#the comics generally have less character moments/development in the show

[jubileemon]

Why Sir Pentious Deserved Redemption?

Sir Pentious was perceived as a typical villain. His grandiose self-image and melodramatic antics suggest a character ripped straight from the pages of a vintage comic book. Despite his declarations of evil, he was never truly evil.

The Path to Redemption

In the episode 'Radio Killed the Video Star', Sir Pentious's facade of villainy crumbles, exposing his true vulnerability. Tasked with espionage and facing failure, he is met with a cruel ultimatum from Vox to end his own existence. This moment of despair highlights his low status in Hell and his profound misery, a stark contrast to his usual bluster.

For all of Sir Pentious's bluster about being a card-carrying villain, he knows how low on Hell's totem pole he is, and he's completely miserable about it. When Vox hires him as a spy in the hotel only for it to fail in less than 24 hours, Vox tells him to kill himself, and Sir Pentious's reaction is to roll into a ball and ask Vaggie and Angel Dust to just finish him off before Charlie intervenes and inspires him to try reforming for real.

Sir Pentious's readiness to accept death at the hands of Vaggie and Angel Dust further underscores his desolation. However, Charlie's compassionate intervention offers him a lifeline, suggesting that redemption in Hazbin Hotel may be more attainable than previously thought.

Charlie's belief in the possibility of redemption becomes a turning point for Sir Pentious. Her insistence on a sincere apology resonates with him, and he embraces the opportunity for change. This pivotal moment marks the beginning of his transformation from a villain to a character capable of genuine growth and redemption.

Bonus Points: In "Scrambled Eggs", Husk complimenting Sir Pentious becomes even more heartwarming when the next episode revealed Husk was a former Overlord, meaning that, in a way, Sir Pentious did get an Overlord's approval.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

As the Bible itself says: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (John 15:13), which is exactly how Sir Pentious died a second time- he used his weaponry knowhow and battle experience not to conquer, but to save his loved ones.

Sir Pentious' journey culminates in 'The Show Must Go On', where he makes the ultimate sacrifice for his friends. His transformation into an angel and subsequent ascension to Heaven is a testament to his character development and the power of selfless love. His final act of heroism, a failed but brave attack on Adam to protect the hotel, may not have succeeded in its intended purpose, but it demonstrated his willingness to lay down his life for others. This act of valor is a poignant illustration of the biblical principle that there is no greater love than to sacrifice one's life for friends.

Right before his act, Pentious gives Cherri a kiss and tells her to remember him, which she actually finds kind of hot. Because Sir Pentious was reincarnated into heaven, it's likely this ship will never be canon, unless Cherri Bomb ascends.

While Angel Dust was technically the first occupant of the hotel, his motivations were initially self-serving. Sir Pentious, on the other hand, becomes the hotel's first genuine client seeking redemption. His initial intentions may have been dubious, but his journey towards redemption and ultimate success in reaching Heaven is a powerful narrative of transformation and hope.

Sir Pentious being sent to Heaven actually matches the rules made by Adam in "Welcome To Heaven".

"Act selfless". He showed only kindness after he joined the hotel for real.

"Don’t steal". He returned the only thing he stole (part of Alastor's coat) back to its rightful owner, and apologized for it at the same time.

"Stick it to the man". He died trying to attack Adam, the Original Man, to save his friends.

A New Precedent in Hazbin Hotel

Emily's general lack of presence in the finale is a sad detail in itself. Despite her horror at the exterminations and promising Charlie that she'd figure out someway to help her, in the end it appears she wasn't able to do anything at all. Before Sir Pentious appears (thus vindicating both Charlie and Emily), Emily is shown dejectedly lying down on a table in apparent silence with Sera sitting next to the door. The implication being that Sera was able to successfully prevent Emily from doing anything about the exterminations, and/or that Emily was worried about the potential consequences of going behind Heaven's back.

Sir Pentious ascending to Heaven. Pretty much gives Charlie the last laugh against any and all naysayers who think redemption is beyond sinners. His arrival in Heaven, particularly in front of Sera and Emily, signifies a moment of triumph for Charlie's vision and shakes the foundations of what is believed possible in the afterlife.

Sir Pentious' character arc in Hazbin Hotel is a compelling narrative of redemption. It challenges the notion of irredeemable villainy and celebrates the potential for change, even in the darkest of places. His story is a beacon of hope for all who seek redemption and a reminder that everyone has the capacity for transformation.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin analysis #tumblr milestone #vivziepop #sir pentious #cherri bomb #hazbin hotel sir pentious #sir pentious x cherri bomb #hazbin hotel cherri bomb #hazbin hotel analysis #character analysis #redemption

[iambicpentameterhamster]

Every umbrella academy character ranked

Prior to Season 4 coming this year, thought I'd share my character rank with you for the first 3 seasons all together. (Spoilers ahead)

#33- Marcus, Jayme, Alphonso and Fei

Painfully insignificant and underdeveloped. Their only character traits being "spoiled and a bit evil" made them EXTREMELY captivating villians...

