-human higher power, or use something like a poison or alcohol to weaken a demon before they stand a chance of defeating it. In the end, the medicine that Tamayo and Shinobu develop does serve this crucial role (and the sun fulfills the role of a higher non-human power), but it's otherwise ironic that instead of temporarily weakening a demon to their own level, the usual course of action is to use Breath to temporarily increase their power to that of a demon.

Attaining a mark sure increases the role that "temporary" already played in their lives, and it's really no question that they would choose to pursue that option, even knowing the result.

(Also, CHUNTAROOOOO)

So anyway, onto that filler!!

I loved it.

First, the nitpicking just to get it out of the way: why did a demon need to bother tying up a victim???? Whhhhy? Like, at least they didn't pull a Speedy with some contrived "this demon just toys with victims and leaves them injured instead of killing them" routine that makes for a happy low-stakes Piller Filler episode while showing utter disregard for what demons are and why the Corp risks themselves to stop them. (That said, I always love seeing other Corp members fulfill their own Corp duties with no relation whatsoever to Tanjiro, who is just one piece of a much, much larger whole.)

But rather than write what would ultimately be stupid dialogue with an insignificant filler demon, it's nice that Ufotable did not bother developing the Castle Demon. The totally undeveloped baddies are easy to cast off as Blood Technique (but maybe they could have looked a little cooler if, like, they were vaguely wearing samurai armor or something instead of just being in skin suits? Whatever, not important.) I appreciate that Ufotable did not bother to answer these questions of "why is the victim tied up" because the point of this scene was very obviously not about her or the demon. (I like to think Iguro cut the ropes and then told her to get to safety but just, like, left her there on the top roof).

So as for what this scene WAS for... hot dang, did it accomplish that!!!

The purpose was to make Sanemi and Iguro look cool, and it sure as hell did that. WHAT GOOD CHANBARA, those show-offy sword-play moves against a mob of nameless villains were just so deliciously well choreographed, and the people who can appreciate that were also likely to really appreciate the use of a castle as a purely fun battle setting. Ufotable was probably like, "Our biggest fans are nerds for KnY's touches of traditional Japanese folklore and culture, and for swords and swordplay, so you know what else will probably get them riled up? Yeah, let's give them a castle fortress."

And then everyone cheered, like, "Yes, yes, the fangirls like demonslayedher on Tumblr will never know what hit them."

But then some brilliant person spoke up and said, "You guys, I have the perfect finishing blow."

And everyone said, "What? How could we possibly top this scene that not only purely makes Sanemi & Iguro look cool, but also serves their characters and the plot nicely by showing how the Pillers don't feel they can rely on the other Corp members, and that even though they speak sharply to them they show concern for them by their actions? You know, especially slyly since anime-only fans will get to appreciate a new side of characters whom they haven't gotten to bond with much yet for only having seen their mean sides mostly and none of their battle coolness, and also slyly because the hardcore manga fans know that these two are buddies?"

And then the brilliant person says, "Let's give them that fortress."

The brilliant person was then crowned Ruler of Ufotableland and the fans lived happily ever after.

Speaking of Pillar Filler, I also want to point out how nice that opening exposition between Shinobu and Kanao was. First, what a nice way of incorporating Kanao into a nice episode that gives us a nice little dose of everyone in the Corp cast, even by adding that little scene of Amane and Ubuyashiki too. I loved the little touches that develop the Butterfly Mansion, like the fact that on the path there, they have a stone sign that says "Butterfly Mansion" and a line of carved Jizo statues (to protect travelers and (deceased) children) with little butterflies. And that moment of Nezuko frowning as the sunlight goes behind a cloud? Wonderful. And Shinobu essential saying to Kanao, "I trust you with defending everyone here in the now VERY LIKELY EVENT OF KIBUTSUJI MUZAN ATTACKING while I have to go off to a Pillar Meeting now that you're back"? I looooove iiiiiiiiit. That also says a lot about the trust other Pillars have in Shinobu to entrust her with Nezuko instead of putting any pressure on her to take part in Pillar Training, as clearly they don’t know about Tamayo, and it's really anyone's guess if they know about the poison or not (though the light novel implies Himejima might have an inkling but doesn't know). Being Pillars, though, I doubt any of them would tell her she's wrong for being prepared to take down a demon in any possible way.

I love, love, love, love the treatment of all the straight-from-the-manga scenes, like "Welcome home, Inosuke" (except for the added 'did you miss me, Aoi-chan' because canonically Aoi is the one kind of girl who is not his type), Tamayo speaking with Oyakata-sama's bird, Mitsuri's "explanation" of the mark, and every single Pillar interaction. I love the amount of respect they show to Himejima (and how Ufotable slightly expanded on this), and I am so excited for the extra Himejima content this season. In the new marketing materials released on the same day as the episode/movie, they make stark use of one of the kanji characters in his name ("cry out"), which is a very nice touch. And the use of BGM!!! Especially the touches of Giyuu's and Mitsuri's themes during the meeting!

*happy sigh*

It is nice to be a fandom citizen of Ufotableland.

[booksareboring-blog]

One Piece: East Blue Saga

One Piece: East Blue Saga by Eiichiro Oda (尾田 栄一郎) Okay so this one is really going to reveal the big nerd side of me. I started reading One Piece shortly after the live action Netflix series came out. My social media was suddenly flooded with live action, anime, and manga references that I did not understand but which hooked me in and made me want to find out what was going on. I also tossed up if I would write this review, admittedly I thought it might be better to restrict this blog to the reading I do that might make me look cooler. But what’s the point? It’s a blog about books, I am already clearly not a jock, and screw what you think, so what if I started reading One Piece? I chose to break up my reviews into each Saga as apposed to each chapter release or volume release, as this makes the most sense to me for convenience and also having complete arcs to review. The East Blue Saga is an introduction to the world and the various characters you are about to embark on a long journey with throughout the Manga. It builds the world and it’s sense of character well through short arcs introducing each new member of the Straw Hat crew The first story arc you of the series sets up the main character Monkey D. Luffy and why he sets out to be a pirate. It also introduces Luffy’s first crew member Roronoa Zoro, who at first joins reluctantly but reveals himself to be a immensely loyal friend. This introductory arc show Luffy’s great sense of duty and commitment to what he believes is good, even in the face of an opposing authority. This also introduces the power system within the universe. Devil Fruit, when eaten, grant the consumer a unique power that only they hold, at the cost of their ability to swim. The next story arc takes the two friends to a new island where a new crew member is introduced. Nami, a headstrong woman who is, for the time being, interested only in what benefits her as an individual, and has no interest in joining a team. This arc also introduces an enjoyable villain that sets up the interesting devil fruit vs devil fruit fights to come, and also a taste of the weird and wacky characters this world is full of. This arc also introduces the readers to a heart wrenching story from a side character. Something I know will continue throughout the manga. The following arc takes the now three member strong crew to a new island that introduces them to coward and serial liar Usopp. This story gives a great sense of the themes around overcoming great odds. It was overall a slower arc for me than the previous arcs but was fun nonetheless. This arc also introduces them finally, to their ship, the Going Merry. The next arc introduces the fifth crew member, the Straw Hats cook, a cool and stoic man with a penchant for becoming a blubbering fool around pretty women. This arc also comes with an emotional storyline, and introduces the reader to the massive threats to come when the crew finally enters the Grand Line. The next arc is the one that really hooked me into the series. It is heart breaking and emotional. The five main characters are put to their greatest test as a crew. The individual personalities and drives of each crew member puts them in a situation in which they must each overcome an internal obstacle and work together as a cohesive unit to overcome their enemy. The themes of oppression and control, standing up for what you believe in, and standing up for the people you care about are put on beautiful display laying clear what the rest of the series will embody. The final arc is short and mostly serves to finish off the saga and set up the next one, the crew are headed to the Grandline. This saga hooked me into the series. It is as fun and as exciting as I expected it to be, but what really kept my attention was the emotion it wasn’t afraid to play with and the themes it was willing to touch. This saga was still clearly just an introduction to the world and it has left me eager for what is to come. Happy reading folks. Don’t think too hard about the book you’re on right now, just enjoy it.

