#COMMENTARY

[daresplaining]

I'm going to need to know your FULL opinion on the erosion of Elektra Natchios in The Red Fist Saga ASAP!

OOF. Okay, here goes...

Elektra's role in the Red Fist Saga directly follows the Woman Without Fear mini-series, so I feel like I should start there, especially since I haven't really talked about it yet on this blog. Woman Without Fear was an Elektra solo comic that came out just as Devil's Reign was ending and the creative team was gearing up for the Red Fist Saga. The mini-series's purpose was to introduce big, shocking changes to Elektra's origin story. These changes didn't end up having much to do at all with the Red Fist Saga, or with anything else really, but they did functionally strip her of her agency and autonomy and made her motivations instead revolve around Matt. Now, Elektra's origin story has changed before. Frank Miller himself gave us three versions: the original, introduced in Daredevil volume 1 #168 and #190, a slight variation in Elektra: Assassin (he changed the timeline a bit and modified the character of Elektra's father), and then an entirely new, in my opinion much less interesting version in Man Without Fear-- which was not intended to be part of the 616 continuity, though that didn't stop later writers from drawing from it, including Zdarsky, who seems to have used it as a core text to inform his characterization of Elektra in general.

I know you know Elektra's original origin story, but I'll provide the general gist for anyone who might be unfamiliar: Elektra Nachios was the daughter of a rich Greek diplomat and his wife. Her mother was gunned down by assassins while pregnant, but Elektra survived. Her father, now paranoid and fearful, put Elektra in martial arts classes from a young age, while also keeping her sheltered to protect her from harm. She ended up attending college in the US, where she met Matt Murdock, another sheltered kid with a beloved but overprotective father. They fell in love, but the magic was destroyed when Elektra and her father were taken hostage by terrorists. Matt tried to be a hero, and Elektra's father ended up getting killed. Shattered by grief, Elektra left school and traveled across the world to train with Stick, who had trained her childhood martial arts teacher before casting him out (in Elektra: Assassin, the timeline is slightly different; Elektra trained with Stick before attending Columbia, though the end result is the same). Stick saw Elektra's skill, but judged that she was too emotionally compromised to complete the training and kicked her out. Elektra devised a desperate plan to prove herself to Stick: infiltrating the Hand and taking them down from the inside. She failed tragically. Turned cynical by grief and hardship, she used the skills she had picked up from all of her training as weapons to protect herself from a harsh and unforgiving world. She carved herself a life from the tragedies she had endured. She became an assassin.

Note that I mentioned Matt's name a grand total of two times in that synopsis. It's not to say that Matt isn't important to Elektra, of course he is, but he isn't that important to her origin story. The star of this beautiful tragedy is Elektra, as she should be.

Woman Without Fear introduces something new-- at least, new to the comics (more on that in a moment). It takes the Elektra: Assassin timeline and suggests that she trained with Stick when she was still a child. (It also brings in things from the Man Without Fear Elektra origin, but I don't think I'm going to get into that here because that is a whole other rant and this post is long and tangent-y enough already). It then suggests that when Stick rejected her, she still ended up with the Hand-- but not of her own will, with the intention of destroying them. No! She was successfully recruited. And once the Hand had her in their clutches, they sent her out to go after another target: Matt Murdock. In this shiny new backstory, Elektra and Matt run into each other at college not as two kindred spirits, but because Elektra was ordered to hang out with him in order to bag him for the Hand...before, oh no!, accidentally falling in love with him. To add extra insult to this character assassination, we're told in the main series that even her behavior during her father's hostage situation was intended as a test for Matt.

What this change indicates to me is a fundamental lack of understanding of Elektra's character; or worse, a lack of respect for her complexity, or a conviction that she operates at her best as a tool to further Matt's narrative.