#32- Christopher

Only higher because I find the idea of someone carrying around a cube on a stick onset really funny.

#31- Sparrow Ben

Hard to watch honestly, especially in comparison to his lovely counterpart Umbrella Ben.

In general, the Sparrows were terrible and pointless characters, and clearly the writers knew this because most were killed off pretty quickly. All except for Sparrow Ben, which just meant we had to suffer watching him for even longer.

#30- Viktor

This is a controversial choice. He is tolerable in season 1, but then just becomes a moochy emo sod who is boring to watch. I don't know if it's the acting, script or both, but he’s just such a meek and flavourless character who is PARTICULARLY bad in season 3 when he jeopardises his whole family and is repeatedly selfish and has a victim complex.

#29- Luther

He caused the apocalypse in season one and you can't convince me otherwise. Got some alamaba shit going on with Allison...

There are so many reasons I hate Luther. He's a self-centred man child who couldn't care less about his siblings and their feelings, showing zero empathy to Klaus or Vanya, for example. He only shows respect and kindness when he is attracted to the person (As shown when seasons 1 and 2 he is only nice to Allison, then completely ignores her when he moves on to Sloane) or when they pose as an authority figure to him. All he does is whine and feel sorry for himself.

What's that? You lived in the apocalypse all alone for 40 years? You are addicted to drugs and lost the love of your life in a war? You have a power you can't control and a lifetime of rejection? WELL LUTHER WENT TO THE MOON

#28- Carl Cooper

Hated him as a character but he was a menacing villian which I can respect

#27- Harlan

Couldn't care less about him, only there for plot convenience and Victor's arc pretty much

#26- Sloane

An improvement from Luther's literal sibling. Further evidence that Luther will simply fall for any woman who gives a flying fuck about the moon.

Personality: attracted to Luther

#25- Pogo

Basil exposition of the first series

#24- Detective Patch

Barely remember her

#23- The Swedes

They were kind of goofy as villians but there was some good acting and they posed a real threat. Cute moments with the cats. In general, alright, but they could have easily been replaced plot wise with something more interesting.

#22- Cha Cha

Lack of character development for me. I think she deserved to be fleshed out more, I don't think it's fair that only her partner got to be a three-dimensional being. What are her motivations? Who is she underneath it all?

But overall i liked the acting and she was a good villian.

#21- That hotel worker from season 3

He's barely a character but I liked his sass so he's on the list.

#20- Reggie (Reginald Hargreeves)

He is supposed to be the main antagonist/villian of the show, yet The Handler stole his spotlight. He's a bit too stereotypically evil and asshole-ish for me, basically twiddling his moustache and stroking a cat in a dark corner the entire show. The delivery is too blunt and that doesn't help to build the tension and mystery surrounding him as much, but if he were more complicated and cryptic in his personality it would be more effective.

This is very nit picky and overall Reggie is fine. He has some hilarious moments with Klaus in season 3 and I am genuinely intrigued about the unanswered questions surrounding him.

#19- Elliott

He wasn't a particularly important or central character but I enjoyed it when he was on screen and he played his role convincingly. He was a good comic relief in some scenes, and when he died (spoiler alert) the reactions from other characters were realistic and quite impactful. I felt for him throughout, which is impressive for less significant characters and he had a lot of depth relative to the size of his role.

#18- Destiny's children

Not a singular character, but I LOVED Destiny's children. It fit Klaus's character perfectly to have a cult and led to some of the funnies moments in the series.

#17- Dave

From the very limited moments we see with this character, a lot of personality and emotion was communicated, and I feel like we got a big sense of the character. That is down to the brilliant acting from both of Dave's actors and from Robert Sheehan that really sold this character with so little screen time.

Anyway please come back to life Dave! Death doesn't look good on you!

#16- Agnes (Donut woman)

Very sweet and I wish her all the best in life.

#15- Sissy

BRILLIANTLY acted and impactful. Stole every scene between her and Vanya.

Also, she looks EXACTLY like Sheldon's mum in young sheldon...

#14- Herb and Dot

I want to put them both in my pocket and protect them from harm.

#13- Kenny's mum

Again, barely present but I love her. She's a queen. I would go to a rave with Kenny's Mum.

