#yes i made justice a little evil they can have it as a treat

[what-an-art-blog-huh]

Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. Some sooner and more cruel than others

[wonderjanga]

Funny idea a Fawcet entirely just being full of magical drugs and everybody just chilling I'm just imagining a spell here the Justice League get hit with a de-aging spelling Fawcet that are now just stuck in there convince know that he knows what he's doing tricks them to believe in that he has a form where he can turn into a kid and teaches them everything about Fawcet City like the police to get the best cereal with the most edible yummy drugs

And how to make soup and stuff from rainwater and a bag of magical drugs that he's like soup if you boil them right

The JL had gone to Fawcett as a surprise for Marvel. They all wanted to give him a special little gift. Though unfortunately, Cap had been caught up fighting an evil witch. So they stood to the side, in civvies, and waited. That was until a stray spell from the witch happened to hit them. Next thing they knew, all of them, excluding Marvel, were children.

Marvel: “It should wear off in about a day.”

Flash: “A day? We have places to be!”

Aquaman: “Are you sure you can’t do some magic and reverse us?”

Marvel: *little frown* “I’m sorry but I can’t.”

See, the thing is, Billy actually could. But he wanted to use it to his advantage. If he could get them to think that his Billy form is just a form he can take, then in the future if he ever gets detransformed, this could be a good excuse. Since all of them were children, he just let them back to his apartment and shazamed back to Billy. Here are a collection of wonderful instances of their time together:

Billy: “Here’s a favorite treat of mine.”*gets out some cereal and puts it in a bowl, with no milk mind you*

Flash: “No milk?”

Billy: “No?”

Flash: “You are a vile creature…”

Billy: “Am not! I just like eating it as chips!”

Flash: “Oh that’s less vile than I thought- Wait, but then what do you use tfor the milk when you want to actually eat it as cereal?”

Billy: “Water?”

Flash: “I take back my statement about you being less vile.”

Billy: “Shush. Go get a little plastic baggy of white powder from one of the cupboards.”

Flash: “Aye aye, Captain.” *salutes before zooming off and coming back with the little baggy* “This?”

Billy: “Yeah, thanks. This is my special ingredient. Just scatter a little bit over it-” *scatters it over like flour* “-mix it,-” *shakes the bowl so it mixes in* “-and voila!”

Flash: *leans over to look at it* “What is it? Powdered sugar?” *takes a piece of cereal and eats it*

Billy: “No, cocaine.”

Flash: *spits it out onto the floor* “Dude, what the fudge!”

Supes: *peaks his head into the room in concern*

Billy: “Aw cmon, Flash. What the buck, man?” *sounds disappointed and looking at the chewed up piece of cereal on his floor*

Flash: “What do you mean what the buck?! You just made me eat cocaine-laced cereal!”

Supes: “What?!”

Billy: “I didn’t make you eat it. You ate it before I could tell you what it was!”

Flash: “Only because literally no one would suspect that you lace your own cereal with a hardcore drug!”

or

Doctor: “Ah Billy! You have another sibling?” *looks at Bruce* “Golly, he looks just like Patrick Wayne’s boy.(Ref my posts mentioning how every Fawcitizen thinks Bruce is Thomas Wayne) And who are these other little friends of yours? Why’s that one green?”

Billy: “He’s a Martian. He can’t control his shape shifting stuff yet. Anyways, can I please get my usual dose doctor?”

Doctor: “Of course, let me just get that for you.” *leaves and comes back with a little baggy of meth*

Billy: “Is that methamphetamine?”

Doctor: “No, it’s magic methamphetamine! Blessed by some faeries.” *gives it to Billy*

Billy: “Thanks, Doc!” *sees him on the bag of meth* “You want some?”

Batman: “Mmm… Yes.”

MM: “Bruce?”

Batman: “I want to study it. What’s wrong with that?”

Then, Bruce, Billy, and J’onn got back to the apartment, Billy made them all some soup. Soup that was made with magical herbs. Herbs that had intense hallucinogenic properties to those who aren’t from Fawcett. So while Billy was feeling a mild euphoria due to the herbs, everyone else was flipping hallucinating.

Hawkgirl: *in a corner intently staring at her hands because she’s hallucinating hung waaaay to many fingers*

Flash: *running up and down walls chasing a hallucination*

WW: *hallucinating being a cowboy and running around with a piece of string trying to lasso GL

Billy: *sleeping peacefully in his bed*

They all passed out together in a kid sleep pile on top of Billy after all this.

[thesaltycat]

Possibly Hot Take:

Wayne Family Adventures is the correct canon and as a person who was raised on Batman, it's what got me back into the fandom, period. I get that people enjoy their gritty Batman, who hates everyone and is awful to his family, but that's not Batman. That's not the original Batman. The original Batman is the one who had "old-school" goofy programs on TV, aka the original 1960s Batman TV Program. The one that had goofy sound effects, and life lessons (and occasionally some slight drama). The original Batman is Batman: The Animated Series from 1992, where Batman's story is pretty much laid bare from the start. These programs show that you can have drama, and trauma, and not compromise a character by making him the antithesis of everything he is said to stand for. That's the Original Batman. That Batman lost his parents. Tragically. Horrifically. And because of that, his sole purpose in life was to make sure No Child EVER went through what he went through again. Every episode, he would get angry, fight a villain, put them in jail, but he would never kill. People seem to remember this half of him pretty easily. But they forget the second half. When a child shows up, that anger disappears. Because he cares about children, especially his own.

This is shown repeatedly through both series, and in many comic strips that ran at the time. A great example is the episode See No Evil from Batman: The Animated Series. In it, a little girl is almost kidnapped by her father, who is an Invisible Man, and Batman has to take him down. This episode is made all the more traumatic by the fact that the Invisible Man actually nearly succeeds in kidnapping his daughter, with Batman only being able to stop him last second, after the little girl realizes what is happening and becomes terrified. This ending is where you see the difference in how he treats villains, civilians, and children. Because in one second he's focused on taking out the bad guy, and the next he's focused on making sure that little girl is okay. And the episode ends by Batman visiting her at the window every night, to make sure she's okay and prove to her that she's protected, since that was the window her father used to access her.

A couple other good examples of Batman as a hero/friend/father are the Justice League (TV Series) and Young Justice (TV Series). Does he mess up a lot? Yes. Does he lack trust in people he should trust? Yes. It's literally a running gag/plot of the shows that he has a contingency plan for everyone on the Justice League and this translates to Robin having one for everyone in Young Justice. But, when he messes up, does he fix it? Also yes. He also cares for the kids in Young Justice, and for the kids they interact with in the Justice League. This is shown time and time again. Especially in the bond he and Robin have. Throughout Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League (TV Series), and Young Justice, Batman and Robin have always cared about one another. They've gotten into spats, and they're angry at each other occasionally, but that's how families work. You aren't always going to agree. But throughout it all, Robin always looked up to Batman, and Batman was always proud of Robin (even when he couldn't show it).

Here's where the trauma comes in:

Batman is going to screw up as a parent. Every single parent does. Especially when you're as traumatized as he is, and all of your adopted children/family are also as traumatized as you are. It is inevitable. But what differentiates Original Batman from the Batman that made me quit reading anything about him for years is the response. Original Batman would try to make things right. Because he would recognize that what he did had caused harm, and not only that, it caused harm to his children (and family). And he would hate that. So he would do everything possible to fix it, including working on himself and doing better. The newer age, grittier Batman doesn't do that. Because he's missing the very core of what it means to be Batman: caring about his family and caring about kids. This is why I left the fandom. Because that grittier Batman, is not Batman. He lacks the key piece of what makes Batman the character that he is. And it replaces that piece with drama for the sake of drama. No resolutions, no trying to be better, just hurt for the sake of hurt, and angst for the sake of angst. And I detest that. You can have drama without compromising his character. Joker is a murderous man who's gone insane, with the sole intent of hurting Batman and Gotham as sadistically as possible. That's been true since the 1960s Batman show I mentioned earlier. He would, and does hurt the Bat Family on a regular basis. And there are so many villains that do the same. Batman doesn't need to become one of them to "make the story more interesting". It already is. In fact, I'd argue that him staying true to himself and working with his family throughout it creates much more interesting dynamics than gritty Batman ever could.

And that's where Wayne Family Adventures comes in:

When I first saw WFA, I wasn't going to give it a chance. Because I'd been so burned by Batman Comics before that I didn't believe this one was going to be any better. But something made me give it a chance. Maybe it was the art style, maybe it was the fact that it was on Webtoon, I don't know. But when I started reading it, I was pleasantly surprised. And I was even more surprised to find out that it is a Canon (yes it is Canon, not Fanon) DC Batman Comic. Many people disliked the first season because it started out majority-wise as "fluff". However, if you cared to read past the first few episodes, more and more backstory started to pop up. Along with this, the "fluff" all connected. Because that "fluff" was necessary to break free of the shackles that the Batman franchise has been in for decades now. And for the first time, it showed the Bat Family with the heart of the Original Batman. The more you read, the better it gets, because the more fleshed out their world becomes. And it draws very important Canon from other franchises in ways that don't make it feel cheap. It also proves something that I think has needed to be proven for a long time; You can have substance in a story without it being entirely grim. Not only can you have substance, you can have deeper substance. Because the connections everyone in the Bat Family has to each other allows us to explore issues in a way they haven't been before. Through communication.