[theprofessionalpromptmaker]

Hi ! I love your blog. I've seen you do zodiac based prompts, and me as a zodiac nerd love them. Do is it okay to ask for more. Any zodiac is fine

(I am working through the backlog at the moment, so for anyone curious: REQUESTS ARE STILL CLOSED. But these are my requests from years ago, that I am finally answering now that life is marginally less bad.

Note: These prompts all ended up taking place in the same setting, which goes more into natal chart zodiacs, which I personally love as a zodiac nerd. Hope you enjoy that angle as well!

So, the setting:

A school where people’s zodiacs give them powers - but not just their sun signs, but also their various planetary alignments and house placements. For example, a first house Aquarius sun would have a different power than a seventh house Aquarius sun. How a power is expressed depends on moon sign, strength of a power depends on rising sign, etc. The closer someone’s natal chart line-ups are, the more powerful but also the easier a power is to control, but having completely opposite signs in certain placements also causes powers to be strong, but also to be more volatile.

The prompts:

Person A’s big 3 are all the same sign, making the power associated with that sign more potent. Their magic has always come easy to them and learning was a breeze. But Person B is their school rival, and has opposing signs in their big 3 and has worked very hard to learn to manage their extreme but challenging power. Person B has just as much control currently, but looks down on Person A for having powers that came so easily to them.

Person A has all the most notorious zodiac signs within their chart, and most people avoid them due to it, since their powers tend to reflect the negative stereotypes about their zodiacs. Person B is a triple of one of the infamous zodiacs, and while they have great control over their powers, everyone always assumes they’ll become a villain in the future. The two end up becoming close and Person B decides to help Person A’s image with the idea of them playing the bad guy and Person A getting to step in as the hero (ex: Person B bullying someone and Person A intervening to protect the victim) but Person A refuses, since they don’t want Person B’s reputation to get worse for the sake of their own.

Person A has all matching placements for their big 3 and all within the 12th house, making them fawned over as akin to a god magic level wise - but Person A hates their triple 3 zodiac’s associated powers, and is always envious of the powers of those around them, even if their classmates powers are weaker, they think their powers are so much cooler. Person B finds Person A ungrateful, and is always butting heads with them, and then they get paired up for a group project.

Person A has all matching placements for their big 3 and all within the 12th house, making their powers god-level strength and control. The only problem is, all their powers are support-type powers, and everyone in their school is vying to get them to join their teams, but Person A knows they’ll never get the spotlight for any of the feats and they’ll be forever sidelined as just the helper. Until they meet Person B+, a collection of ‘outcasts’ who all have first house sun signs and opposing signs, so their powers are volatile and dangerous and they are generally ignored and mistreated by the rest of the school. So Person A decides to join their group, since they can share the spotlight with people whose powers might not even function without Person A’s help.

Person A is someone who has all opposing signs, but their sun sign is in the 12th house, and they barely even made it into the school due to the professors and headmaster worrying that they’re powers might be too great and destroy the school if they prove unable to control them. But Person A’s older sibling, Person B, has all the same sign, in the 12th house, as their big 3 and was a praised and prized upperclassman at the school. So their parents and Person B end up pulling strings and Person B threatens to drop out if Person A isn’t accepted, so the school relents. But Person A hates the fact that all their professors keep comparing them to their master of magic control older sibling, and their emotions only make their powers more volatile.

[valerie]

TWITL - week 48 - lovely, cooler days

Coming back to work after a week off is just no fun at all. The weather has been lovely though. I LOVE the cooler days. I'm able to wear my new coat and they're just right for the "cold" weather we get out this way. (It doesn't really get super cold out this way, which is great.) https://flic.kr/p/2piWNyB I had sole control of the remote for a few days and I didn't really watch anything until Saturday night. I spent my alone time reading (part of a non-fiction book and all of a romance novel that ended in a damn cliffhanger), doing laundry, taking out the garbage. I ordered too much Door Dash and basically lived a sort of hermit life for those few day. It wasn't so bad. The romance novel that ended in a cliffhanger pissed me off and I'm still figuring out if I care enough about the characters to pay for the next novel. (The first novel was free.) TV - MOVIES https://flic.kr/p/2pjjduR Thomas Beaudoin in Love's Last Resort Love's Last Resort (Prime Video) - After the disappointment of a romance novel with a cliffhanger, I decided on watching something that had one of my fellas in it. I thought about watching The Spirit of Christmas since Thomas Beaudoin is in it but happened upon another movie he did, Love's Last Resort. It was a super cutesy romance movie that reminded me of the romance novels I love to read-- silly and sweet, adorable with a bit of drama and a bit of humor. I really enjoyed it and Thomas is perfect book boyfriend material. It was a delight watching this one, especially after enduring his other show. https://flic.kr/p/2pji6eL Charles Mesure on General Hospital General Hospital - It has been AGES since I've watched any soap opera but when I saw that Charles Mesure made an appearance on GH, well, I just had to check it out. Looks like he's a mysterious figure and probably a new villain. I don't know that it'll make me watch the show but it doesn't hurt to check out his scenes and do some screenshots of the silver fox version of Charles. As one does. WRITING Apparently I miss writing everyday so much that I've started another story. I think this happens more of often than not. I need time away from my November novel (but I still look at it everyday) so I started a different story today (Sunday). It's just a scene for now. It might not go anywhere but it's keeping me out of trouble. Maybe. https://flic.kr/p/2piy3SD the tree on my desk I don't normally decorate my workspace for the holidays but now that I have a super sweet workspace, I decided to contribute to the office decorations with a little tree with little ornaments. I went total nerd girl with the Marvel ornaments. Off season, I'll keep the tree out without the ornaments because how easy is that? So easy! https://flic.kr/p/2pikkgL - I love my lunchtime walks, especially when I see the squirrels. I had one eye me this week, like I was going to feed them or something. They stopped and looked at me, even skittered a little closer. It was fascinating. I didn't have anything but I did take a few shots. I don't know why squirrels in general don't freak me out. - I finished our book club book, The Giver of Stars (Jojo Moyes). I was glad to read something outside of my usual fare but this novel was not to my taste. The end seemed rushed but at least it felt like a HEA. - I started reading Omid Scobie's Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival. It's been interesting so far. I'm fascinated by all the royalty stuff and the British monarchy is such fodder. I'd probably be labeled Team Sussex, in case you're wondering. - I'm still listening to Patrick Stewart's Making It So: A Memoir. I'm enjoying it, especially since he's the one reading it! I'm going to have to pause my listening of it for our next book club reading, which will be an audiobook for me this time. https://flic.kr/p/2pj7NPH Weekends never seem to last long enough, do they? And here we are in December. Have a good week, my lovelies! Read the full article