What is possibly most baffling to me about all of this is that this change had pretty much no bearing on the Red Fist Saga. Why was it made? What was the point? The term "MCU-ification", referring to changes being made in Marvel's comics that seem aimed at aligning them more closely with the MCU, gets thrown around a lot-- possibly too much-- but this really does seem like a case where there's no other clear explanation for the change other than to shift 616 Elektra's backstory closer to that of her live action counterpart. (In the Netflix show, Elektra recruited Matt for Stick; something I, as a huge Stick and Elektra fan, actually thought was a cool What If?/alternate universe because it presented an opportunity to explore a different take on their relationship). The new backstory is mentioned a few times in the main Daredevil series, but otherwise it seems irrelevant to the plot. And that's because Elektra herself is kind of irrelevant to the plot. She seems to have three purposes in this story: 1. To serve alongside Stick as an exposition machine and provide details about the Hand/Fist/Pinky Toe/etc.; 2. To be someone Matt loves and thinks about in moments of danger and conflict (despite the fact that they have very few moments of actual emotional connection in this story, despite getting married!), and 3. As a warm body onto which Matt can project his perpetual internal musings on good and evil ("Elektra was Bad, but she is Good now. She, like all people who have done bad things, is still worthy of God's love and is capable of rehabilitation, and look! Her decision to take on the Daredevil identity is proof that she is now Good! She has become a worthy soldier of God." Man, I wish I was exaggerating.)

Elektra's appearances in Daredevil comics have always centered around Matt to some degree, simply because it is his comic. There's miles of difference between reading a DD comic with Elektra cameos and reading an Elektra solo series. But that doesn't mean it isn't frustrating to have comics like the Blackman/Del Mundo run, or the Dark Reign solo tie-in, that delve so deeply into Elektra's rich psyche, that truly do look at her worldview in a way that is complex and morally difficult and so, so compelling, and then to have comics like this where she barely even feels present because so little effort has been made to do anything other than slap some vague morality lessons onto her and make sure she and Matt sleep together every other issue.

#Daredevil vol. 7 #Woman Without Fear (2022) #Elektra Natchios #Asks #Commentary #Adventures in Continuity #Reading “Woman Without Fear” truly felt like being punched in the face. And to what end?

[sillylotrpolls]

As promised, here are your internet points if you undertook the recent "list a bunch of Tolkien characters" challenge. Congratulations! 🎉🎊

I dearly wanted to properly tag everyone who reported giving the challenge a try, but (stop me if you've heard this before) I got as far as about 200 names before I had to throw in the towel. Since I don't want to leave anyone out, I'll hold off tagging anyone for now, but I hope to get back to it sometime in the future so everyone receives their proper due.

#commentary #admin

[cosmicjoke]

Okay, so, I just got an ask in my inbox from someone bitching at me for "defending" Erwin Rommel, the German general from WWII that some people think Erwin is based on or inspired by. They said "I can't believe you would defend Erwin Rommel because of a mid anime. He turned against Hitler in 1944 because the war was turning, not because he was against Fascism". Needless to say, I'm not going to play into this morons game by actually directly answering them, but I do want to make a point which is important to understand.

Because here's the thing that idiots like this don't get. The morons like this, that want to accuse AoT of being antisemitic, Fascist propaganda, they say all this shit while laboring under the belief that the Eldian's are "meant to be Jews", and because they can turn into Titans, Isayama was making some nefarious insinuation that Jews are actually monsters.

This is so stupid, it shouldn't even need to be addressed, but I will anyway, because some fuckers need to get their heads out of their assess.

First of all, nothing in AoT is meant to be a direct or 1 to 1 allegory of anything. It's an amalgamation of different historical events all meshed together. Second of all, none of these people seem to want to acknowledge that the closest group the Eldian's resemble, in reality, are the Germans, not Jews. It doesn't even make sense for Eldian's to be seen as Jewish, or as a stand in for Jews, because everything about them, from their history, to their names, to their culture and architecture and religious beliefs, resembles German and Germanic culture and history, including the German's historically warmongering ways. Remember, the Eldian's started off as a warring, Viking-like tribe of people who went around conquering other tribes of people. And the arc of the Yeagerist's eventually coming to power most resembles how the Nazi's eventually came to power, through the German people being horrifically oppressed and punished for the outbreak of WWI through the Treaties of Versailles, something we see reflected in how the Eldian's were eventually punished for their warmongering, cut off from the rest of the world, isolated and stolen from. Even if Erwin Smith is inspired by or based on Erwin Rommel, how does that in any way, shape or form indicate some Fascist or antisemitic agenda on Isayama's part, when Erwin Smith clearly isn't meant to be Jewish, but in every way resembles a German man? Let's suppose he is inspired by Rommel, again, it only supports the likelihood that the Eldian's are meant to be German, not Jews, and so the entire crux of these fucking moron's argument, that Isayama is being "antisemitic" because the Eldian's can turn into titans, completely falls apart, when the people that can turn into titans aren't meant to be seen as Jews, but clearly more obviously resemble Germans. Further, Erwin Smith is a fictional character. Just because he was inspired by a real-life historical figure doesn't mean he's meant to be that historical figure. While Erwin may share some superficial aspects with Rommel, Erwin is still a fictional character, and possesses multiple characteristics that differ immensely from Rommel in every way. People don't seem to understand that inspiration for a character or theme doesn't mean the character or theme is meant to be a direct representation of the thing that inspired it.