#12- Stan

I love Stan, and he's a big part of Diego and Lila's character development and motivations. I hope they adopt Stan and live happily ever after.

But yeah, great one-liners from Stan.

#11- Grace

Very well acted and haunting.

Top 10 *drumroll please*

#10- Harold Jenkins (Lenoard Peabody)

Again, quite a controversial placement, but I stand by my decision. The acting and delivery of Harold Jenkins as a villain is possibly the best in the whole show. I was totally convinced Lenoard was a nice guy and I was rooting for him and Vanya, until he started dropping hints and slowly revealing his true self and losing the facade and its... it's chefs kiss. So realistic. The actor deserves an award and a standing ovation.

The writers also deserve a pat on the back for this one because he has a convincing motivation and backstory, and the dialogue is DELICIOUS when it comes to Lenoard. He is a truly menacing villain without being overtly scary and powerful and dangerous.

#9- Ray

Charismatic, gentlemanly, empathetic, loving, trusting, supportive... Ray is THE IDEAL MAN. I'm a little bit in love with Ray so I don't blame Allison.

HUGE step up from Luther, for sure.

#8- Umbrella Ben

I would have liked to see more of his character, but I liked what I did see. He loves his siblings and shows it. He is selfless and sacrifices his own existence for Vanya, he is blunt with Klaus because he cares and wants him to improve. Of course, he and Klaus are also a hilarious duo.

#7- Hazel

One of the most touching arcs that offers an insightful message about what life is for, and about Love. Beautifully acted, a very real and lovable character who probably resonates with many in some ways. Hazel is adorable and i miss him in later seasons.

#6- The Handler

I LOVE THE HANDLER MORE THAN WORDS CAN EXPLAIN!!! Funny, playful, entertaining, uexpected and whimsical and yet simultaneously dark and menacing, AMAZING villian that stole EVERY SINGLE SCENE she was in. Kate Walsh was the perfect choice for the role and she played it to perfection.

A bit of trivia about the role, The Handler was originally written for a man, and when Kate Walsh got the role she insisted they didn't change the script (which, let's be honest, they would have.) She put a wonderful spin on it and it's just perfect, I wouldn't change a thing. I would 100% watch a spinoff all about the handler. Season 3 was worse than the previous two thanks to them killing her off (amongst other questionable plot choices)

#5- Allison

Allison was the only character who knew what they were doing, and honestly, if everyone just listened to Allison, there would be no apocalypse. Her storyline losing both Claire and Ray and her powers driving her crazy with power breaks my heart but is well portrayed and impactful.

She's charismatic, clever, strong, and kind. I love Allison and I think most of us do.

#4- Diego

He's stupid but in an endearing way, I find him to be so entertaining and funny, and the actor's face is like an open book. He's not show-stopping but his consistent presence just sets the mood and allows others to act off of him, while he really sells it with his expressions. He's like the rock of the show.

#3- Lila

Lila. Mi amor. Mon amour. Amore mio. Meine Leibe.

#2- Five

For several reasons:

A) He is the daddy here, Luther!!

B) That should be the only reason you need

Seriously, though, I was SUPER impressed with Aidan Gallagher and his incredible screen presence, especially at such a young age. He really embodies the character. Five is the face of the Umbrella Acadamy, and is undoubtedly the most iconic character. 10/10, two thumbs up, absolutely BRILLIANT.

#1- Klaus

No justification necessary.

#the umbrella academy #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeves #five hargreeves #reginald hargreeves #allison hargreeves #lila pitts #ben hargreeves #luther hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #raymond chestnut #the handler #the sparrow academy

[maboroshi-no]

My impressions of the Hamefura Movie

I have watched the hamefura movie at the theaters in Japan 😊 (and I could also retrieve the 2 extra booklets containing the bonus novel and comics).

Below are my random impressions about the movie.

General Impressions

The movie is a speed run of the novel up to the battle against the sacred beast. They have managed to keep the crucial plot development but they had no time to dwell on the characters' feelings, nor include any event that doesn't directly relate to the plot. For example, all the scenes related to the gang have been removed. As a result, Aaqil's despair, Katarina's despair, Aaqil's growing feelings for Katarina and Aaqil's attachment to his family seem really minor compared to how they are pictured in the novel.

There are nearly no transition between events either. I wonder if the people who didn't read the novel will be able to keep up.

The speedrun aspect of the movie bothered me on my first viewing but it didn't bother me so much on the second time, probably because I stopped comparing it to the novel then.

Since the events happen so fast, Katarina and Aaqil develop differently in the movie compared to the novel.