[funkylilnerd]

IM GONNA SAY IT

far from home is my favorite MCU spidey movie :3

first of all I think I laugh the most in this one. but that’s all subjective obviously.

I personally think mysterio is an exponentially cooler villain than vulture. and, well, green goblin is recycled in nwh, so it’s not as genuine to this version of peter.

Mysterio feels so much more threatening than vulture, and I love the twist! Although it is fairly obvious for nerds (I wasn’t well informed on spidey lore upon first watch, didn’t see it coming until like two minutes before), I still think it’s well crafted.

Like, Peter talks down to himself so much that he’s desperate to trust this new dude they don’t know much about. He’s desperate to hand off his responsibility he doesn’t think he can fulfill. He’s so desperate that he ends up convincing himself Tony didn’t ACTUALLY trust him with the glasses—sure, he trusted his character enough to know he would give EDITH to the right person, but he didn’t trust his direct skills and strengths. Obviously mr. Stark wouldn’t trust a kid with something like that.

the hallucination sequence is soooo cool and i love how the audience and Peter doesn’t know it’s an illusion at first and at the end! Very reminiscent of a scarecrow fear gas type thing, which I always love!

the little scene where Peter meets happy in that tulip field in the netherlands makes me tear up every time. Peter is SO angry with himself. He’s can’t believe he messed up like this, can’t believe that he flubbed it up AGAIN, can’t believe he betrayed Tony’s trust like that. He’s still talking down to himself, still thinking that he’s just a kid, and therefore can’t really handle all of it, AND he cant trust anything he sees or hears anymore. he’s stressed and anxious and angry and so many other things.

“I thought you had super strength.”

“still hurts.”

WHAT A METAPHOR FOR SPIDER-MAN!!! even though he’s got these amazing gifts and abilities, he’s still just a kid. a human. he gets hurt, makes mistakes. he’s still unsure of himself and hasn’t really figured out what he wants to be yet.

and then happy tells him what it really means that tony trusted him specifically with EDITH. peter deserved it. he could handle it. despite being young, inexperienced, and impulsive, he’s still a hero. yes, he’s a kid, and yes, he deserves a break, but that doesn’t mean he’s useless or worth less than other heroes—not worth less than Tony, even if he can’t and won’t fill those shoes.

and his spidey sense! It didn’t just come back bc he got a sorta vacation. It came back cuz he got his confidence back!!!

On another note.

MJ FIGURING OUT HES SPIDEY!!! Yeah!!! She’s smart!!! And she’s not angry he didn’t tell her!!! The romance is soooooo good in this one ❤️❤️❤️

also, it’s the only movie without another superhero! unless you count nick fury, which I don’t. He shows up in everything. That’s literally his job lol. Homecoming had Tony—granted, he’s defo haunting the narrative in this one—no way home has the other two spideys plus doctor strange AND daredevil. (It worries me that hulk and punisher r gonna be in brand new day—can’t we just have a completely solo movie??? Pls????)

I’ve truly never understood why people don’t like this one as much as the other two, but pls lemme know ur guys’ thoughts!

[whatyourusherthinks]

Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

FANTASTIC FOOOOOOOOOOOOOUR is one of the most anticipated movie of the year, and one of the most anticipated Marvel movies for a while. Lots of people have been craving a good FF movie. A lot of people have wanted the MCU to get their groove back. I'm not one of those people.

Look, I think FF is a fine comic, but my favorite part of their comics is all the characters and ideas that are tangentially related to them. I like the Power Pack, the concept of the Negative Zone, the Future Foundation is an pretty fun comic, and they do have some of the best villains in comics. I mean, Doctor Doom anyone? But I don't really care about the individual members themselves. Mr. Fantastic is often just a straight-edged humorless nerd, the Human Torch is almost always a jackass, and half the time the writers completely forget about Invisible Woman. The Thing is usually pretty good, but the self-pitying schtick can get old.

I was also getting kind tired of Marvel movies specifically. Not because they are bad, it's actually kind of the opposite. All Marvel movies that have been made by Disney are good. Some are better than others, sure, but even dross like Thor: The Dark World or Antman and Wasp: Quantumania are still solid movies in the grand scheme of things. It's not really a question whether a MCU movie will be good, and it's boring. Speculating about DC movies is way more fun because they have a worse track record.

But that trailer was pretty cool...

What's The Movie About?

An alternate earth is under threat from Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. At the same time, Sue and Reed Richard are expecting a child. A child that Galactus wants for some reason. Can the FANTASTIC FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUR save both the planet and their new member?

What I Like.

Well let's start with the obvious, I really dig the theme of the movie. The title call will randomly pop into my head while I'm going about my day and that turns everything I do into some trailer moment, it's a fun way to live life. I also really like the Four in this movie. I think they did a good job adapting the characters for the movie and the modern age. Reed is probably the closest to his comic counterpart, but they give him moments to really humanize him. Ben's personality is the same, but he's not hung up on his appearance thank god. They actually gave Sue something to do besides giver birth, thank double god. And Johnny is probably the most drastically different from the comics, and by that I mean I actually like his characterization. His relationship with the Silver Surfer in this movie was actually pretty interesting, and I kind of got a kick out of how it ended. Speaking of her, holy crap are the effects of this movie good. I loved the look of the Thing from the second the trailer dropped, he looked like he popped straight of the comics. But my jaw dropped when I saw the Silver Surfer. She looked photo realistic, her skin was tarnished and perfectively reflective, it honestly looked like she was a moving statue. All of the retro-futuristic technology looked pretty awesome as well, I love me some sci-fi. Herbie was a particular stand out for me, I like the tape-deck programming that they can switch out to change his function, it made me completely ignore the ffact that they basically turned him into WALL-E. I also liked the design of the FF's spaceship, it looks old but sleek, it reminds me of pulp space adventures. Galactus's ship was even cooler. I'm actually impressed they went with Galactus as the main villain for their first Fantastic Four movie, and it actually worked. It also makes sense that with the fact that this is also a Franklin Richard origin movie, and move I also completely respect. And I'm kind of amazed to say this, since I'm one of those nerds who like seeing all the connection and payoffs of previous MCU movies, but I really like how self-contained this movie is. The only reference to anything outside this movie is a single end credit scene, and even then I could see a universe where this is completely unrelated to the MCU and the scene remains the same.