Further, one of the main themes of AoT is that we all have the capability to be monsters. Eldian's being able to turn into titans isn't meant to be seen as some sort of condemnation of their race. We aren't meant to hate them for this. The entire idea is that people, all people, can be monsters, their having some weird, magical ability to turn into titans having nothing to do with it. The Marleyans were just as monstrous as the Eldian's ever were in the way they treated people, in the things they did, in the agenda they pushed, and in their warmongering. They couldn't turn into titans, but they were every bit as bad, every bit as capable of evil. Again, the ability to turn into a titan isn't ever meant as any sort of statement as to the nature of the Eldian people. It's human nature itself that is framed as the real monster. It's also important to note that the Eldian's turning into titans wasn't ever something they wanted or which they chose to do. They were forced to turn into titans, either by the former rulers of the Eldian Empire, or by the Marleyan government, both of which utilized them as weapons against their wills. The Eldian people subjected to this were never meant to be seen as monsters, but as victims. We were always meant to feel sympathetic toward them for being used and forced against their wills to do something they had no say in or wish for. We see their persecution clearly framed as a bad thing, a very bad thing, which ultimately leads to tragedy and untold destruction and death. We see the prejudice against them clearly framed to be something wrong and evil, the very thing which ultimately leads to Marley's own demise. Again, if you want to make some sort of direct comparison to real, historical events, this all clearly resembles what happened with Germany and the rest of Europe after WWI, with the German people being convinced that they were being denied their god given destiny and right to exist through the extreme punishment exacted upon them by the rest of the world. Nazism and the National Socialist Party took hold because the German people felt deeply wronged and persecuted, which they were. The entire country was practically destroyed by the harsh sanctions and restrictions placed on it. The reaction from the German people in real life is something we see reflected in the Yeagerist's eventually coming to power and exacting their "revenge" on the rest of the world through their support of Eren. The Eldian's were, just like the German people, unduly punished and made to suffer for the wrongs of their past government and rulers, and eventually grew resentful and longing for the days when they saw themselves as glorious and powerful. We see this reflected earlier on in the story with Grisha Yeager's extremism and his belief that the Eldian empire should be restored, etc... His and the Yeagerists desire to take back what was once "theirs", spurred on by excessive punishment and cruelty and persecution from the rest of the world. This, again, all resembles Germany, and what happened with Germany following WWI, with the rise of Nazism and Hitler. How people can miss this is beyond me. They're so fucking stupid, and ignorant to boot. The rise of the Yagerists was never meant to be seen as a good thing. I don't care how many dumb fuck Yeagerists there are in the fandom, or how many morons try to make excuses for Eren's actions, the story plainly frames his actions and the Yeagerists taking over Paradis as a horrifically bad thing, one which leads to unspeakable tragedy and destruction, just like the rise of Nazism did in real life. Anyone who's read or watched AoT would know this. But then, I think most of the people that actually believe AoT is some sort of fascist, antisemitic propaganda haven't ever actually read or watched the manga or anime. If they did, assuming they have any, actual functioning brain cells, they would know how absurd and nonsensical such a belief is.