In the movie, Aaqil feels less "pure / genuine" than in the novel, and he is also a bit sexier. In the novel, Katarina mentioned Aaqil was expressionless, but here he feels more hostile.

As for Katarina, she is way less emotional in the movie compared to the novel. She doesn't dwell too much on things, unlike in the novel where she was seriously scared about Aaqil hating her once he found out about her identity. 

The moments between Aaqil and Katarina feel different compared to the novel, In the movie, the moments are more romantic, with Aaqil hugging Katarina or acting seductive with her at the end. In the novel, there is not really any romantic setting, but we can feel Aaqil and Katarina connecting on an emotional level.

The battle against the sacred beast is completely different in the movie, but I greatly enjoyed it! I especially loved that Aaqil's friends have an active role, unlike in the novel where they were just watching. The horse racing coachman's role is more meaningful in the movie, while in the novel his scene seemed random. The sequence where he drives the carriage while avoiding the sacred beast's attacks is exciting to watch! Geordo's horse's scene is beautiful (but I don't think using fire magic in a forest is a good idea...). Seeing everyone using their magic so spectacurlaly is amazing. Though Keith's earth magic seems underused. I was expecting a giant earth golem to fight the sacred beast or a high earth wall to protect everyone.

Regarding the music, it was very beautiful. I really liked the music played during sweet moments with Aaqil, or the overwhelming music during the fight against the sacred beast.

Comments About Scenes

It is nice to see a glimpse of the area where Uncle Stuart probably lives.

Pochi is so cute~

The scene where Aaqil instantly senses the sacred beast the moment Katarina meets Piyo looks cool to me.

They have included the scene about Millidiana initially furious after learning about Piyo and then accepting him. A rare Millidiana and Luigi scene.

Aaqil makes a princely smile when he meets Geordo (and Ian). In the novel, Geordo said he felt like Aaqil sounded sincere, but he seemed so fake in the movie.

The caravan leader barely appears in the movie. Which is a shame since he did so much for Katarina and Aaqil in the novel.

Aaqil and Katarina's first meeting looks cooler in the movie. Aaqil makes his falcon save Piyo from getting eaten by the tiger. It is a bit inconsistent though, since the tiger is supposed to obey Aaqil.

Aaqil's show is completely different from the novel. In the movie, he is playing some kind of musical comedy with everyone, and includes Katarina in his number. It looks very cool and flashy, with aerial sword fighting. But it feels weird to have Aaqil starring in a show since he seemed to be the kind to hide in a corner in the novel. And I don't understand why he dragged Katarina in his number 😕.

Aaqil and Katarina's moments are cute. But too quick to feel emotional.

They have included the "It is harassment, right?" scene between Keith and Geordo, up to Geordo teasing Keith because Keith is available to seduce the Mutlaq princess since he has no fiancée 😂. It has been a while since I have seen that blackhearted face on Geordo.

The Mutlaq princess is confirmed to be Qumiit under disguise.

Princess Qumiit clings REALLY close to Alan... Alan is SO flustered. And Alan exclaiming "I am saved!" when the servant announces Mary's visit... It is so cute. But I still have no idea why Qumiit needed to pretend he wanted to marry a prince.

Sophia is needed to have Katarina dream about the game, but the encounter between Katarina and Sophia feels so random in the movie.

I wonder if Monkey Girl had the same voice as Katarina in the anime? It felt weird to me during the movie.

It is nice to see Adult Aaqil in the game. And the heroine is Maria with a different hairstyle.

The scene where Aaqil realizes Katarina's true identity lacks some impact. There was so much build up in the novel. Also, I can't believe Katarina chases Aaqil right after while shouting "I  am going to the toilets!" to a confused Geordo.

Aaqil decides to steal the sacred beast on the night of the welcome party instead of the day after. So much happens in one night... I also feels sad that Aaqil disregarded Katarina's warning and did the opposite of what he did in the novel.

Qumiit reveals to everyone he was the princess. Alan's face is priceless!

Sora only appears to tell Aaqil that he senses dark magic from the sacred beast, and then contacts Raphael. That's it.

Aaqil rides the sacred beast while it is flying away. Katarina and Aaqil's friends pursue the sacred beast by carriage (driven by the horse racing coachman). The sacred beast pursuit scene was really exciting to watch and Aaqil's friends are helping! That coachman really has some skills!

Once the coachman has managed to make the carriage jump over to the other side of a collapsing bridge, and everyone is unconscious except Katarina, the sacred beast shouts beam at Katarina. She is saved at the last moment by fire magic cancelling the beams. Then a certain prince on a white horse pulls up Katarina to ride with him, and lures the sacred beast to the place where everyone is. That scene is so beautiful 🥰.