What I Don't Like.

...I have thoughts.

Firstly, all the effects are good, except Galactus. I think he has a cool design! But he is clearly a massive CGI man, and I wish he was bright purple when he lands on Earth instead of the muted and darker color he is instead. I get it's more realistic, but I'm watching a movie where one of the main characters is a big rock man who grows a rock beard, I don't want realism. To that note, I'm getting really tired of the joke that all Marvel movies do now, where they make fun of the premise, or someone's name, or someone's outfit. You're both a series of disposable pop-culture mostly aimed at little boys and adult men who haven't mentally aged past being a little boy MCU, you're not better than comic books! Put Franklin in the 5 onsie!

Earth 816 is kind of... weird, right? Not in the sense of it's a weird idea for a universe, it's just 60s kitsch which is a lot of fun. But it's weird because it works. Basically the Fantastic Four are their Earth's Avengers, and they basically fixed the world. All of the nations get along except for Latveria. (Because of course.) It's kind of implied that all disease in the world is cured and poverty doesn't exist. Even with the 60s aesthetic still has super science around the globe. Reed literally at one point just dissolves three criminal organizations before dinner. To borrow a poignant phrase from a previous Marvel movie, the Fantastic Four "put a suit of armor around the world". But y'all remember how that movie went, right? And it's a reoccurring theme in the MCU movies that nothing good happens when heroes try to do that. I know no one remembers that Doctor Strange sequel but the Illuminati were bad guys. So I just kept expecting some twist were this seemingly perfect world was actually rotten. Or that this is one of the evil Reeds from the Counsel of Reed Richards or something but it just... Didn't happen. Now the movie not going in the direction I want isn't really a problem, but it was something that kept bugging me as the movie went on. Maybe this is a plot thread that will get picked up in a later movie.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this movie should have been an hour longer. A lot of the plot seems very rushed, and the movie is stuffed. The interacts between the leads is great, I would have liked to seen more of it. There also isn't a ton of action in the movie. On one hand, it's an impressive choice, but on the other hand I want to see the Fantastic Four actually do superheroing in the Fantastic Four superhero movie. I also feel like some of the B-Plots are speed through and it made them seem kinda pointless. The Fantastic Four lose public support because they weren't willing to give up Franklin to stop Galactus and it lasts all of ten minutes before Sue gives a speech and everyone immediately is willing to do whatever the FF want again. Ben also doesn't really have anything to do in the movie except grow a beard and flirt with a lady, and neither really have a pay off.

Why. Do. Movies. Keep. Doing. The. One. Thing. I. Hate. The. Most. In this movie it's even stupider because we all know they're not gonna kill off one of the Fantastic Four off in their first movie, so why pretend otherwise? I do kind of like that it's the way the movie confirms that Franklin does have godlike power, but I'm not going to give any movie a pass to undo character death just because their resurrection method is cute.

And to close this segment of complaints, a nerdy-ass nitpick. I really liked the parts where they name drop classic Fantastic Four villains, and the Mole Man was a surprisingly awesome cameo. But I wanted more. It's a little weird that we here that the Fantastic Four have defeated Diablo, or the Wizard, but only see Mole Man and the Red Ghost kind of. More to that point, I wanted to see the Mad Thinker! How hard would it have been to put an extra with long hair in a green jumpsuit? I'm never gonna see a live-action Awesome Android, am I?

Final Summation.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is pretty good. If you like the FF characters or superhero movies, this is an easy recommend. But here's the sticking point...

A lot of the reviews of this movie compared it to Superman. I at first thought it was because they were two Superhero movies that came out around the same time, but after watching the movie, these two are really similar. Both movies skip the origin story in exchange for setting the movie a few years into the heroes' career, they both have a colorful sci-fi backdrop to the plot, they have a lot of comic book action that isn't the focus of the story, there's a story beat where the heroes lose their credibility with the general populace in both, both climaxes have a cosmic threat destroying an evacuated city, and there is a prominent action scene revolving around saving a baby in both movies. If you read my Top Ten Movies of all time, you know that Superman is my favorite movie of all time. So if you were to ask me if you should go see Fantastic Four, I would tell you to watch Superman instead.

I can't really blame First Steps for that. It's not anyone's fault that Superman came out first and did everything this movie does just better. This is the best Marvel movie I've seen in a while, definitely the best Fantastic Four movie, and it's not this movie's fault that I'm just not that big of a fan of the Fantastic Four and am getting a little tired of the generic A-/B+ quality of Marvel Movies. (Or, at least Marvel Studios movies. Those Sony things kinda wrench up that generalization.) Fantastic Four: First Steps is good. Now stop being coy with Doctor Doom Marvel.

[centrally-unplanned]

I do not wanna think about high-tech Spike trying to be a 2000's Eurotrash Trance DJ, we all know that was going to happen in a decade and we need to be spared -_-

What I mean is, when AU!Giles is trying to fix the universe, Anya appears to him, and instead of saying, "It sort of sounds like you care about the women whose wishes you grant, so did you know that the woman whose wish you granted was eaten in front of me by vampires?" he just sort of fights Anya for her magical jewelry.

Ah I see, they talk in the AU! I think for this one you can say that AU!Giles has a pretty jaded perspective on demons, and doesn't think that they will care. And he is typically right about that - "ironically punishing the wisher monkey-paw style" is in fact Vengeance Demon MO. Anya is a little exceptional in how much she cares, and is made fun of for that fact later on.

I know that Joss said that he wanted Xander or Willow to be gay, but it really feels like they were laying a bunch of groundwork for Xander in particular, and then...they're going to inexplicably pick Willow to be the gay one instead. I mean, vampire!Willow is clearly, textually bi, which suggests that Willow just is, but in that same season they're still dropping a lot of "btw Xander is clearly gay" hints, by which I mean that Xander is practically turning to the screen to say, "I am extremely straight, maybe even the straightest guy on campus, there are none straighter."

I don't know if I think Xander is that gay coded, though I get what you are saying - I think in the end this is a 90's show, and so having a character just be aggressively heteronormative is just...what actual het people did on TV back then lol. But you are right that Joss wanted to go that direction with someone, and it ofc wasn't gonna be Buffy for both politics reasons and also because her straight energy is off the charts.