Spoilers below:

We get to see Jason go through a very large PTSD episode. And it isn't just "All people with PTSD are violent". In fact, the only one who thinks he's a danger to the world is himself. Everybody else recognizes that he's hurting, and that representation is enormous. We get to see insights into everyone's pasts and how it's affected them. In Season 3 (which is a fully fledged/connected arc, not "fluff"), we get to see how PTSD affects Bruce, and because he's on good terms with his adopted family, we get to see how it affects him and Jason, both similarly and differently, at the same time. We also get to see how Jason's previous death impacted Bruce and how that plays into the Joker's plans and Bruce's reactions to everything. We get to see Dick step up as Nightwing again, and his and Barbara's trauma, involving parents, the Joker, and having to go against someone you should be able to trust. We actually get to see Duke. And how all of this has affected him. We see how his parents being (currently) permanently "infected" by the joker has absolutely broken him in ways he hasn't yet processed. And how he can overcome it, while also leaning on the support of his family. We see how Damien's world-view is affected due to being raised by assassins, and how he slowly comes out of his shell the longer the series goes. We get to see wonderful examples of how loved ones can help bring us out of a crisis and back into a headspace that can do something about the situation, because sometimes brute forcing it won't work. And we get to see what coming out of a toxic relationship looks like through Harley Quinn, and how just because you're a different (better) person now, that doesn't mean the person you were before is completely gone from the minds of those around you. Bruce was still afraid of Harley when he was dealing with his PTSD responses. Because Harley Quinn did help the Joker do some really bad things. And Harley recognized that and understood.

Season 3 isn't over yet, and it's already done all of that and more.

And because of that, this series has singlehandedly brought me back into the fandom. Because it made Batman feel like Batman again. And it recognized that trauma is more complex than just piling darkness on top of darkness over and over again.

I want more people to give it a chance because it's done something genuinely special that DC hasn't had in a long time. And I think it could get so many Batman fans back on board who've been missing this version of Batman for decades, because it shows so well what Batman was always about. I also want newer Batman (grittier Batman) fans to give it a fair chance, because it has far more substance than many people will ever even care to look for. And that substance can do so much for people who empathize with characters like Jason, Bruce, Damien, Duke, etc.. As well as bring awareness about these topics to people who may not know anything about them, or only know a stigmatized version of these topics, especially PTSD.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Do you think Boscha should have been explored more or given a proper characterization instead of just pushing her aside or using her as a convenient threat? I don't think TOH acknowledged her or her feelings very much. And it spreads to the fandom too - I've met some truly awful fans who wanted her to die or be expelled or lose all her friends and family. Or all three. I do not think either the show or fans gave her fair treatment. She has kind of a low-key Belos treatment - hints are shown and it's clear to people deep enough in fandom that she's more than a flat bully, but the show chooses to keep her as a flat bully and not treat her as a person who may be traumatized from Amity suddenly snubbing her out of the blue and telling her to grow up and then everything that happened in the Collector's apocalypse. She's my favourite character, and I think part of it may be because I like the idea of her escaping everything and having a future she likes somewhere else. Preferably still in contact with Amelia and Cat and not with them refusing to speak to her ever again like so many seem to want. Has the literal child not suffered enough already, especially with them being turned to puppets?? She is going to have PTSD from everything, and that is a fact. She deserves to learn and grow and not be a punching bag for fans and characters in fan works to snub and beat up because the show did not do its job fleshing her out. And after Belos was stomped on, part of me can't help but wonder if Dana would endorse Willow beating up Boscha and her losing her friends and future too.

Justice for Boscha. She deserves more than this show.

Sorry to say, anon, but I barely remember anything about Boscha. While I sympathize with wanting to see your favorite character treated with more "respect" and as a deep character, sometimes, characters just fulfill a basic narrative role and that's it. And that's okay.

Since I can't adequately answer this ask, I've decided to outsource it. The following response is from @mdhwrites a certified Boscha fan: "NO.

I fucking love Boscha but absolutely not.

Honestly, if anyone wanted to have this, it should have been Amity. Commit to her being a bully. However, Boscha is a bit character who's narrative purpose is to make the audience further want her to abandon the entirety of her whole life for Luz. To make it so that it seems like literally everything to do with who she was before Luz was pure evil. As such... She honestly should have been LESS nuanced.

Kind of like Odalia, if you ask genuinely how terrible Boscha is, the answer is not really, including in relation to Amity. She follows Amity faithfully. Amity is the only person she doesn't mock, criticize or be cruel to. She doesn't target specific people for her bully tendencies, instead just being oppurtunistic of being fun. She never decided one person had to be eternally miserable like Amity did with Willow. Yes, there's Winging it Like Witches but that episode only functions if Boscha ALREADY DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WILLOW. She TURNED into focusing on Willow and by all signs would have stopped the intensity once Willow was no longer taking her spotlight. Yes, she's not the best person in the world but most people in Hexside, from what we can tell of her status as an outcast, would have said the same thing Boscha did about Willow: She's a failure and associating with her is social suicide.

I mean... I literally made a 300k story where Boscha became the main character because of the conflicts in the narrative intention and execution when it came to her character. I then added her as a major character to one of the longest things I have ever written, Little Miss Rich Witch kind of because they're right. Boscha has a lot of interesting elements going on with her that I can't tell if they were intended or not. They seem intended with S3 but even S3 makes her look terrible and is painful to watch as everyone discards her. The poster is just right that Boscha went through WAY fucking worse than Luz quite literally ever did. What Luz feared would happen to her if she told the truth, Boscha had happen to her following all the social rules that her best friend taught her or reinforced. What the fuck?

But again... Would that have made a better show? No. Boscha didn't actually have a place in this show besides as a punching bag. As someone to shirk blame off of from Amity, much like Odalia and hey, do you recognize that both of those characters are treated like they are somehow worse than Belos? Almost like Amity had a lot of fans projecting onto her which says TERRIBLE things about those people's unwillingness to recognize Amity's own monstrousness and willingness to just blame others? Amity is one of the most awkward elements of the show, given so much time and clear narrative direction with fucking awful execution that characters like Boscha suffer around her.

Boscha also suffers from TOH's "I'm not like other kid's shows" problem because other kid's shows would have written her more evil. Would have gone more over the top. They kept her grounded though because that's the more realistic and nuanced and 'mature' take. It's also just the worse one for your narrative."

[superfan44]

Why Sora Should be Treated the Same as Superman (An Opinion Piece)

As I get older, I'm able to look at various fictional characters more closely, understanding more about why they're so iconic. A few years ago, I gained a renewed interest in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, seeing why so many people love its story, characters, and of course, its crossover element with Disney and Final Fantasy. I want to take a little look at the franchise's main protagonist, Sora, shed a light on him if you will. I feel you could draw some similarities between him and the DC Comics hero Superman (aka Kal-El, aka Clark Kent).

Now, I know this may seem like an odd comparison to some of you, but personally, I think it does kind of make sense when you think about it. Obviously these two have very different personalities, backstories, powers, and motivations that drive them. However, both are kindhearted, optimistic heroes from humble beginnings, with a strong sense of justice and morality. Not to mention a desire to help others and do the right thing.

Their respective actions certainly speak for themselves on that front, as they each go about it in their own unique way. In the comic book All-Star Superman, one issue sees him fighting a group of lizard men invading from the Earth's core. Then, in another issue, we see him stop a depressed teenage girl from stepping off a building, giving her comfort and support. Yes, he's got super strength and godlike powers, but he's also considerate, compassionate, and gentle enough to offer a helping hand whenever needed. Superman is a hero who inspires the best in all of us. He is, as filmmaker James Gunn once put it, kindness in a world that sees kindness as old fashioned. Even though he lives on a planet he wasn't born on, he still aspires to bring hope to that planet, providing them a light to show the way. Krypton made him the man of steel, but Earth made him human.

There are moments in the Kingdom Hearts series where we see a bit of that kindness mirrored in Sora as well. One minute he would be cutting down Heartless with his keyblade, the next he'll be enjoying good times with his friends, old and new. Whether it's dancing around with Rapunzel in the Kingdom of Corona, visiting Winnie the Pooh and his pals in the 100 Acre Wood, or helping to make Boo laugh in Monstropolis. He protects the world order and fights against the forces of evil, but he's also having fun along the way. There's a playfulness to Sora, a big smile on his face that warms people up inside. He's a brave young man who can easily form connections with anyone he comes across. There are still hardships to face, but he perseveres through it, showing that deep down, there is a light that never goes out. Even when it seems like he's on the verge of giving up, his friends are there to inspire him and lift him back up, just as he had done for them. He follows his heart, which is, and has always been, his guiding key.

You could say that these similarities are due to the fact that Sora and Superman are very much archetypal heroes. Joseph Cambel's hero's journey cycle (which also heavily influenced Star Wars) can be seen in both of their respective journeys. Individuals from humble beginnings who venture out into the wide world ahead of them, encountering various allies, enemies, and obstacles along the way. The journey ultimately leads to the heroes gaining greater powers and becoming more than who they were before.