Ian, Alan and Mary immobilize the sacred beast with an *ice* jail. So water magic can be extended to ice magic. And the combination of wind and water magic was awesome! 🤩

Maria casts light magic on the sacred beast and then there's a sudden explosion that wipes everyone but Katarina and Pochi.

Aaqil was able to contain the explosion by controlling the beast. Katarina reveals to Aaqil's friends that Aaqil intended to sacrifice himself for their sake. And then Aaqil and Qumiit's heart to heart talk.

Katarina and Aaqil hear the sacred beast asking them to break the chain. Katarina determinely jumps at the beast. Pochi and Aaqil follow her.

Katarina locates the chain and Pochi breaks it.

Katarina falls from the sacred beast, Aaqil jumps from the sacred beast to catch Katarina (not sure what he can accomplish except dying with her by doing that). But Katarina and Aaqil are caught by the sacred beast, who has come to his sense.

Katarina and Aaqil are in awe by the sacred beast.

The sacred beast explains to Katarina and Aaqil how he ended up in this state, then retrieves the animal controlling power from all Mutlaq people. 

Aaqil and the others part as caravan people and not emissaries. Geordo and the gang unexpectedly let Katarina and Aaqil have a romantic goodbye. The sacred beast tells Katarina he will erase all their memories. Katarina cries because she doesn't want to forget. Aaqil wipes her tears and promises her he will see her again. Katarina tells him to search for his "destined one" on another continent. Aaqil tells her he has already met his destined one. He whispers in her ears that she is his "ranyamu". Katarina blushes.

Katarina and everyone forget their memories. The sacred beast tells Aaqil Katarina will recover her memories when they meet again.

Geordo Post-credit Video

The Geordo bonus video after the credit is funny 🤣. Geordo tells Katarina he wants to take every opportunity to see her since they have graduated. He invites her to move to the castle and commute to the ministry from there (it would actually be closer if she really did it? 🤔 ). Geordo also gives Katarina a point card. He will stamp it each time she has tea with him at the castle, and once she has filled the card, he will arrange for a special cake for her at the next tea party 🤣.

Keith Post-credit Video

Katarina has just returned from the movie and Keith greets her. She tells him about the delicious hot-dog she ate. Keith doesn't know what a hot-dog is and assumes it is Mutlaq food.

Keith notices some feathers on her clothes and wonders if she has brought back an animal again. Katarina denies it.

Keith remembers that Katarina has always loved animals since she was little, and how she used to bring back frogs and bugs, which would make Millidiana or the Claes household freak out (I don't remember which).

Keith and Katarina remembers the time when Keith helped a bird. Keith was still learning to climb trees then. Keith tried to climb the tree but froze up in the middle out of fear. He could recover because Katarina loudly cheered for him. Katarina doesn't really remember, but Keith clearly remembers: Katarina shouted to him "There is nothing to be afraid of because I am here!". Hearing this, Keith was able to muster his courage and climb the tree.

Keith takes on a serious expression and tells Katarina that he will always be with her and that she can rely on him.

Mary and Alan's Post-credit Video

Katarina is just out of the movie and meets Mary and Alan. 

Katarina tells Alan about the delicious churros she ate. Alan doesn't know what it is.

Mary tells Katarina that she has grown some Mutlaq roses and invites Katarina to see them later. Katarina happily accepts. 

Alan tells Katarina that he will hold a piano performance for the Mutlaq people (?) and invites Katarina to listen to the piece he will play(?). Katarina is looking forward to the piano performance.

Katarina suggests to Mary and Alan they should combine the two activities: she can admire Mary's Mutlaq roses while listening to the piano piece played by Alan. Mary is disappointed: she was hoping to have Katarina to herself while showing her the roses. She reluctantly tells Katarina that it is a good idea.

Mary talks about the Mutlaq roses she grew and their meanings. One means "I want you all to myself", the second means "I won't hand you over to anyone" and the third one means "I will eliminate (?) my rivals. Alan thinks those meanings sound scary.