And once more, I reiterate, nothing in AoT is meant to be seen or taken as a direct or 1 to 1 allegory for any, real life historical event. Isayama was clearly inspired by multiple sources and multiple parts of history when he crafted his story. But it's still a work of original fiction, which is it's own thing, and which can't be taken as some sort of political or ideological statement on anything in real life. It's a self-contained work of art which, while it may have some resemblance to real life events, isn't and never was meant to be seen as an allegory for those events.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say on this matter.

#attack on titan #shin #shingkei no kyojin #Hajime #meta #commentary #analysis

[disappointed-carrot-mush]

deep deep in the trenches of animated Batman media, specifically Batman beyond

It’s such a phenomenal way to think of Batman especially through a modern lens. Trey McGinnis is just a scruffy kid from Gotham with a passion, not a prodigy child who was molded for this. He’s literally a kid who was in juvie for a couple months, grew up in Gotham and loves the city.

he doesn’t have earth shattering powers or some McGuffin type trait, he is just a kid wanting to do good, he is in my opinion one of the best interpretations of modern day Batman.

#terry mcginnis #batman beyond #batfam #I_LOVE_Terry #Commentary #inLoveWithMcGinnis #first post #DC #dc universe #batman #dc comics

[justgarb]

My favorite part of the crafting process is when I've done all of the research, made my plan, gotten my materials, and then get so intimidated that I never cut fabric.

#commentary

[portland-polycule-archive]

New reaction image just dropped!

#the portland polycule commune cult #commentary

[notcaycepollard]

wishing every member of the disney-mcu marketing team a very happy screaming crying throwing up as they learn that despite every algorithmically targeted test audience development by market analysis megahit they attempt to manufacture, tumblr will collectively decide without forethought or discussion that the new fandom obsession is a non-existent scorsese film premised entirely on the tag label on a pair of knock off boots

#goncharov #commentary

[lexyscross]

William I guess had the decency (???) to at least have some emotion in his face after stabbing Vanessa. But really, it boils down to the fact that he intentionally stabbed she own child, he looked her in the eyes while doing so, and then after his flash of emotion he seemed to have the resolve of "Well, it had to be done."

God, the Complex Toxic Characterization lover in me is frothing at the mouth about this. I wanna study them both like bugs. (x)

#HE STABBED HIS OWN BABY *ON PURPOSE* I'M GONNA SLASH HIS FUCKING TIRES!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 #afton family #william afton #vanessa afton #fnaf #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's (2023) #fnaf series #commentary #commentary: fnaf series #image #image: fnaf series #txt #3k #fnaf spoilers #fnaf movie spoilers

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

This is truly stiff competition for the worst case of willful false equivalence we've ever seen.

So, for those not aware: Ongoing embarrassment to gamers and the gaming industry, Mark Kern (former lead on FireFall), has been desperately trying to get Gamergate 2 going on X/Twitter... well after others have given up. If you need to get caught up on Mark, I recommend this video by documentary maker and experienced game developer, Dead Domain:

One of the latest fiascos in this mix has been the comparison of responses to character designs from Hades 2 (Aphrodite, left) and Stellar Blade (protagonist Eve, right). The post isn't by Mark, but is part of the general harassment campaign he's trying to lead.

If you're somehow not familiar with Aphrodite, she's the Ancient Greek goddess of love, lust and hot girl shit. It is absolutely perfect characterization for her to show up to a battle (or anything else) nude but for her hair teasingly covering the intimate parts of her body. But the buried lede here is, you don't fight her in Hades and nothing about Hades 2 indicates she'll fight there either, she just likes the aesthetic and has no reason not to indulge.

Stellar Blade will release on 26 April 2024, so we can't really give an informed discussion of her character. But what we do know is the studio head is the illustrator from Blade & Soul, Eve is described as being a member of "the 7th Airborne Squad" engaged in an "operation to reclaim the planet from the Naytiba", and the promotion material promises "an enthralling narrative filled with mature themes, mystery and revelation. Embrace the relentless pace, with no time to pause between moments where critical, story-changing decisions are made."

It's to be compared to games like Nier: Automata, Devil May Cry 5, Jedi: Fallen Order and Sekiro. And the screenshots look like this:

And yeah, unlike Bayonetta she's not supposed to be an unstoppable force of nature (and fashion) who is immune to self-doubt, she's supposed to be the scrappy underdog last survivor of her team.