It's also worth noting that another thing Superman and Sora have in common is that sometimes they are both willing to take great risks in order to save the people that they love. In Superman: The Movie, the man of steel himself flies around the Earth at great speed, turning back time to save Lois Lane from an earthquake. In Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora uses the power of waking to bring back Kairi after her body was destroyed by Xehanort, sacrificing his own life in the process.

So, why do I bring all of this up? Because I believe that this is something that writers should keep in mind when tackling Sora, whether it's for fan fiction, comics, novels, etc. I've noticed this trend on the internet of people deconstructing the psychology of Sora and delving into the negative effects that his adventures have had on him. A few of them have even declared his optimism and playful smile as a form of "toxic positivity". While it does seem like an interesting idea, I feel like it's causing people to forget about why they love him in the first place. In some cases, there are those who end up going too far with that notion.

Not long ago, I stumbled upon a Kingdom Hearts fan fiction story titled Keys to the Kingdom. Basically, it reads as an alternate universe reimagining of the events of Kingdom Hearts 3. Even though it was well written, this version of the story gets extremely dark, depressing, and cynical. Not only that, but it also mistreats Sora in a somewhat disturbing way, portraying him as a tortured and tormented soul. While his arc in this does prove to be compelling at times, it was still very jarring, making for an overall unpleasant experience. The fic seemed to be so focused on beating this character down, so intent on having him suffer throughout, that it ends up losing sight of what makes him so endearing and likable. Or, to borrow a quote from the young keyblade wielder himself:

"You're so caught up in finding the shadows, you forgot about the light that cast them."

This doesn't feel too out of place with the "evil Superman" trend that was around for a period of time. The video game Injustice is a prime example of this, as it depicts Superman as a merciless dictator of a fascist regime, who rules with an iron fist and shows no compassion towards crime or his enemies. Even other creations like Homelander from The Boys and Omni-Man from Invincible are representations of this idea since they are basically evil Superman-types. Admittedly, I do give those two a little more leeway since they were made specifically for the stories they came from. They are not directly related to Superman other than having similar powers. Although this concept can be fun to tackle with an original character, I don't think it feels right to try to do it with the genuine article himself. That's not really who he is.

When making the first Superman movie back in 1978, director Richard Donner took it upon himself to do the big blue boy scout justice. He didn’t want the material to be treated with disrespect, nor to be seen as a joke. There's a word he used to emphasize this as a top priority: "verisimilitude". For those unfamiliar, the basic definition of it is the appearance of being true and real. Not only was that word hung up on the wall above Donner's office (which it was), but it also established the mission statement that many of the great superhero movies made in the years since then have followed:

Be truthful, honor the source material, believe in it, take it seriously.

This is the type of mindset that should be adopted by anyone who adapts any kind of preexisting work, especially when it comes to something like Kingdom Hearts. If you want a good example of how to write Sora in a way that showcases how great he is while also being faithful to who he is, there's another fan fiction story titled Starbound, created by my friend @skygent. An anthology with an overarching narrative mixed in, it uses the setup of Sora's disappearance at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 as a way to examine the impact that he's had on all of his friends and allies. In a deeper, meta sense, it offers an analysis of the connection that fans of the franchise itself have formed with him.

The stuff that has been written so far for this fic is absolutely amazing. In fact, it's what led to my renewed interest in Kingdom Hearts in the first place. It has pretty much what you would want in a story like this one. Balancing a sense of scale, mystery, and adventure, but also quiet reflection. Offering some fun little twists, but still retaining the core essence of what the source material is all about. Through this story, we see various characters (including some not featured in the games) learning of and reacting to Sora's disappearance, remembering their encounters with him in the past. Some of them are even inspired to try and figure out where he is, willing to doing whatever it takes to help find him and bring him back home. Here, they demonstrate just how much he means to them, just as they all do to him.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Sora should stay exactly the same. In a series like Kingdom Hearts, we want to see those characters grow and evolve. With the things that Sora has experienced throughout the series, and with where we will find him at in Kingdom Hearts 4, it'll be interesting to see where he goes next. At the same time though, we also should remind ourselves that people love this character for a reason. As this young hero embarks on his newest adventure, he shouldn't lose what makes him who he is as a person. Instead of pulling him apart, I think Sora is someone who deserves to be celebrated. To be treated with dignity and respect, just as Donner did for the last son of Krypton. In the same way we've celebrated Superman over the years for what he stands for and represents, Sora should also be recognized in an equally similar way. Their respective core values and good morals, all the stuff that makes them heroes. It's these things that turned them into pop culture icons who remain with us to this day. It's why they will continue to be icons in the foreseeable future.

Two beacons, shining bright in the darkness. Never forget that.

[sarroora]

Hey sorry to bug you but uhhh things aren't looking too hot in the good ol US of A right now because Mr. Overcooked Rump Roast is expected to win and basically has already

In my current situation I should be safe for a while but a lot of the people I know won't be

I'm hoping that whatever dumpster bonfire is going on over here doesn't affect Egypt too bad but shit damn I also thought that Kamala would win but look how that turned out, heh.

(You don't have to respond I just wanted to give you an update and some prayers ❤️🙏)

Hey dear ❤️ - no, please do, I too NEED to reach out and talk to people.

Like I only have a surface level understanding of how elections in the US work, but I know that the system is bullcrap. And yes, Trump’s a psycho so please protect yourself. The very idea that not every vote has the same weight at the end of the day is steeped in racism and classism but nothing surprises me anymore.

Really, if there’s anything the Zionist-American genocide against Palestine confirmed in clear light is how evil of a lie ‘western democracy and morality’ is. Like - the rest of the world already knew it for centuries (most of us endured long histories of abuse and settler colonialism since the Romans, after all) but now even people living in the west have their eyes open and no longer fall for the lies and propaganda. But it feels awful to be associated with what our govs are doing when we had NO choice in the matter.

GOD don’t get me started on Egypt - did you know that our complacent ‘leadership’ has allowed a ship carrying weapons to IsnotReal through our waters? People went nuts. Everyone is in a rage and feels humiliated that this happened.

Like here’s a short vid taken by a woman that went viral and even made it to foreign news channels. You may not understand what’s being said in the vid, but the people are aghast, and you can hear rage and panic and profanity all around. The lady recording could only keep repeating in utter disbelief, “you sons of bitches.” (Referring to our president and posse)

Yeah. Things are going to hell here overall. We as civilians are literally held hostage by a draconian military regime that’s throwing everybody in prison on one hand - including minors - and robbing people blind with unexplained ‘taxes’ and insane inflation on the other. The middle class is crushed. No economical reform and no jobs. And people go to prison for objecting - kidnapped by the police in the middle of the night and thrown in secret prisons across the country where their own families can’t find them.

The currency rate to the USD right now here is 1 USD to 50 Egyptian Pounds. FIFTY.

And it’s projected to reach 80 by the end of the 2024. EIGHTY. In less than 2 months. Shifting the blame onto anything else but the consequences of their own decision-making. All while the president and ruling class (military generals) are becoming wealthy and sit above the law. The justice system is in their pockets.

And guess what, Trump loves our guy. Why wouldn’t he, I wouldn’t put it past him that he do anything - even sell his own country and its people and the people next door in Palestine if Trump asked him to. And I’m sure Trump’s gonna push for Palestinians to be expelled from their land and settle in Egypt (which is another country Isnotreal is VERY interested in occupying next, btw) thus helping the Zionists fully take over what remains of Palestine and expand into Greater Isnotreal.

These freaks are insane, istG.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I heard of Harris, it’s not like she was gonna be much better than Trump. Just perhaps a little sneakier. US has treated Isnotreal as its 51st state for decades, it’s not like the politics of the country will change with her. Congress deals with Isnotreal as if it’s more important than America itself. Who’s given the title of ‘president’ doesn’t matter.

Until the US political system is completely changed and the settler colony that is Insnotreal is wiped off the map, we’re all gonna do what’s right in whatever small ways we can and be each other’s backs, even if we live on different continents ❤️.

[countriesgame]

I have to say. I don't mean to be rude, but I feel like some of these polls need some research from your part. Obviously, the fun of the game is having people submit what they associate with any given country, but a lot of the stuff people have been submitting is... a tad off.

I don't expect the average Tumblr user to know the intricacies of, say, Bulgaria or Kyrgyzstan, but I feel that's where a bit of better research from your part would go a long way. Like I know it's frustrating that there's not a lot of prompt submissions, but that's where you'd fill in, instead of doing stuff like associating entire countries with stuff like Harry Potter.

I also don't really understand what counts and doesn't count as a morbid topic, either? Some countries' polls were cool in that you deliberately avoided having terrorism and war be one of the possible prompts (I was the anon that thanked you for not including a cartel option for Mexico, once again many thanks for that), but then other countries are seemingly unable to shake that off, like Kuwait for example. It's also bizarre that you exclude Israel on account of current affairs but had no problem adding in Russia, despite the fact the Russo-Ukranian War is still ongoing and it has been confirmed they've enacted genocides in certain Ukranian cities.