#hamefura movie #hamefura #my next life as a villainess: all routes leads to doom

[archietransdrews]

literally talking to the walls of my room like. riverdale's internal logic relies on the explanatory power of one's origins to an absurd degree, framing the actions of the protagonists as prescribed by their generational predecessors to such an extreme that the town's founding years not only provide meaning, context, and motive to current events as is typical in an archetypal place-based narrative but futhermore exert a horrifying control over the characters, compelling them to repeat or rebel against the actions of long-dead townspeople to whom they are only distantly related. these scenes from the past, when included in the show, are filmed using the same actors as the present-day scenes, producing the past as not only reminiscent of but in some aspects identical to the present. blood and bloodlines are used by various characters as explanatory schemas for the behavior of different characters throughout; riverdale is a place overdetermined by its own origins to the point that our protagonists spend years trying and usually failing to escape the combined generational curses of an entire town whose entire history consists in the repetition of its own genesis ad nauseum. does this seeming over-reliance on origins exaggerate the process to the point of effective parody, or does it merely & more straight-forwardly reinforce the [genetic] origin as privileged locus of [fictional] meaning?

a potentially conflictual reading of riverdale's historical "origins" is that they are invented or produced through the act of jughead's narration of riverdale as text; this reading posits that there is no "before" the pilot of riverdale, save what jughead invents to give additional meaning to the events which make up his plots. riverdale is his puppet show; everything in the text has been filtered through his point of view, which is to say that everything acquires the exact same level of (un)reality, whether it's a comic book character come to life or the sins of one's ancestors. in this framing, the true origin, and the key to whatever meaning might be made of this text, is the moment jughead's narration begins in the pilot with "our story is about a town.." in foregrounding jughead's ongoing acts of authorship and creation which function to continually produce the narrative & all it contains, riverdale destabilizes epigenetic origin as a locus of meaning by framing it as in some way artificial, invented, unreal; however, it does this by substituting another, no less authoritative, specifically authorial origin in its place.

and there is still a THIRD possible genealogy through which we can read riverdale as understanding itself, namely the genealogy of the cinematic canon. we well know that riverdale is constantly referring back to earlier moments in the history of film, from 70s noirs to 80s coming of age movies to 90s thrillers to etc. etc., not so much situating itself within this history as aiming to encompass all of the various stages of the medium's development. this argument could be broadened to include the histories of other prominent cultural forms, namely the novel and the comic strip; the meaning in riverdale might be said to be primarily derived from comic conventions, the principles of character creation and economy of image that have governed strips for decades and which now cause riverdale characters to wear outfits that have no in-world meaning except to refer back to their original iconic wardrobes, e.g. archie and jughead's S and R t-shirts.

which of these frames has the most explanatory power? which best helps us to understand or analyze why events in riverdale play out the way they do? i think in most cases one needs some combination of the three to be able to even begin getting at what's going on, which suggests that at least part of riverdale's project is the destabilization of the genealogical narrative via the introduction of several distinct, at times competing, narrative origins. riverdale is a story whose meaning is located simultaneously in the past, the act of narration, and the development of cinema and comics as mediums. while this structure does not necessarily step outside of the dominant symbolic framework that looks to origins in order to generate the meaning of a text, it is in typical riverdale fashion that the show wants to do everything at once, meaning in this case that rather than privileging one frame through which we are meant to make sense of the show's content, we are given to several possible readings which are all compelling in their own ways & when taken together succeed in troubling the final authority of any one interpretation.

#took a break from the liveblog this week to watch some other programs but she is still HEAVILY. on my mind #the jughead paradox is going to blow this whole thing wide open btw #syllabus

[honorhearted]

Turn Week, Day 7: If I Could Change One Thing...

Aside from the obvious wish of getting all five seasons, it's too bad the show wasn't more character-driven rather than plot-driven. I understand why it was, and I still find it absolutely great and a comfort show, but I'm the type who watches for characters and their interactions. I felt robbed of these dynamics, in particular: Ben and his father, Nathaniel (they should've talked about Samuel sometime after 1x10); Ben and Sackett (I wanted more crazy!uncle x nephew-esque shenanigans); Ben and Samuel (it would've been way more impactful to see some brotherly flashbacks prior to his d.eath), and more of the Culpers in general. Even though they were best friends who grew up together (sans Townsend), it never really felt like it since no one ever truly reminisced or cracked inside jokes, nor behaved like close friends beyond the occasional quip (unless you count the Ben x Anna prank in 2x4). Granted, I understand that it's a time of w.ar and thus, levity isn't as common, but they are human, and it'd make sense for them to behave as such from time-to-time. It can't be b.usiness 24/7.

Secondly, every Culper had some form of t.rauma, so I really wish the show had delved into that beyond the surface. Here are some thoughts centering around the individual characters:

Ben: I wanted to see more of his struggle with faith. A man of God betrayed the Cause (Rev. Worthington), and then he shot him in cold b.lood. That assuredly messed with him, and his guilty conscience had to have suffered even more so once he discovered his own side was responsible for Sarah's husband's d.eath. Then when he learned Hale's last words had been warped for the sake of furthering the Cause, rather than his friend being truly remembered as Hale wished to be, Ben learned right then and there that history could and would be altered by people he admired (GWash) to justify the means -- himself included. The knowledge that he and his friends were more or less pawns undoubtedly added to his anger in S4, in particular, and I wanted to see a genuine struggle with all of the above rather than superficial scrapings.