Weird they gave her a costume that conveys... the opposite of literally everything they're supposed to be trying to tell you about her.

-wincenworks

#stellar blade #hades #hades 2 #aphrodite #character design #costume design #commentary #mark kern #gamergate #dead domain #video games #false equivalence #blade and soul #nier automata #devil may cry #star wars #sekiro #bayonetta #firefall #science fiction #mythology #Greek #image #video #bikini armor battle damage #bikiniarmorbattledamage #babd #Youtube

[edathetublady]

Tumblr for me is like the gay neurodivergent version of Twitter (as someone who has used the app maybe twice?)

The only people I care about keeping up with are on this app (Neil Gaiman)

And I only use it to dump my useless and universally unwanted opinions.

It's the same thing, but instead of talking about politics, people talk about David Tennant.

#david tennant #good omens #10th doctor #tumblr #twitter #commentary #neil gaiman #neurodivergent #gay #queer

[flyinghellfish]

David Mirkin discussing which of The Simpsons writers are gay

#the simpsons #Video #Commentary #David mirkin #S06e14 #Bart's comet #Season 6 #Gay

[candlecordyceps]

Ok like I’m not really a massive analysis of film and story and stuff, but I’m trying to get more thoughtful when absorbing stories and just. GOD dungeon meshi got me with a heavy hitter this episode.

The raw emotion that filtered through me as I watched the backstory cutscene. Of Laois and Falin growing up, of her saving him. Saving him and when HE needed to save HER in that final memory she said to abandon her. How awful that was, something Laois commented on himself. That they couldn’t “Adventure together anymore”. The way she was so willing to fall, and for that to be the end of it, and for others to continue without her. Like UGHHHHH. The way that despite that willingness to be left to die forever, the others still took on the labor of love to go after her. To try. Because she matters to them and they’d do the same self-sacrifice for Falin despite her not minding being abandoned. Still, after fighting tooth and nail, it falls apart. It’s her staff they lift from the dragon. Her skull. Just bone. And while I haven’t read the manga, and I don’t know where it goes yet, it feels so utterly damning. I’m on the EDGE OF MY FUCKING SEAT.

I CANT WITH THIIIIISSSSSS. I CANT BE NORRRMMAAALLLL RRAAFGHHHHHH

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi spoilers #commentary #raw thought matter #i cant do this #i cant watch anime normally #i signed up for funny food show #what the fuck is happening

[merlin-gifs]

Katie: But the chemistry between you, that's undeniable. It's something that just can't be written. I mean, look at this. Katie: Oh, It's so beautiful. Look at this moment. There's such a moment between the two of you. Arthur: Merlin... Katie: "I love you." Colin: Come on, you're just fuelling stuff here for websites to [...] Katie: (laughs) Ok, I'll stop.

MERLIN | 1x10 "The Moment of Truth"

#merlin #merlinedit #merlin bbc #bbc merlin #season 1 #1x10 #arthur #arthur pendragon #merlin x arthur #katie mcgrath #colin morgan #commentary #tvedit #perioddramaedit #* #jd

[muchcelebrated]

The first time we see them interact after their first kiss in episode 6 will never not make me feral. Like the way his expression softens and the almost shy way he says “Lady Belle”.

Like he’s a doctor that’s just come from a brutal attack but at his core he is also a boy with a crush™️

Credit to @myladyofmercy for the gif

#the artful dodger #dodgerfox #jack dawkins #lady belle #the artful dodger hulu #hulu #lady belle fox #belle fox #thomas brodie sangster #maia mitchell #jack x belle #my post #gifs #episode 6 #bully in the alley #the artful dodger disney plus #disney plus #disney #commentary #artful dodger

[trollsbroppy]

This is from the features commentary where the creators talk about the Broppy kiss and how they were going to treat it. And they gave a shoutout to all the Broppyists out there

#broppy #trolls #branch x poppy #trolls branch #trolls poppy #trolls band together #trolls bts #behind the scenes #features #commentary

[portland-polycule-archive]

I've tried explaining this situation to people I know IRL and it really does feel like this.

#the portland polycule commune cult #commentary