It's also a little weird that the US poll was so negative when the other two comparable powers, Russia and China, got more positive choices. I get that English-speaking Tumblr is mostly American, but I'm going to be entirely real with you guys, as someone who isn't, the mindset of portraying yourselves as the world's devil is a facet of American exceptionalism. It doesn't magically stop applying to your ideology just because you think of yourselves as Satan as opposed to God. You should either commit to portraying imperialist countries negatively or treat yourselves like any other.

Sorry for the long post and for the scolding at the end, I just want to see this fun blog bloom into the best possible version of what it can be.

Believe it or not, I do actually do research, but you do understand that "doing research" for a blog, that is pretty much not important, is just... googling stuff. Yes, I could have added other stuff that wasn't HP related in the Bulgaria one, I chose it because I didn't see it as offensive per se, not like horrible associations people had for other countries, and it was the most mentioned thing by far.

Doing these polls take a lot of time. If I were to do more research, I would have to slow down the polls... a lot. And I think it's naive to think I could possibly do a good research for every single country. A lot of history is very intricate and deep and it would take me a lot of time to study... and then what? To determine myself what is important and what is not? As a foreign reading stuff in a language that is not even their own - because i can only read in three languages. I started doing this because I accepted that it was going to be imperfect. I do not have the time or the energy to do justice for every country, which was why from the very beginning I made it clear that it would be based on people's association and I would only censor what I thought was very bad. And guess what, I'm actually doing more than that. Many countries didn't have enough submissions to say 11 different things and I had to google, and choose - from what I personally think it looks more important from random websites like the country's wikipedia page or tourism information to what to visit in this country.

I do think the Israel situation is different then China and Russia, which is why I included it. It's not a "israel is evil, other countries are good" thing. I do not believe in "evil" powers. There are good people and good things everywhere, there are many horrible governments. I already explained part of my thought of not including it and I'm not going to go around discussing this again, because it was a decision I made, with what i was comfortable with. As I said, it was more of a solidarity gesture with Palestine than anything.

Lastly, please stop assuming I'm usamerican, I'm not and I've said it on this blog many times, so I don't enjoy your use of "you" to refer to me as I was was usamerican. I was not born in that country and have never lived there. When I started doing this, my point was that it would be nice to learn about other countries and share about their cultures. The US does not need this.

Other countries may be imperialists, yes, but in western culture the US dominates media in a way no other country does. I do not know if people in Asia, for exemple, feel the same way. I'm speaking for myself and, considering everyone who shares polls here is on tumblr, I'm going to assume everyone is used to a very US-centric view. This means we do NOT need to know about their culture, their cities, their monuments. God, we know about it already. So my choice to include negative options in the US was not "imperialism is bad", is the US doesn't need this.

I don't think, in a western view - that dominates tumblr - projecting Russia or China as "evil imperialists" is actually uh groudbreaking. That is literally what we hear the most. I did include things like imperialism in Russia, did not really include it in China because it was NOT as mentioned in the associations.

I'm sorry for this long ass answer, but doing this is very tiring. I am doing research and I am thinking of every single option and whether it is offensive or is it just a history fact, and is that a fun fact or is that even true, and hey that country doesn't have stuff let's see each of the single submitions stuff and see which one seems more famous or more adequate, and finding people who are from that country and talking to them and seeing if it is ok. And I do that because I care and I think learning about other cultures is very important and if at least one person is learning something about a different country is at least worth it. And maybe a lot of times that person is just going to be me doing the polls but that's okay too. And still every country I do there is someone in the tags angry at me because i either didn't include an specific thing or included something they didn't like it, even when it's knowingly what their country is most known for. If I try to care and worry about all of that, i am going to explode.

The very first week I started doing that, I was almost giving up because I felt it wasn't worth it. And my therapist said I should try to see it as an exercise to see people criticizing and being angry at me so I would get dessensitized in time (hey, can you guess that's a issue for me from this or what) and that would be good for me in other areas of my life. Clearly, I'm still not great at just listening and not being affected by that.

TL;DR: I am trying. I'm trying very fucking hard. But I am a human with a real life out of this, I don't have enough time. And I'm always trying to make decisions fast here so I won't just stop doing it. It's not always the best, but it's what I can do.

[queenofcats17]

hiii, uh, I guess if you're still up for taking requests, could you maybe do something with the 'Ink Demon Henry' au? it's a concept that I always found interesting (I think Henry should get to be a little fucked up and evil, as a treat) but there's hardly anything for it. The story would probably take place sometime in the cycle but that's all I've got

thank you if you do this :)

I've never heard of that AU, so I apologize if I don't do it justice. I also couldn't find, like, a base AU so I ended up kind of creating one of my own.

This'll take place in BATDR

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

"You and I are the same..."

Audrey flinched as the Ink Demon's voice rumbled through her mind.

"We're not the same," she said, gripping her pipe tighter as she wove through the strange labyrinthine office space.

"Oh, but we are," the Ink Demon purred, and Audrey could practically feel his breath on the back of her neck, his hands on her shoulders. "We were both made by him. Created only to serve his own selfish desires. Me, a vessel he could enact his pain and anger on. You...created to make him feel he wasn't as much of a monster as he knew he was."

"I don't know what that means!" Audrey tried to ignore the panic rising in her chest. She didn't understand why the Ink Demon's words were making her so upset. She didn't know either of her parents. This couldn't apply to her. There was no way.

"Oh, but you do." She could hear the smug smile in the Ink Demon's voice. "You know exactly what I mean. You've simply chosen to forget. Because you know what he is."

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!"

Was yelling at something that could kill her a bad idea? Yes, absolutely. Was she going to do it anyway? Also yes. But she needed him to stop talking. He had to stop talking. He was wrong. He had to be.

"Oh, Audrey...." The Ink Demon almost sounded paternal. "You cause yourself so much pain for him, but is it really worth it? What has he done for you?"

"Shut up!" Audrey covered her ears. She could already feel tears welling up in her eyes. Why was she crying?

Suddenly she heard her heart beating in her ears. And before she could hide, the Ink Demon was there before her. He towered over her, so tall his horns would have scraped the ceiling if it hadn't been elevated above the cubicles.

He stood there, seemingly regarding her, his arms folded behind his back. Audrey wanted to run. She needed to run. But she couldn't force herself to move.

"We could conquer this place together, you know," he said, his voice becoming softer. "This world should be ours, not ruled by men who see us only as playthings."

"I don't...I don't want to rule anything," Audrey managed to force out. "I want to go home. I don't want to be here! And I don't want to work with you!"

The Ink Demon tilted his head to the side. "I suppose you wouldn't, would you? Not when I look like this." He gestured to himself. "This form is a manifestation of what he made me into, but I suppose it can be...offputting. Let me make myself more presentable."

As the Ink Demon spoke, his form slowly began to shrink. Ink sloughed off of him, revealing a much more...human form. And as he shrank, the strange guttural tone in his voice faded away until he sounded...normal.

And when it was finished, a man stood before Audrey. He looked utterly ordinary, save for the black sclera in his eyes and the ink tears running down his cheeks.

Audrey couldn't believe what she was seeing. This couldn't be real. The Ink Demon couldn't just be...a man. He looked so normal. Like someone's dad.

"I guess I should reintroduce myself," he said, smiling warmly at Audrey. "My name is Henry Stein."

"Henry...Stein? The...co-founder of Joey Drew Studios?" That couldn't be right. It couldn't be.

"Well, not the real Henry," Henry clarified, his smile becoming more of a snarl. "But a facsimile of him, created for Joey to take all his anger out on."

Audrey stared at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"You see, this place was originally created as Joey's little torture story," Henry explained, beginning to walk around Audrey. "A story where he could take out all his frustrations on all the people who wronged him. A story where he could make his best friend suffer for leaving him. Again. And again. And again." For a brief moment, horns rose from his hair and his voice dipped back into the Ink Demon register. He quickly reverted to "normal" though, continuing to pace and speak.

"I was forced to go through the same story so many times I lost count," Henry continued, his genial smile returning. "Just because Joey was angry the real Henry left him. And I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I got tired of it pretty quickly."

"Were you...always the Ink Demon?" Audrey asked. She had so many more questions she wanted to ask, but that was the only one she could ask at the moment.

"Oh, no." Henry shook his head. "The Ink Demon used to be the force Joey used to torment me. There was a way things went. The Ink Demon chased me, and I ran. We were both shackled to our roles, forced to act out Joey's story until he got tired of it. But when Wilson took over..." He paused in front of Audrey, meeting her gaze. "Both the Ink Demon and I had a vested interest in standing against him. And since our roles didn't apply anymore, we decided it would be better to work together."

"But why are you fighting Wilson?"

"Because he's a tyrant," Henry growled, the horns and Ink Demon voice returning. "He's no better than Joey, trying to force his will onto everything and everyone."

"He's not a tyrant!" Audrey insisted.

"How do you know that for sure?" Henry asked, once more looking normal. "How well do you even know him?"

"I..." Audrey faltered. "I just...He can't be bad!"