I think Willow is chosen because A: lesbians are more palatable/agreeable to audiences than gay men are in this era, which is fair enough. Given how the show was barred by the studio from having Willow kiss a girl on screen for multiple seasons, I absolutely cannot fault them here. B: Choosing Willow allows you to lean into the "Wicca" parallels, which I respect thematically - in particular Buffy had cultivated an audience of precisely these fans, alt-goth-spiritual-nerd-women who I think really wanted to see Queer Pagans on screen in a way that Gay Nerd just wasn't in demand then (it would be later, don't get me wrong). And C: Joss is on-record describing Xander as something of a self-insert character, the "loser nerd everyman" that he saw himself as surrounded by cooler, prettier people. And Joss is just not gay - like very, very much not gay. A lot of his life problems would have gone away if he was gay, he probably has wished he was at some point, but that ain't his deck. So to keep that parallel, I think Xander had to be straight.

I would be curious if they ever discussed it in the writer's room or with Nicholas Brendan/Allison Hannigan, etc.

(It is really cute how Closeted-Gay-Bully is part of Giles's replacement Scooby Squad in the Wish AU, if he was out he totally would be)

Re: Mayor, it is incredibly 2020's that you are watching Buffy and are like "fuck these hot vampires, I want protagonist Mayor episodes! Give me more character development!" Absolute process nerd moment. He totally could carry more episodes too, he rules. But I respect the role of a season villain is to die - he went out like a champ too, he can't truly ask for me. Im sorry the fanfic isn't delivering though :(

(When it comes to Faith you will not be as disappointed ^^)

It's definitely my favorite so far. Season 4 feels like a massive drop in quality but I didn't like Season 1 much either, and Season 4 is sort of a soft reboot – new school, the supporting cast are all gone, Cordelia and Angel have gone to LA, Buffy has to keep her job a secret again for some reason – so I'm going to give the writers some time to find their feet again. EDIT: It is extraordinary how well the last few episodes of Season 3 tied a bow on the series. Did they think the show was going to be canceled?

They didn't think they were gonna be cancelled "per se", but generally Joss & Co assumed they were gonna be cancelled every season in the earlier times; when it came to Season 3 the whole thing felt pretty "chaotic", with the Angel spin-off being planned and Buffy graduating high-school being a logical point for the studio to axe the show. They definitely did shoot it like the show could end there, and I think they wanted to end on a sort of "high note" to make the idea of Angel as a show feel appealing. But I do think the show was renewed before they shot the finale, though ofc scripting happened well before that.

To maybe emphasize the chaos, the finale of Buffy S3 was itself delayed from being aired due to just the general ~vibe~ of having violence in a school setting seeming too close to Columbine. It seemed like a rocky time!

And re: Season 4, for sure everything thinks it is a rough start to the soft reboot. I cannot tell you everyone's "season tier lists" - the top choice bounces between Season 3, Season 5, and hipsters like me choosing Season 6. But I think almost everyone thinks that Season 1 is the worst, and Season 4 is the second-worst. Both times they just hadn't nailed what they were doing - and for Season 4 it is very obvious that Joss was simultaneously showrunning both Angel & Buffy and had yet to pivot the org structure around to reflect that (in Season 5 they would re-organize the writer room, and in Season 6 lead writer Marti Noxon became the showrunner). It is a very messy season with obvious missteps. Still, I respect it a lot, it has both great moments and fun-cheesy moments, and if you look at anyone's "top ten episodes of Buffy" list there are often multiple episodes from Season 4 on there. On rewatch, I really respect what it is trying to do and what it builds to - not every season has to be arc-plot focused (hell, it should have been less)

(Something of note for Season 4 is that if you look at a list of the "best" episodes, almost all of them are written by Joss. This is a reflection of his talent, for sure, and it being "his" show - but it also reflects how the other writers just weren't being given the reigns to do really good work due to the org structure. It is the most "you can tell who wrote which episodes" season because of this)

Buffy season 3 thoughts, edited for clarity but presented in the order that I wrote them:

The hell dimension twist in the first episode is great. Again, love that the writers usually do some extra little something: whatever the problem looks like in the front half of the show, it probably won't be that neat by the back half.

Mr. Trick is a great character but I keep hearing "Angel, Angel," and "Spike, Spike," but no "Mr. Trick, Mr. Trick," so I am concerned that he is going to die this season. Edit — : ,,, (

The Mayor is also incredible. I thought he was going to be a secret demon or something and instead he's just Some Guy. Just incredible.

wtf I ship Giles/Joyce now. Edit — !!!!

Lurconis: least problematic demon so far. I mean, he eats babies, not people.

Are all watchers British? Did the Watchers do an imperialism? Are the Watchers why the British did an imperialism?

I love the Mayor.

<3 Spike's romantic reminiscence about him and his gf…killing a homeless man.

The Slayer is really not doing a great job if all these vampires from season 2 were able to survive for – how long has it been? five months? six months? – however long it was between 2x22 and 3x08.

Why does a ""pagan"" magic shop have bottles of holy water? I mean, sure, the Wiccans have "holy water," but this holy water came in bottles with little crosses on them!

the funeral fakeout is incredible <3 <3 <3

how exactly does Spike drive his car in the daytime?

It is really incredibly easy to drive a stake through a vampire's heart. It's as if they don't even have ribs. Must be the lack of calcium in their diet.

I think it's odd that Giles didn't tell Anya that Cordelia had, you know, died because of the wish she made. Destroying the "power center" shouldn't have worked, because it explicitly undoes every wish that Anya granted, which means the world should still be different, just a different kind of different (if they'd wanted to reboot the series a bit, that would have been a valid way to do so, come to think of it, but anyway).

incredibly shocked that cordelia died in the AU episode: I can't think of another show with a similar plot where the canon immigrant dies rather than plays a vital role in setting right what went wrong.

Amy makes an adorable rat. Somebody should have been an animal for a few episodes. I hear that Oz leaves the show later – just say he got caught in full wolf form and let the role of Oz be played by a husky. EDIT — I am delighted that she remains a rat through this season. So silly.

I don't want to sound like a broken record so I'm going to try to keep shut about this, but just know that every time Wicca comes up, I die a little.

The Zeppo was incredible. No notes. I've seen some people hate on this episode, even complain about not being able to see Buffy's entire adventure, and all of the haters are wrong.

I need more of the Mayor and Faith. Where's the Fix Fic where the Mayor contributes to Faith's mental health by being a rock of unconditional support and, wouldn't you know it, faith? Why do we not at least get to see them play mini golf together? I love them.

Xander should have come out as gay.

The bad werewolf costume was understandable, but then the hellhounds!? Why do the Buffy costumers think that canines look like people? Just put some dogs in costumes, or call them something other than hellhounds.

It's funny (and deeply sad) how Faith's relationship with the Mayor was plausibly the healthiest relationship that she's had up. Buffy and others made genuine attempts to connect with her but a healthy relationship takes two to tango and Faith's inability to be vulnerable in Buffy's social circle was a problem.