Abe: After his imprisonment, he definitely should have suffered from some type of P.TSD, yet he more or less just "walked it off" after shaving his beard and cleaning away the grime. Most people can't recover from that type of event unscathed, so it would've been interesting to give Abe an actual character arc beyond a.dultery and his brief turn-around in S4.

Anna: The night she was attacked and had to s.tab/s.hoot that Queen's Ranger undoubtedly stained her for a long time. Maybe an allusion to night terrors or making her jumpy could've helped, rather than just turning it into a cliché girlboss moment.

Caleb: Arguably, Caleb got s.hafted the most of this group. He always struck me as more of a punchline rather than a real person, because comic relief characters are rarely multi-dimensional in terms of development. It's sad that just when the writers were finally giving him an arc, it was cut short and sped up to meet with the time constraints. I don't think it was a poorly done arc, per se, but naturally, I wish we could've seen it drawn out and given the proper time and dedication that was originally intended.

#turn week 2023 #turn week #about ben

[jadethest0ne]

You mentioned not liking how Mikey and Leo’s arcs are usually handled and trying to make something more suited in your once human au. I was curious what you do/don’t like about the all the brother’s arcs in general.

Oooh that is a good question actually... I think the simplest way to explain my issue with any of the character arcs in the TMNT franchise as a whole is that - I like my TMNT media to give equal narrative weight and screentime to all turtles, and my issues with Mikey and Leo's arcs boil down to the fact that Mikey is often side-lined and given no character arc and Leo is focused on way too much to the point that it gets tiresome and overdone.

And that's probably why I like Donnie and Raph so much because they do get fairly balanced moments of growth and screentime in most versions that they appear in.

It's sad to me that one of the few versions that I've seen so far that gives equal screentime to each character is TMNT 1987. Which is a fun version, don't get me wrong, but since the story itself is moreso geared towards villain-of-the-week type scenarios, there's not necessarily "arcs" for the characters that much. So it's frustrating to me that other versions, which do give deeper development to the turtles, don't do so equally. It somewhat defeats the purpose to me of the TMNT as a team, as a family, if they don't grow together.

That's the TL;DR of it, but for more character-specific info, read on:

So, let's break down each character and what I like/don't like about their arcs. I'm gonna go in (rough) order of who I think gets the most attention by the writers/creators, from least to most.

Michelangelo

It is unfortunate to me that Mikey seems to get sidelined the most. I haven't seen a TMNT version yet that gives him an actual arc (granted, I haven't seen ALL versions all the way through, but this is a general observation I have). He seems to be relegated to "comic relief" or "baby brother" in a lot of versions. I love him, don't get me wrong, but what I'd love to see in any version is maybe that wide-eyed optimism, friendliness, and jokester attitude challenged in a real way by the plot or by some villain. I think you could really get something deep with that, and I think such an arc would work well for his character. The closest I've seen to Mikey getting some deeper development is the original Mirage comics and Rise of the TMNT, but even then, I feel like the focus often stays on the other three. The one positive part of what he does seem to do for the narrative as a whole, is it often seems like he's the glue that holds the group together. When things get dark, Mikey is there to brighten things up in his own way. This boy deserves more love and attention by the writers on a whole!

Donatello

Donnie is another one to often get pushed to the side a bit and fills the niche "brainy/techy" role. However, his character is often less of a "joke" than Mikey is sometimes made out to be. He gets a lot of good moments in a lot of versions. He's given a lot of angst as well (looking at you 2003). The amount of screentime he gets seems to be largely dependent on the version. I believe the 2007 movie barely gave him any lines/scenes, but then you've got '87, '03, and Rise that gives him TONS of awesome standalone episodes. The main thing I'd change for him, is the same thing with Mikey and that is that this guy needs a bigger plot role as well and an actual character arc. He almost gets one in Rise of the TMNT - and I think it's a good one about feeling more self-worth, getting deserved recognition, and also allowing his emotions to show beyond his "bad boy" facade. Unfortunately, even in Rise, I feel like some of his growth is overshadowed by Raph's and Leo's (and Splinter's, too, actually) (side-note, kudos to Rottmnt for actually giving Splinter a character arc).