She didn't even know why she was defending him. Maybe because he was the only person she knew here? He was the only person she could think of who might be able to send her home. He...He had to be good. If he was good, she'd be able to go home. She needed to be able to go home.

"And why's that?" Henry gave a cruel little smile. "He brought you here, didn't he?"

Audrey's mouth abruptly snapped shut. Wilson...had brought her here, hadn't he? He'd been the one to drag her into the ink.

"I don't know why he brought you here," Henry said. "But I guarantee, it isn't for anything good."

"He...He can't be bad." Audrey's voice was small. "He's my only way home..."

Henry's expression softened and he walked forward to cup Audrey's face in his hands.

"What's waiting for you out there?" He asked gently. "What do you have to go back to? There's so much more for you waiting here. We can rule this place together. No one will be able to hurt us ever again!"

Audrey's tears, which had mostly dried by this point, started up again. She was so tired. She hadn't even been here all that long and she was already so tired. She just wanted to go home.

"I don't want to be here," she whimpered.

"I know it seems scary now, but it could be wonderful!" Henry looked so hopeful and earnest. "No one would be able to hurt us again! We could make things better for everyone too!"

"I just want to go home!" Audrey pushed Henry away from her. "I don't want to be here! And stop talking like you know me! You don't know anything about me!"

Henry stumbled back, his back hitting a support beam. He didn't look angry, as Audrey had expected he might. Instead, he looked sad and disappointed.

"I understand," he said, hanging his head. "You're not ready to confront the truth yet."

"There is no truth!" Audrey yelled. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Whenever you're ready, I'll be here." Henry stepped back, the ink reforming around him until he was the Ink Demon once more. "We don't have to be enemies."

"Of course we do! You're a monster!"

But the Ink Demon, no, Henry, was already gone, leaving Audrey alone in the office to collect the drawings for the Lost One.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Audrey muttered to herself, snatching up a piece of paper.

But deep in her heart...A seed of doubt had been planted. Henry had spoken with such certainty. He'd said that they had both been created by Joey. That they'd both been hurt by Joey. But that couldn't be right.

Could it?

[rielzero]

Marvel's Midnight Suns Deserved Better

I finally finished my second playthrough of this game, with all the dlc. On stream, and after a disaster dumpster fire of the game and stream obs lagging as hell, I just want to jot down all my thoughts.

Marvel's midnight suns is a perfect example of the modern gaming scene and why it's failing so many gamers.

The core concept of this game, the story, voice acting and gameplay are great and fun- but it has so many fucking problems.

From being visually buggy as hell- to optimization issues in the final fight- characters having soulless faces and textures going missing at random.. To the DLC and the price tag.

If you buy legendary edition, for 99,- (season pass, plus all the extra cosmetics) I'd say its not worth it.

The dlc add 4 characters, one of which has a bugged steam trophy- It adds extra story missions (which are fun, but they don't add much more than there was) and some more cosmetics for those characters.

Out of every dlc character, Storm felt the least developed. Storm has a similar problem to Steve in this game- in which their personalities are not really shining, and reduced to a singular character trait they have. The voice acting not being the problem- but the writing. While I can remember Venom's story, Deadpool's banter, and Morbius' emo shit making me laugh and tear up like hell- Storm really deserved better. All I can recall is saving the morlocks and doing one final mission were she happened to also be.

Steve is ''Mr leadership man''- Storm is ''hold your emotions in'' Lady.

Villains and dialogue- all the little things in the cinematics. It was great. You really care for Wanda- You worry about Hunter and their horrible family dynamics. You're concerned for Tony and the avengers when the Hulk gets caught- You mourn with the midnight suns when Wanda screams ''You will never hurt me again''

Corny superhero banter (which i love, but sometimes repetitive mid-battle lines get old.), cute evil devil doggo. Very sexy mephisto. Magik is frigging awesome. Blade x Captain marvel- Epic frigging final moves- and cool fighting animations. This game has so much going for it.

Sometimes dialogue will not match the subtitles, I assumed at first this is because you have a female / male voice actor depending on the bodytype you pick- so the dialogue must be different yes? But no- even all the other heroes have mis-matching subtitles to different dialogue lines. It's minor things usually- Like a word or sentence being said very differently than how its written.

But its essentially a cashgrab with texture bugs, deadpan doll expressions- visual glitches (enemies not disappearing after they're slain sometimes), copypasta idle animations and bodytypes- the further you go in the game, the more there seem to be of these little things. First they're funny- then it gets a little too distracting.

This game had all the building blocks of a great game, but it comes with the typical dlc problem too- and just doesn't deliver. It feels very empty promises eventually. It drops a nice typical after credits cutscene that teases Dr Doom and a potential sequel. And I wonder if there's even going to be one at all. Or an expansion instead.

I love each and every character brought into this game. (except for Steve and Storm, they just weren't done much justice.) This game made me like Captain marvel while otherwise I dislike how she is portrayed personality wise in other media.

The final mission should've felt like the most epic conclusion- and by how laggy and sparkly it is it feels like it just explodes in your face with what its been build up towards. A child and mother reunite- but they meet an open end. All after defeating the longest- laggiest- spammiest battle.

It's quirky, it's silly. It's got all the feelings. It has cool things in it and yet it feels very cheap. It should've been cheaper. But its still treated as a finished product. It did not feel finished. Even if I loved and enjoyed this game to the end.

My stream recording literally contains frozen visuals while the audio is in tact. I can't even. Sure my pc isn't the best but this is beyond absurd.

Voice acting 9/10 Majority of characters are great- everyone has a fitting voice. Some lines could've been better. Characters will banter and sometimes have unique dialogue for certain team combinations but not much.

Writing 7/10 A bit corny and predictable at times, but enjoyable nonetheless. Flawed stories tend to be easier to absorb and follow- Superhero stories follow such recipe. Wish they added pronouns- To save on voice line costs they made hunter standardly nonbinary regardless of bodytype- so Hunter only has ''they/them'' pronouns. Isn't referred to as son/daughter, only child and gender neutral terms. This is completely fine, but I personally like to be able to customize my character more. This game offers no romance- but hints that Wanda may have a crush on the player character. You can't tell her you're not interested but you can joke that you're a couple with one dialogue option.. (I tend to make my PCs gay because I am a gay dude myself.) The lore they used for this game was really intriguing. Chthon and Atum have some more appearances in the comics from what I can remember, so learning about The Blood and the Old gods mythology in particular in the game's universe did make me really like the backstory they gave the PC. Caretaker x Agatha lesbian witch moms. The hunter has three mothers canonically if you don't think too hard- but both Caretaker and Lilith are horrible people lol. Wanda is definitely the best character in this game, if not for the rest of the midnight suns- (Nico, Robbie, Blade and Magik are AWESOME) The avengers are here too, but they don't outshine the rest. Oh- and spider-man gets kind of adopted into both groups.

Gameplay Loop 6/10 Combat! It's fun and challenging sometimes but gets eventually and quickly repetitive. At some point you'll get more and more copypasta enemies with just different textures slapped on and similar animations. The DLC enemies are not worth it and don't offer much more. The dracula boss fights were the most interesting and felt a little rewarding once dealt with. Exploring the abbey with stale walking / running animation does not feel smooth. Crafting potions or items doesn't feel like it adds much sometimes. I've not used items often in my gameplay. The chests make me wonder if at some point they wanted to put more micro transactions in this game.

Pricetag 2/10 Honestly- Get it on sale. Big sale. Legendary edition is not worth it. DLC does not add much to the core gameplay unless you really want those character interactions and dialogue. The side missions are fine story wise, but they aren't attached to the main campaign. Deadpool and Eddie have the most additional dialogue during abbey time and other interactions- Morbius has unique dialogue during a very few main story quests- and Storm just has the least. They slipped in the morbin' time meme.. I just.. PFFF its time to morb everyone- 20 bucks worth at least. If not less.

TLDR Game funny, characters great, fun but very repetitive, very buggy, not worth 99 euros- 20 maybe, stop making dlc with texture swap enemies please. I love deadpool. Great design but very unpolished in places.