"We're proud to say that the class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history" lmao lmao forever

There is a criminal shortage of Faith & The Mayor fics.

Boggles my mind that some people think that the Mayor didn't care about Faith.

You finished the Big 3! For a lot of people this is their favorite season - it is the peak of "classic Buffy" as one might say, with the high school settings, plot concepts, and also Angel still being around as opposed to in spin-off Los Angeles. It is a much more polished version of what Season 1 or 2 is trying to do, and engages in a lot more "worldbuilding" - radical for 90's TV.

The hell dimension twist in the first episode is great. Again, love that the writers usually do some extra little something: whatever the problem looks like in the front half of the show, it probably won't be that neat by the back half.

Agreed; this is funny because it is, partially, absolutely a product of it being serial TV and them just kind of winging it, and having to "stack" twists. But nowadays watching all the "plotted" tv shows that sort of streeeeeetch their clearly-4-episodes-of-story over 8, it is nice how Buffy doesn't do that as much! It does crazy melodrama shit instead! Pick your poison I guess but in Buffy it works.

Mr. Trick is a great character but I keep hearing "Angel, Angel," and "Spike, Spike," but no "Mr. Trick, Mr. Trick," so I am concerned that he is going to die this season. Edit — : ,,, (

Look man this is your fault - you thought a black character could survive in 90's California Suburbia TV Land long enough to get recurring character billing and SAG pay? Fuck no, gotta wait till season 7 for that privilege. But yeah Mr Trick is really fun - vampire blaxpoitation mafia master is a genre we always need more of.

The Mayor is also incredible. I thought he was going to be a secret demon or something and instead he's just Some Guy. Just incredible.

i mean he is also a secret demon. that was a pretty significant thing that happened. like i understand where you’re coming from here but they very much did make him a secret demon.

But no, meme'ing aside the Mayor is amazing - he is one of the few villains who can compete with "villain protagonists" like Angel or Spike. He is total camp but also deep enough to carry his relationship with Faith, very good dual roles. Also so fun whenever him and Principal Synder are just being little gits together <3

wtf I ship Giles/Joyce now. Edit — !!!!

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ain't no one stopping these hotties

Are all watchers British? Did the Watchers do an imperialism? Are the Watchers why the British did an imperialism?

The Watchers absolutely did an imperialism, they are a global organization of patriarchy child soldier users, ain't no way they didn't get their hands dirty. But I will grant that, in all likelihood, they are British because "magic" probably got its biggest start in the UK - Merlin, the druidic-wiccan stuff, etc, and they seem to be very politically ignorant of the wider "muggle" world. So I think they were just free-riders on that process, not instigators.

<3 Spike's romantic reminiscence about him and his gf…killing a homeless man.

I was gonna say, the Xander/Willow affair dud is almost worth it because it culminates in the episode where Spike rolls back into town to fix his love life, which is incredible - nothing a little domestic violence can't cure, thanks Buffy!! You can just see how much fun Spike & Drusilla have with their roles.

Why does a ""pagan"" magic shop have bottles of holy water? I mean, sure, the Wiccans have "holy water," but this holy water came in bottles with little crosses on them!

This ties back into the weird "Christian magic gap" - in a world where Christianity is clearly, in some way, "correct", the church seems to be extremely impotent in comparison to some old British librarians. The Wiccans, your mortal enemy, are pretty much running the show.

But I will give that Season 2 (see Jenny Calendar's shop visits) established that a lot of the "pagan" shops are essentially fronts for actual magic stores catering to the spellcaster and demonic communities, and in that part of their business they don't discriminate on denomination. They will stock holy water and omamori out of the same bin.

how exactly does Spike drive his car in the daytime?

Oh, he covers up the glass with heavy padding so light doesn't go in, you can see it in the episode!

Do you mean how does he avoid not smashing into two dozen cars and killing a few pedestrians every block while driving? Oh, that is easy - he doesn't!

It is really incredibly easy to drive a stake through a vampire's heart. It's as if they don't even have ribs. Must be the lack of calcium in their diet.

This is one of those things that was clearly meant to be a "Slayer Power" thing - people even joked that Slayers had the ability to empower anything they held into a magic stake, how she can kill with like a ruler - but then as the show went on you see like fucking Willow do it. So yeah, just no bones on the chest I guess.

I think it's odd that Giles didn't tell Anya that Cordelia had, you know, died because of the wish she made. Destroying the "power center" shouldn't have worked, because it explicitly undoes every wish that Anya granted, which means the world should still be different, just a different kind of different (if they'd wanted to reboot the series a bit, that would have been a valid way to do so, come to think of it, but anyway).

I ofc did not watch the episode as recently as you, but I thought Giles didn't retain his memories after the timeline reversion, right? So he couldn't warn anyone. And yes, that comment about all the wishes is honestly just sloppy writing, and this whole amulet deal will be explicitly contradicted in later episodes re: vengeance demons. Still, you can be very charitable and read it as "active" wishes - if you wished someone dead 30 years ago, that isn't a magical alternate reality, they are just dead now, so you can say it's locked in. Most people don't wish for parallel universes, after all.

Amy makes an adorable rat. Somebody should have been an animal for a few episodes. I hear that Oz leaves the show later – just say he got caught in full wolf form and let the role of Oz be played by a husky. EDIT — I am delighted that she remains a rat through this season. So silly.

You are gonna be SO HAPPY about how long she is a rat lmao

The Zeppo was incredible. No notes. I've seen some people hate on this episode, even complain about not being able to see Buffy's entire adventure, and all of the haters are wrong.

Hating The Zeppo because you can't see the whole Buffy adventure is like hating Rosencrantz & Guildenstern because it isn't Hamlet, you can't do that! Go to another play! The Zeppo is exactly why the show needs someone like Xander, because how Hellmouth Sunnydale totally fucks with the regulars is a great source of hijinks only Xander can lean into.

Also hot Faith moments. Not the hottest one with Xander though, that comes later in the season <3

I need more of the Mayor and Faith. Where's the Fix Fic where the Mayor contributes to Faith's mental health by being a rock of unconditional support and, wouldn't you know it, faith? Why do we not at least get to see them play mini golf together? I love them.

<3 <3 <3 It is like "Daddy issues - but good! Well, not good. Really, really bad. But nice!" I do think that the finale is a bit of a misstep because by making the mayor a gigantic worm thing he can't really have "human" moments anymore, and Faith/Mayor could have used more screentime (I know, she is out of the picture then, but they wrote it that way).

And yeah to pick up on other Faith comments, I just enjoy how committed to the "bit" she is about being evil which very obviously is not her whole self, and cannot be her whole self. She needed someone who "got" that, and Buffy was just way too much of a moral bright light to look at directly for her. There is a very good arc in Angel actually with Faith around this dynamic, if you ever wanna dip into that side of things.

Xander should have come out as gay.

I know the context for this but it's better without. Let them fuck in the shower room!! Don't be afraid, man.

"We're proud to say that the class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history" lmao lmao forever

This was a Very Topical Joke at the time!!!

Boggles my mind that some people think that the Mayor didn't care about Faith.

Yeah that seems like a weak take to me. I do get it, like he is evil and it is all 100% a manipulative front, you can argue that. But his whole character is that he isn't that. He is authentically a folksy mayor, he cares about that stuff, he just cares about being an immortal demon more. As Demon Lord I totally bet he would still have a civic affairs board to plan proper parades of his Torture Legions down Main St, the guy is Lawful Evil for real. In the same way, he totally saw Faith as an adopted daughter for his parody family dynamic. He wasn't gonna compromise his vision for it, but he didn't have to. Win-win.

[moon-swag-tourney]

The Final Match

Propaganda below!

Usagi Tsukino / Sailor Moon

In the name of the moon she'll punish you 

SHE IS THE ONE! SAILOR MOON! 

Fights for love and justice, the quintessential magical girl

IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, SHE WILL PUNISH YOU!

She is the Moon Princess. "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

She's Sailor MOON. Of the moon, in the sky.

I love her

she is simply iconique …. the pretty guardian who fights for love and justice … princess of the moon deeply in love with humanity … also id be kinda mad if some kind of magical girl didnt win this tournament

Possibly the most iconic moon themed character in existence 

Moon Knight

Moon Knight is an underrated character who's been around since the mid-70's, but has only recently gotten the more attention he deserves since the Disney+ adaptation. However, I am a firm comics supremacy believer and can attest he is even cooler in the comics. The current run (Moon Knight 2021) is the best he's been written in quite some time for example, as it's friendly to veteran fans and new fans alike!

Moon Knight is not your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man; he will fuck you up if you deserve it, and benefits from the fact that many villains are terrified of him.

Moon Knight is canonically Jewish, and though he is non-practising, it plays a major part in his story and identity.

It's also worth noting that Moon Knight has DID, with three identities: Marc Spector (host), Steven Grant, and Jake Lockley.

He's such an interesting and compelling character. The comics have spawned countless hilarious memes (I know you're here Dracula you big nerd wheres my money; random bullshit go; etc). The show was amazing, and Oscar Isaac acted his ass off

They are so cool; they're both canonically Jewish and have DID

One of the most unique superheroes out there due to being plural. Really cool, too.

I love him, your honor. I'd like to say more but the truth is I only watched the show and I will leave the propaganda to comics fans.

[geeksinhats]

Time for a rant that no one asked for

ok so today Sony announced that there next Spider-man related film is a movie about El Muerto staring Bad Bunny

Now I’m pretty sure most of you when you heard this news where like this

Now as someone who actually knows who this is because I read the comic he’s in, and being Hispanic myself I was like this

Yeah I’m not at all excited by this at all, if anything I feel insulted, this is Sony’s big Spider-man related announcement, a one off villain who only appeared in two issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, (literary all the images there using for the promotion come from those two issues) yes a side comic not even the main Amazing Spider-man comic, this is suppose to get us excited to see more of these Sony marvel movies, really.

And what makes this worse to me is that Sony is playing this up as a big diversity win, “The First Hispanic lead Superhero movie” and being Mexican myself I feel insulted, I can guarantee that no Hispanic nerds where asking for this, no one was asking for an El Muerto movie, and to think that this good enough to get that win is insulting, like we will just take anything

You know why Black fans love characters like, Black Panther, Luke Cage, and Storm, it’s not just because there black, it’s because there black and are cool, and so they can see themselves being cool as well, just being visible is not enough, we also need to be seen as cool, and appealing, and trust me El Muerto is not cool at all.

On top of all of this, Sony scraping past the bottom of the Spider-man barrel to find there Hispanic lead superhero movie is unnecessary, seeing as there are plenty of Hispanic/Latino Spider-man characters to pick from who are not only much more recognizable, but are simply much cooler than El Muerto

You have Miguel O’Hara AKA Spider-man 2099

You have Anya Corazon AKA Spider-girl/ Araña

You have Anton Miguel Rodriquez AKA Tarantula

Sony has all these amazing Hispanic characters at there disposal and they just choose not to use any of them, and instead choose the most obscure of obscure characters, if Morbious couldn’t get people in the theater, then what makes them think this will?

[bellaaldamas]

The show's male creator not only had nothing to do with the original film - he openly inserted his own OCs, Cassandra and Varian, into the story. Making Cassandra into his personal fetish (again, per his own admission; ironically, he stated that on Tumblr and the link to his post can be found in the Reddit break down I linked) and Varian into a vehicle for his misogynistic outbursts ("stupid women fell for that sad angry boy when they have my slim waist waifu fetish fantasy right there").

He and other writers and storyboarders (one of whom had no qualms admitting on social media they were pushing Rapunzel/Cassandra as a "couple") came on board not with intent to supplement canon with additional developments and conflicts that would logically tie into Rapunzel and Flynn's potential post-OG movie challenges. Such as Flynn's orphan background and the society not considering him worthy of Rapunzel while her family would have to begrudgingly follow those protocols. Rapunzel's trauma caused by 18 years of imprisonment and abuse. Her parents nearly executing Flynn without a trial - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

But they were never going to delve into any of those canon matters because they came on board to hijack a popular IP, shoehorn their OCs and write a low quality fanfic where said OCs are much smarter, "cooler" and more important than the leads.

Thus why instead of exploring Flynn's orphan background (and making the challenges he and Rapunzel would have faced for wanting to marry despite their different social standing) a central point of the series they gave us "marriage as a prison" narrative. So the male writer could have his waifu fantasy Cassandra suddenly prove she is "not merely" a rule abiding lady in waiting but a kickass girlboss. Who doesn't actually like dresses, knows all the hidden tunnels and passages in the castle and helps Rapunzel escape the "imprisonment" (the first time Cassandra replaces Flynn and overrides his role from the OG movie). "Imprisonment" this time comes not in the form of lifelong psychological manipulation and humiliation but in the form of Rapunzel's newly found privileged background and her loving boyfriend.

Instead of Rapunzel's trauma caused by Gothel being worked through and focused on the male writer went on to:

live out his personal Vendetta on a Frat Boy (following the footsteps of Lawrence from PatF);

admit he never liked Flynn or Rapunzel/Flynn (apparently projecting his own insecurities and wounded ego from interactions with frat boys and their popularity among women onto OG Flynn and viewing him as the ultimate quintessential image of a "brainless but pretty looking jock whom dumb women drool over");

turn Series Flynn into a comedic relief nuisance (the "vendetta" itself). While Rapunzel came to see marriage to him as a worse fate than the tower she had been locked up in (women have "finally learned" that jocks won't make them happy - they should have listened to male nerds, like the creator himself, who know they really want and need).