[yiga-hellhole]

here is the rant of the day

i think people who are disappointed with zant being an "incompetent" madman who, at the end, is ditched for ganondorf as the final boss and his last moment being the neck snap, are definitely onto something, but also maybe discrediting his actual weight in the story. so here goes a ramble about MY onions

so, yes. what made zant amazing for 90% of the game is that he was a completely new villain, who frequently displayed his prowess in magic and did absolute bullshit for little to no other reason than to break midna's spirit. he was scary. he was great. and then at the end he turns out to be mundo silly, awful at combat, and a lackey to ganondorf

and at first glance this is disappointing. but i think it also builds up

what twilight princess crafts is an incredibly power-hungry man who, through some dark miracle, *gets* the power, and achieved what may once have been a noble goal (free the twilit people and bite back at Hyrule for treating them like prisoners and their home as their personal trash dump), but executed so twistedly that any good has turned rotten. not just because of ganondorf's corruption, but because it was always more about revenge and power for him, and not a true justice

and that paints his motives decently well i think. then, what we have to know, is that zant is an unstable, selfish, childish figure. he is incredibly clever, but if it doesn't go as he wants, or if it doesn't go as he expects, his composure shatters at the drop of a hat. this is before and after acquiring the smidge of the triforce of power that ganondorf gave to him. the only reason we didn't see *much* of it before the finale, is because EVERYTHING was going according to plan, or at least, to the degree he could easily deal with it. even when stealing the Fused Shadows back from midna after the water temple, you already see him crack a bit in his composure, when midna questions him. he gets mad easily. he lashes out easily. and he slips up easily. but at that moment he so vastly overpowers anyone in the room, it's completely not a threat to him. only when link and midna manage to get to the castle does it become abundantly clear to him that he's met his match, and it is even MORE clear that he never actually received combat training, and has to wildly whip out everything he has up his sleeve in the hope that it kills his opponents. a powerful, powerful idiot at his core.

then there's the issue of ganondorf "appearing out of nowhere". also not entirely true! for most of the game it's made abundantly clear, which he even confesses before Lanayru, that his power is not that of the twilight people: it is his "God's". at that point it should be obvious that, this is a Zelda game, it's gonna be Ganon. and if he's involved, he's always going to either backstab or pat his goonie on the back so he can shoot his shot at killing the hero for this cycle. and considering this was Zant - who HIMSELF wanted to become King, and likely wasn't going to give up that throne should his God manifest physical form, simply doing away with him was the most convenient course of action. discarding Zant wasn't just a choice the game developers made because they wanted Ganondorf to be the boss, it is completely in line what Ganondorf would *want* to happen, as a character.

and that brings me to the neck snap.

singlehandedly the most badass thing to happen to any villains in zelda games

but i digress!

so let's look back to the throne room scene of zant's death. the one where he brags that even if the heroes should kill him, his all-powerful god will simply resurrect him right back. the two are bound by soul through their shared use of the triforce of power, and he is absolutely CONVINCED that ganondorf values his services and will reward him.

ganondorf does not. he mocks his lackey, and sits right down in the throne that zant fought for, the spot of the twilight and hyrulean king of evil.

and zant picks the absolutely most narratively interesting moment to show his face again. when link properly defeats ganondorf, his access to the triforce of powers begins to fade. however, because part of that triforce has been dedicated to someone else as well, he still continues to live, though weakened. when staggering and pleading for more power, the only way he can reach out to the source of his power is right where he had given it: his soul bond to our very own Zant. his spirit, too, was being kept "alive" by the triforce, and so long as one of them lived, the other could, too.

given that what was keeping him alive was noncorporeal, i don't think link could have actually killed him himself. the shard of triforce was still bound to him, and ganondorf was pleading to it for more power, to keep him alive. and zant, hovering there after knowing that his God had used him for his own gain, and abandoned his promise to revive him and grant him the title of twilight king, heard that plea, and decided that the only proper response. was a, "FUCK YOU! DIE!"

and that made zant the only villain, to this point, to kill the bearer of the triforce of power. a response of pure vengeance, pure spite, killing HIMSELF only to make sure it drags that jacked old man down to hell with him. it perfectly rounds off his character, by giving him a selfish act of vengeance to perform one last outrageously powerful act that only he could do.

AAAAND SCENE! thank u for reading :3

[gyubby99]

@disneyanddisneyships love this for them

Cause yk what's the difference between Mal and Venice?

Mal will know when she's gone too far, and she'll stop

Venice will know when she's gone too far, and she will go EVEN FURTHER, because the little humanity Mal even had? Gone.

Mal is BAD. Venice is EVIL.

Cause I feel like people refer to certain characters as "Evil" when all they did was be angry and merciless to only ONE person, and most of the time it is RIGHTFULLY SO. They are most of the time just.. ANGRY. But angry doesn't necessarily have to mean "evil".. because it takes a whole lot to be one.

So I don't necessarily think that Mal is evil. She's just bad. Mal still feels empathy for most people in hell. Mal still chose to be kind-ish to people. Kinda like angel dust! He's not a good person, but he's not evil either!

Venice can choose to be kind to others but she DIDNT. She only cared about Vox and all the power she got out of both the demons and HIM.

Mal used her trauma as a reason to not hurt other people and instead give them justice

Venice used her trauma as a reason to be a bitch to others for no reason, because she feels very entitled to do so.

Because at the end of the day, villains can make themselves. Mal is a bad guy, but Venice is a VILLAIN.

With a capital V, which is ironic.

I think out of my "Villain ocs", Venice was the epitome of "morphing into a villain". Cause if you've read that one reblog chain, she mocks aponi's belief that everyone can change. She calls her weak to the point where she almost treats her like a child. Okay, yes, let's say they were once best friends, but Venice has no pure intentions in that conversation. She was persuading aponi to make a deal so she can gain more power.

She thinks that with Aponi's mindset of believing everyone can change, she is too kind, weak and vulnerable to be in hell and that she can be easily manipulated. And being her best friend was the icing on her cake.

She stopped caring about the world the moment it stopped caring about HER. And more likely, she's partly using Vox to keep her status, while also getting along with him in a pretty romantic way.

Like I used to hold back Venice's potential because I don't want to break her and aponi up, but like I said, I feel like my ocs are their own people and I only control their story. Like.. I always think about what they would do, what choice would they make and I'd cry because I feel like they're possessing me at the moment. I feel for every character I have, and I know their story and what they are going through. The ones that made me tear up a lot was Venice. I think about her rage a lot and it sometimes feels heavy that I cry.

I love Venice with my whole heart and that doesn't mean excusing her actions.

PS: I think the last time I wrote a villain arc is when Emma literally morphed into one after Alicia. Emma was truly evil at that time. When she hurt innocent demons, when she tried manipulating theo? The difference is that she felt like she HAD to be a villain.

[paigeoforacle]

Alright, how did the Barbara and Witchblade thing happen?

Alright, I promised I would explain if I got this ask, so I am going to do so. Even if it's relatively brief due to my lack of knowledge of the Witchblqde series, I hope this is at least a good start.

So, for a little bit of context, the original Witchblade series was run by an imprint of Image Comics called Top Cow, and has a few connections to other Image properties like The Darkness. Said Witchblade is a powerful evil gauntlet that was created by The Darkness (if you ever played the PS3 games of the same name, Jackie Escarado and the Darkness are from that) that takes female hosts and turns them into lethal warriors known as Witchblades, who are also corrupted by the dark forces of the weapon to sew untold destruction (though this can be fought against by many of the more longterm hosts it seems).

It also comes with outfits that could only have been made in the 90s.

Anyway, for a crossover with the Justice League, we are shown that for this crossover, Sara Pezzini is a close friend of a leaguer, who takes her to the watchtower to get medical attention as soon as possible. That Leaguer? Barbara Gordon.

Gotta say, Babs looks good here, even if I am surprised at how auburn her hair is.

So, connection established, we get some moments where the League are discussing the nature of Sara being there, with Babs standing firm for her friend. But, here's the problem. The Witchblade can transfer hosts, usually to continue its bloodthirsty rampage. In the story, it possesses three women. No prizes for guessing who's first.

Arachnophobes, beware.

Yes, when Babs gets the Witchblade, the weapon decides to turn her into a giant fire breathing spider monster who... apparently magically bonded to the internet? Literally? The fact that this is one of three instances of Babs becoming superpowered and using it on computers is surprising. As a note, usually to remove a Witchblade from its host you have to kill them. Especially if they bond real nice. But in the story, for plot reasons, Babs does survive and is shown later on having fun with Sara. The Witchblade, however, would continue to be a problem.

Especially considering who the final host is.

Now, sadly this is where the story ends for now, as I need to find this story to get a full Synopsis, but this is more about how bonkers the whole Babs/Witchblade thing was. And some surprising silver linings.

See, while she gets turned into a magical fire breathing spider monster, this is temporary. The Witchblade doesn't fix Babs's paralysis, and from what I can tell, it's not treated as a Bad Thing(tm). Which is actually both surprising and good to see from a series like this. Keep in mind, the Witchblade titles were more mature and seemingly in line with one of Image's darling children, Spawn. So bear that in mind if you choose to track this crossover down, or want to read the Witchblade comics for yourself.

And for those wanting to know what to look for?

This is one of the covers for the run. I believe there are 8 issues total.

So that concludes a rather bonkers period of time in a wild DC/Image crossover. Hope you guys had fun! And thank you @salad-juice-enjoyer for the ask!

[courtneysmovieblog]

The live action “Little Mermaid” is great, get over it

If there’s one thing all the backlash of The Little Mermaid has proven, it’s that the Disney fandom has gotten pretty toxic. And I’m not just talking about all the racist tantrums over Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel.

Are the live-action version of cherished animated films necessary? Of course not. Are the CGI versions of characters we know and love weird-looking? Yes. Are some of the story changes dumb? Yes.

But do not treat the people that actually enjoy them like they’re any less of Disney fans as anyone else. People are allowed to like whatever they like without being accused of somehow betraying the original films.

That being said, while I have enjoyed most of the live action movies, warts and all (with the exception of Pinocchio and Lady and the Tramp because they sucked), I can honestly say that the new Little Mermaid is probably the best one to date. Say what you want about Rob Marshall, the man knows how to do a musical.

From the very second we heard Halle Bailey sing “Part of Your World” in the trailer, we knew she was going to be awesome. And she’s more than just that beautiful voice, she plays Ariel with all the passion and fearlessness that made us fall in love with her back in 1989. It’s ironic that critics are quick to dismiss her version of Ariel as “too feminist” when the character has been unfairly derided as antifeminist for so long.

Also in her favor is her amazing chemistry with Jonah Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric. As much as we loved the animated version, it was a necessary change to flesh out their romance more than just love at first sight. Hauer-King, for his part, gives Eric more depth than he had in the original, and the scenes with them interacting are what really make the movie great.

Melissa McCarthy--I never doubted her for a second. For once, Disney didn’t screw up their classic villain. This Ursula is even more evil than before, and fabulously so. She doesn’t just chew the scenery, she eats it up and leaves no crumbs to be found.

Regarding Flounder and Sebastian and Scuttle: just ignore the CGI. Daveed Diggs is a delightful Sebastian--his version of “Under the Sea” is a blast. Jacob Tremblay is a perfect Flounder. And love or hate Awkwafina, she made me laugh as Scuttle. You’re going to have to come to your own conclusions about her solo song though.

The lighting is nowhere near as dark as some people were complaining--or perhaps it just looks better on the movie screen. And while the underwater scenes may not be realistic, it’s lovely to see all the bright and colorful sea creatures.

The Little Mermaid shouldn’t be dismissed as a pale shadow of the animated movie. It’s a fun movie on its own, and it was obviously made by people who love everything we love about Disney classics. Don’t let the racists, nitpickers, and overall killjoys stop you from from enjoying it.

But if nothing else, this is definitely Halle Bailey’s breakthrough role. And if there’s any justice in the world, she’ll be swimming in more casting offers very soon.

8 out of 10

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Watching Con O'Neill's old stuff cause it's fun. Day #? Soldier Soldier S06 EP.09 Asking for it (Con's Conography. 1996)

In future if you want to read all of these posts, I've added the tag 'Con's Conography'. Now they're all in one nice spot!

Warnings for: Sexual assault/rape (committed by Con's character), abuse of power within the military structure, assault, abuse of power, sexist comments(what you would expect from the military).

Should I watch this before reading this? Is it worth it?:

Con plays a military official who abuses his station, sexually assaults a female private under his care, and semi-gets away with it with barely a scuff on the wrist in the end.

It's a really fucking good story about how women are treated in the military. Especially victims of sexual assault. He uses his power to try to get her kicked out. When that fails, he knows they're onto him. Without much evidence, he can't be prosecuted so he asks for a transfer, which he receives. He's not a repeat offender, his first assault happens mid-way through the episode, but he's a fucking jackass who couldn't take no for an answer. They give him internal reasons why he thinks he didn't go too far, and it is very real. If you're still interested, watch it.

Again, cause I went into this fully blind I will be saying whoreish things about Con. If you just look at his costumes, he has some 'hot' ones in this if you don't know what he does. If you look up Soldier Soldier a good chunk of it is people rebloging hot photos/gifs of Con without context.

He did this 1 year after Scarborough Ahoy and basically has a shorter haircut. Still in the 'hot young Con era'. They literally throw him into a pool fully clothed for fucks sake. After the scene happens, my tune changes. I promise. Again, they don't define him as a man with a history of assault, but Con's character is definitely the type to think 'I only fucked up once, I'm still a good person.' just fucking gross.

If it's too much skip around my live reaction and jump to the end for my final thoughts.

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

So, military. Should have guessed based on that title. This intro is very 80s for the 90s. If they kill anyone I'll kind of be surprised.

CON! IMMEDIATELY!

Angry swim coach Con, yes.

God, he pulls off military type so well.

"If you've got the energy to smile, go give me a few more laps." HELL YEAH.

God, I know that's his voice, but god it sounds like it hurts.

I hate military types...so much.

This bike tampering is dumb, and dangerous, and is going to get both of them beat up. Also, these men(E-1 privates) 'respect' women more than any vet I've met.

I'd be entertained by that shit. And fucker seems like an ass so might as well give it to him.

Con looks huggable in that jacket. It's a nice soft blue. Love it.

CON IN A HAT! With a little feather.

"I never thought of you as a romantic!" GOD FUCKING DAMN IT. Can he just be evil? Or a douche? Every single fucking project this guy needs to be sad and lonely, wanting a friend/lover. Hurt by a past relationship and just wanting justice in his life. Don't get me wrong, I eat this shit up with a goddamn spoon. But Fucking HELL. EVERY CHARACTER?

HE'S DIVORCED. THAT MEANS HE'S AVAILABLE BABY. "There's only room for one woman in my life, I joined the army, she made a man out of me." I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE.

ALSO THAT CARDIGAN, AHHHH. It's obviously cheap military clothes, but god.

CON SMILING BABY!

(The young couple we've been following all episode) They're a cute couple (I say, a military brat that got out before I was 10. They'll fuck, have a kid, and be just as unhappy as anyone else on base. Divorce before their kids fifth birthday. Love that)

OHH I think I've seen clips of this scene!

ROBERT! THEY GAVE HIM THE NAME ROBERT. :) Funny in an Ironic way. He couldn't find a date? If he's a teacher then he probably doesn't leave base often, and a divorce? This man is going to be relationship adverse as fuck.

Also, parental issues be damned, he looks nice in uniform

I love that he got all up in his space, and Robert just looked fucking dead inside. Then he ruined his meal.

Also, please tell me he isn't going to fucking go after a woman in his charge. :). Please. Fucking please. I'm holding on by the edge of my rope, if he takes advantage of his subordinate, I will be pissed.

God, Con's speech around 12:30 sounds like a good ol' time.

BOB. I know it's a shortening of Robert, but Jesus fuck.

Also, this amount of restraint is admirable. He should have gotten screamed at.

We as the audience are probably supposed to think he's an ass. Nah, he didn't humiliate him in front of the other officers, held his ground when he thought he was being made fun of. This is just good leadership. Izzy Hands could fucking learn a thing.

Bitch, he would have already heard about them fucking. The gossip would have been spread by lower-level officers. This 'damn, she got away' thing shouldn't work.

OOooooo sexist Con line. Don't like that.

Small break to talk about a fun real life military thing.

His point about some people getting ahead by passing tests is a real thing many in the military resent. (In the US you go up an E-4 on day 1 if you have a bachelor's degree in anything, to Corprol. Hell, depending on if you were reserves you could go up higher, when most start as E-1). This motivates some to join up even after they could get a job away from the civilian world. If you are poor, you're fucked. Take the long way around and don't get good pay.

Personally I see what Robert is saying here to be the main thing Izzy holds a grudge with Stede over. Stede was able to purchase being a captain where as he had to fight for it. Possibly die for it.

Now, back to this episode. There are bullshit and bigoted reasons behind this belief, not just class-based. It's used to say why women shouldn't serve, etc. Con's a sexist pig here and says these same reasons. It is exactly the reason I never followed in my family's footsteps. In male-dominated fields they will 9 times out of 10 treat you like shit. BACK TO THE SHOW.

Robert, if you fucking assault this woman I will reach into the screen and murder your ass.

Okay, a drunken apology is fun. Jackass trying to get in her pants.

EWWWW.

Forced attempted kiss/assult.

Don't like this. Mam, just scream close to the doors if you feel uncomfortable. Jesus Christ. OH THAT'S FUCKED UP.

Okay, he's forcing himself onto her. Gross.

Also, real-life examples of abuse of military power.

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S EMBARRASSING TO PAY FOR SEX, RAPE ISN'T BETTER YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE

He assaults her here.

Hey, you remember when I didn't want con to be in roles where he wasn't sympathetic. NOT LIKE THIS. This is actually one of the worst things you could have made him do.

BEAT HIS ASS UP. (This is around the 40-minute mark.)

I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF HE'S HIGH RANK, IM SWINGING.

This is where I started skipping around, thus why the rest is so short. It's all too painful and real. He's called into the office to answer for his crimes and bluff.

He threatens her in private, and thinks that he's going to get away with it.

Again, the military is in to protect their ass, but it's good to see the woman investigator standing up for the victim.

OH GOOD, FUCKING KILL HIM (he's almost drowned from the victims boyfriend, but gets stopped).

So, at the end of the day. There's not enough evidence to put him in jail or kick him out. She's left traumatized, and Robert gets away with some glares and very little else.

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

Story: 8-9/10. Very real. I was wearing Con tinted glasses, but as a military kid who grew up around this shit, I almost immediately coped with him as the type to assault an officer. Lonely, doesn't get out much and feels like women owe him something. The type.

Con: ?/10 He plays A Fucking Vile piece of shit. The worst of it is you know his character has half a dozen reasons of justification. I was tempted to write out all the ones he says in the show, but no. I've heard it all before when men come onto me, and I tell them I'm gay. 'But you looked at me and smiled?' type shit. He plays the part really fucking well. Skin crawling performance of a 'nice guy'. He just does it so realistically I don't want to say like 3/10 you know?