Rapunzel's kidnapper Gothel was no longer a clever, manipulative villain - the male writer made sure to exact revenge on the "bad bad women" too. So he retconned Gothel's villainy and made it not about selfishness and personal gain but about her lack of motherly skills (most sexist stereotype to ever exist in the media: having a female character be a villain because she is not motherly enough). And not even towards Rapunzel but towards Cassandra.

Cassandra, being male author's established fetish fantasy, replaced Flynn in the cheap rip offs of the scenes that were pivotal for Rapunzel and Flynn in the OG movie (Rapunzel tying Flynn to the chair scene was given to Cassandra, the climax with Flynn dying and Rapunzel crying was given to Rapunzel and Cassandra; while Flynn lay useless and incapacitated on the ground so that the male writer could finally put all the word's jocks in their place).

Then Cassandra replaced Rapunzel in the role of Gothel's biggest victim, as the writer implemented a "twist" that came straight out of the list of most common and most widely mocked cliches from Harry Potter fanfiction written by children in the beginning of the 2000-s: Cassandra being Voldemort's Gothel's daughter. Who obtains the ultimate power but then is redeemed because she is too badass and too pretty to be defeated and killed off.

This situation is starkly similar to Tomb Raider Reboot where the new developers never concealed their aversion to the original timeline and Classic Lara who made the franchise iconic, re-wrote her personality based on sexist and fetishist stereotypes, gaslit the audience into believing Classic Lara was just about her breasts and guns and passed off their creation as "more feminist". All while male members of the team got to safely implement their fetishist stereotypes including an attempted SA quick time event and all forms of torture p*rn.

It can be argued that Sailor Moon faced similar fate, as the male writers of the 90-s anime twisted the original idea of the female creator, Naoko Takeuchi, took away female centered and female power fantasy aspect of Usagi's storyline in particular and ultimately turned the anime into a Frozen-esque shame fest of a teenage girl. Who dared to have interests and priorities outside of the pressure and the Great Cause TM imposed on her without her consent. Naoko was understandably dissatisfied with the direction the 90-s anime took with her creation and distanced herself from the anime series mid-season 1. That's when the series completely went off the rails with the aforementioned shame fest and made Usagi's "romance" with Mamoru just as toxic as Series Rapunzel/Flynn except with Mamoru in Rapunzel's position of a condescending, neglectful party.

The Tangled Series case is worse because it is an "official sequel" and you have to accept the events of the series as "canon" preceding the wedding short. But seeing as it was written by people who had nothing to do with the OG film, openly disliked the OG film and retconned it for the benefit of their self insert/fetishist OCs it is safe to view it as no more canon than comic novels, coloring books and similar add ons. Except all of those add ons are still better written than this travesty.

Regarding Reddit, I only have a lurker account there to be able to read threads without restrictions. That place's toxicity and misogyny are well documented though I admit I am pleasantly surprised that the climate in the Tangled community on there seems to be increasingly changing and shifting to a more critical view of the series.

I read minds and I'm always right: platinum edition.

Apparently, the recent critical comments I have written about the Tangled Series, the motives behind the girlbossification of Rapunzel, assassination of her romance with Flynn, show's creators fixation on Cassandra and giving Rapunzel/Flynn's iconic scenes to Cassandra and Rapunzel, glorified abuser that series King Frederic ended up being and, not in the least, me comparing it to Joss Whedon's "male fantasy feminism" and egomania proves to be one million percents right.

According to this break down posted 3 whole years ago the Tangled Series creator was a self confessed simp of Cassandra (always intending to keep her as his creator's pet), an example of Whedon's-esque male feminism and a type who got involved with the fandom just to tell people how they should "read" his low quality, character butchering joke of a series. Including but not limited telling fans to normalize King Frederic's abuse of the character who had spent the first 18 years of her life being abused. And encouraging them to focus on his toxic OC Cassandra who took away all the other characters' screen time and replaced Flynn in laughably badly written rehashes of Rapunzel/Flynn's OG movie scenes (including the climax and "lying dead in Rapunzel's arms as she cries" rip off).

Best part is that people in the comments to that thread actually point out the glaring similarities between him and Whedon.

Progressives, forget Whedon, your new cult leader is unlocked!

After this piece of information I now give myself and anyone who sees this an official permission to not only not consider the Series canon but to see it for what it really is: a badly written, fetishist male nerd fanfiction.

[newtstesco]

How chaotic do you think the villains from smg3s plan to destroy smg4 because he felt like would be when they all hang out

i fucking LOVE this episode to little bits and pieces, so lemme go over how i interpret each character (since they don’t show up like ever i can just lie and make shit up abt them and no one can tell me i’m wrong)

bowser- OBVIOUSLY the dad friend, tho idk if he counts since he does get kicked out of the group towards the end, but generally if he suggests they should do something that isn’t super evil everyone’s usually down for it.

smg3- literally the only one that wants to do super evil shit, acts like he’s in charge so everyone just lets him be in charge, i won’t go into too much detail since he’s literally still around and mostly the reason why everyone still watches the channel. but anyways he’s a pathetic loser, cringefail guy

xboxfan996- such a silly little guy, literally does not care if they succeed in killing smg4, just happy to hang out with people

x- idk why but i headcannon him as russian do not argue with me in this anyways he spends the whole video trying to not posses people since that’s his main form of being evil so he’s just kinda super uncomfortable being out in the open and shit

the visitor/ silent guy- so literally in the original video he’s from (sm64 bloopers: the visitor) hes completely mute for most of the video so i’m just taking that as like, he’s absolutely mute the whole time and no one knows sign language so everyone thinks he’s weird, even though he’s probably one of the smartest people in the group

crazy chinese dude- he’s not very evil so he’s just there to be weird tbh, very confused since he’s technically not a villain, he just yelled at smg4 once for showing up at his house

john geyham- smug shithead i love him, greasy game show host. is constantly beefing with smg3 since he feels like he ripped off his color palette and that he should be in charge

robot clone- so like after he blew up, i realized that his graphic was hall 9000’s little red eye thingy, and that hall 9000 appears in another video as a villain, and hall 9000 shows up in the crystal when smg3 uses it to bring all the villains back, but he’s not in this video? so personal head cannon, i think robot clone and hall 9000 ended up in the same scrap heap and sort of reached a symbiosis that hall can hang out in robot clone’s brain, and robot clone has the processing power now to still function

bot- weird gay nerd, thinks he’s smarter and way cooler than everyone else, he is pretty smart since most of these people are pretty dumb but he’s still mostly like a weird middle schooler

crazy toilet dude- pretty amicable when you’re not mean to his toilets, he’s just some dude who likes toilets and is participating because he thinks everyone there is a loser who needs guidance

tђє ๓๏ภรtєг/pepsi- literally he couldn’t fit in most the places to be evil, so i’m assuming he just left and blew up some toads during the video or some shit, maybe terrorized glowshire or the whoop whoop kingdom

anyways they all live in bloopersville in a big house and commit evil atrocities (inconveniencing the community and being loud in public places)