Characters besides Con: Realistically, and sadly, more men would have sided with Robert. He has the rank, and though not well-liked, he would have been given the benefit of the doubt more than he was in the show. Everyone's performances were realistic and semi-heartwarming with how they believed the E-1. I liked the main couple and I hope they get together in the end. This a good example of why we need high-ranking women in the military.

Editing: Of it's era but non intrusive.

Overall: ?/10. I don't know how to put this one.

Again, if I wasn't ex-military kid/grew up around vets it wouldn't hurt as much. They sell you a dream when you grow up thinking the military does no wrong. How successful your male family members are and how they are heroes. But as a little girl, I quickly saw just how fucking dangerous to live up to these expectations was as an woman. On and off the field. If the purpose in this was to reassure the public that female victims would be believed, then it kind of works as propaganda.

This show fully explores it in a military with less rigor than the one I'm used to seeing. Still the same sexism bullshit regardless of where you are.

Don't worry, I'm watching a Val (BBC Uncle) mega cut after this to soothe my head.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has watched this, and your thoughts on it!

Have a lovely day.

thanks to @ivegotnonameidea for the list :)

[tomatoland]

Hi! I’m not sure if you will see this or even reply to this but I do want to say that I want to show a lot of appreciation for your blog and your breakdowns about TopMew so much. I saw your post about only friends being a morality drama and the idea of media literacy and it made me reflect a lot about myself as a viewer.

You spoke a lot of truths in your post. I think a lot of viewers resort to archetypes (e.g. TopMew) or comparisons (e.g. Top vs Ray) when they find characters on “different sides of the same coin” or stereotypes that they can associate characters with. But at the end of the day, these characters don’t have the same upbringing/backstories/personalities. Ngl I do admit my opinions do get swayed sometimes by other meta posts because it’s difficult to find meta posts that analyse TopMew without turning them or their actions into something rancid/evil or there’s a lack of TopMew analysis. Your analysis posts have truly been a gift.

I agree 100% that accountability is a major theme here. I’m guessing other people brought in ephemerality due to the idea that these characters are still in college, hence they are more likely to act without thinking about the consequences. But accountability is very much the bigger picture imo. I just don’t get the idea of being a “___ defender/apologist”. As a FB stan, I do like TopMew, especially Mew. But do I excuse their wrongdoings? No. I can enjoy and like them while acknowledging their misdeeds. All I need is to understand is their rationale behind it. 

I also see a lot of viewers constantly trying to push ideas what they want the characters to do ___ (E.g. TopMew doing a threesome with Boeing, really?). More people need to realise this show is not made to fulfil people’s fantasies. I mean MewRay happened, which was clearly what the majority were against. I think it’s also important to keep in my mind what would make sense for these characters to do (e.g. what are their best interests, their characterisation). My only fear right now is if Jojo and his crew would try to appease the majority, given that they cut out a Top scene from EP7 based on fans’ reactions. Are they going to bring justice to these characters’ actions and consequences by the end of the series based on how accountable/responsible they are? Or is it just going to be based on what the majority wants?

I want to thank you again for speaking out about this. I love your posts, especially the ones on Top’s wounded inner child, the Madonna-Whore complex on TopMew, TopMew working on the hostel project. I also love it so much about how TopMew can be linked to “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Ray (I just vibe with it so much). I think we the FB fandom can agree that ForceBook has brought so much to their characters and we’re so proud of them. Thanks for reading!

You are so sweet!! 🥰 and thank you very much. foxmochi hug!

Oh! Is that what people mean by ephemerality? I honestly do not understand lol. Because life is also ephemeral? No one is guaranteed a tomorrow.

Right? Human beings are complex. And people treat TopMew as morality foils or NPCs. And in real life, no one is a side character, you know what I'm saying? No one is an actual villain except well, Boston, but I actually think his storyline is going to get justice. Boston looks like he's going to have an introspective moment in the preview and I am here for it.

Okay, I actually do know where that comes from. Mond re-tweeted this pic adding "I'd like to be friends too."

And this

While I'm down for a little jealous Mew and Boeing testing him, Top & Mew have only ever wanted to be with each other. And the confirmation that one of the deleted scenes being Top trying to move on, but not being able to, really confirms this. So I'm gutted we didn't get it.

Yes, that was a bit surreal to hear from Jojo. And it makes me uneasy.

Like the story of the series is in flux when it shouldn't be. And those theories about re-shoots 🙃 I'm just going to remember that FB would have told us if they did re-shoots. Being the spoiler kings they are and the foxmochi thai superfans definitely would have known.

Top & Mew are almost there. They just need to have honest communication and not the kinda cautious communication they had when they were courting. And I need FB to have at least one scorching hot sex scene so absolutely no one can deny that TopMew and FB have chemistry coming out of their eyeballs. And I think FB as artists would be down to do it.

Okay, you're going to get my Ray take because I have written it and I don’t want to make a separate post.

Not once in the show does Ray try to curb his drinking. It's one thing to try and then to slip, you are at least trying, but not once has Ray ever said, no I'm trying to cut back. He doesn't and has never seen it as a problem even after the accident.

Ray needs to learn that while trauma might explain why he does what he does, it is not an excuse. Ray needs to do some soul-reckoning. Some people want it be a case of "Love conquers All" and *dun dun da dun, insert hero fanfare here* Sand is going to swoop in and save Ray from himself without losing himself in return. But Sand and his presence are not enough to make Ray change. Ray must want it for himself. Read any article on how to handle addiction for loved ones and they all say this. And this is actually the hardest and most painful life lesson I've ever had to learn in my life. People have to want to change and as much as you can want it, no matter how much you beg, nothing will change unless they want for themselves.

I am actually really sad that in the preview Ray says he'll go to rehab if Sand wants him too. It's only Sand, he's thinking about? Not himself, not his friends, not his dad, or his fellow humans? It's really weak character development. He still lacks the ability to be introspective or think about others. Ray has to do some honest soul-discovery before he can be a good partner to anyone. And I'm praying that it's still coming. Please, show, please do this for Ray.

I know I'm basically preaching to the choir at this point but whatever, I want these posts to exist because sometime from now, after the show finishes airing, someone will come to Tumblr and find one of these posts. And TopMew deserve the right to context.

You are the sweetest. Yes, I love "Young and Beautiful" for them. And I agree, ForceBook have done an amazing job in OF.

And just remember whatever weird stuff is happening here, Thai fans LOVE them and don’t overanalyze TopMew.

I hope you have a wonderful day, hun and thank you for dropping by my mailbox~ You made my day 💕

[charmixpower]

Any moments that made you not like the trix or wish they pay for what hey did? The beauty pageant mess up, stealing riven from musa and teasing her and hurting blooms parents are worse than the usual mischief

I—I don't think dating someone you know a girl you don't like has a crush on, and intentional embarrassing a girl and kidnapping a torturing two adults to force their child into submission is on the same level XD I think you meant intentionally setting it up to look like Bloom tried to kill him then entering a relationship with him under false pretenses

I've mentioned this before and I'll mention it again, I have hyper empathy. Which basically means I feel others pain more than the average person. The season 1 finale gave me phantom pains and made me cry

I don't know what you mean by "don't like the Trix" villains are ment to be unlikable as people and to inspire the audience to root for their failure. If I don't want them to pay for their crimes I feel like that's a fundamental fuck up in writing

Like, do I like them as characters? Yes, they're amazingly well written, I despised their actions and felt they were a credible threat to the protagonists, they are funny and compelling even when they're not doing evil stuff due to their strong personalities, and they're overall very charismatic. These are excellent characters right here, would draw fanart

Do I like them as people? Fuck no. There is a group of murderous megalomaniac bitches who framed someone for attempted murder, beat a poor girl half to death, and attempted to murder the entire populace of TWO SCHOOLS. If I were to somehow magically meet them, they would likely manipulate me and leave me with life long physical or psychological scarring

Like, they did try to murder....approx 1028 people, I think wanting them to see justice for that is a fairy normal response??? I think I'm in the minority when I say I think the Trix we're completely irredeemable after s1, but when you look at it from my perspective it makes a little more sense

See, I don't know how to explain myself because of my extremely high empathy. My friends with low empathy can see a character murder a background character and not care because it's just an extra and they don't matter, but that shit will make me break down in tears because that was a person in that fictional world? Ya know??

If you can't tell from that, I am NOT a villain person. Unless their motivation is "revenge against someone worse/who made me like this" I will not root for them. I fundamentally cannot understand people who like villains, and especially people who ship themselves with villains. Like my brain doesn't work like that, I literally can't understand it. It's like I'm trying to divide by zero, I just can't do it

The first time I came across a "they would kill me but I don't care" I blue screened for like 20 minutes trying to understand what the fuck that even means

Not to say I think people who do this are wrong?? Or something?? That's ridiculous. My best friend ships themself with Michael Myers, they LOVE villains so much, I have literally no problem with it, I just can't understand it myself

This is all to say that I'm not the person to send asks about villains too unless you're ready for me to treat them like villains I suppose. I know my way of approaching fiction seems like I'm attempting to moralize it, I'm really not, and I don't want to ruin anyone's fun!!