Raphael

Out of all of the turtles, I believe Raphael has the best balance when it comes to screentime, focus episodes, and character growth throughout ALL versions. A lot of versions give Raph the growth of having to overcome his anger and attitude, and allow him to work more cohesively with his brothers. I'm a personal sucker for the "tough on the outside, soft on the inside" character trope, and Raph is basically this to a T in most incarnations. I like it when his arc is often allowing that soft side of himself to show and allowing him to have a closer connection to his brothers and the people around him. As well as allowing him to be less angry at not just others, but also at himself. It's a solid character arc in my opinion, and one that doesn't take away from the others around him, but instead enhances them because his arc is often how he treats/works with others. Rise gives him a different version of that - he needs to work with others better, not because he's too tough, quite the opposite in fact, but because he needs to learn to trust his family just as his family trusts him. He needs to learn to let go more, which I think is a similar, yet unique facet to his character and I appreciate Rise for that. I have very little negatives to say about any Raphael arc. He could stand to hit Mikey less in '03 and '12 tho. That bugs me to no end, but is a frustration for a different time.

Leonardo

Ah yes, the golden child. The favored son. The one everyone (both inside and outside the narrative) likes. In fact, that's exactly what bothers me about Leonardo. Leonardo is pretty much ALWAYS given a huge arc that ties in with the main plotlines of the story, and it almost always is tied to his role as the leader. I feel like lots of versions of Leo give him the leader role and make him the "best/most skillful" ninja without him earning that title. He just is. He's the "eldest" son. He's just good at what he does. He's just Splinter's favorite. And I think there's something wrong with that when they're supposed to be a family and it kind of sucks to see the narrative, and by proxy, Splinter, play favorites. And often the narrative seems to present Leo's judgement on things as correct, even when sometimes he's wrong. But because he's the LEADER it's presented by the narrative that he is almost always right. It feels like the writers have to create a conflict that Leo needs to overcome or a decision that he has to make, and decide from the get-go that he's going to make the right decision, without really figuring out the nuances of said conflict first. So to me, a lot of his "leadership arc" falls flat, because I feel like he is written as Leader first and Character second. So it's a similar frustration to me with Mikey's (lack of) character growth - his role in the group/narrative is what defines him more than his actual personality. Rise of the TMNT is the only one where I feel like his growth was actually earned, and that is because he was starting from a much lower point. He needed to learn responsibility and heroism in a way that other Leos just have from the get-go. I could actually see Rise-Leo being leader because that growth was set up - not just his leader-like qualities, but also his skills with his weapons, and his ability to plan. I'd like to see more of that from Leo rather than just a guy that we're supposed to respect from the very beginning, just because the narrative says so.

So there you have it, my general take on character arcs in TMNT. I feel like what might help this sort of unbalanced narrative issue that TMNT has is maybe do something like what Ducktales 2017 or Teen Titans did - and that is give each character their own focus-season. In both DT and TT, each main character got sort of a season to themself that focused on them and followed their general arc. You could do something similar with TMNT - give each turtle their own season. And idk, if it goes further than four seasons, then idk give April, or Splinter, or Casey their own focus season, or one that ties everyone together for a big send-off. That's one idea. Either that or actually just plan out an equal-ish number of episodes and plot threads for each turtle.

Overall, my issue is with the balancing rather than the arcs themselves.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #media discussion #media discourse #character arcs #long post #essay #michelangelo #donatello #raphael #leonardo #jade rambles #jade talks #ask #jadethest0ne

[sonic7ischaos]

Man, thinking about Dragonball's capsule tech, makes me wish Toriyama hadn't gone all powerscale-y on everything like he did. Like, even more than I already did.

I can imagine a version of the series where Bulma stays relevant, carrying around entire labs and workshops in her pocket, building weapons and augmentations for the group. Portable gravity rooms and exo-suits. Scouters for characters who can't sense ki. A version of the story where, like One Piece, Toriyama planned out the ending from the very start, and built consistently towards that with Buu, foreshadowing the whole time.

Like, I love Dragonball don't get me wrong, but it introduces some cool ideas and characters and then lets them stagnate. The original fighters from OG Dragonball should've been keeping up with the Saiyans to varying degrees. Bulma is Goku's first friend and now she's relegated to background support for the Saiyans, specifically Goku and Vegeta, most of the time. Gohan's missed potential as end of series protagonist stepping into Goku's shoes is well worn territory for a reason. Not that it's not good for Gohan as an individual that he got to retire from fighting and become a scholar, just that it's bad for the structure of the story as a whole that it gets set up that way, and then despite all the talk of passing the torch to future generations with Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, Goku and Vegeta swoop in at the last minute to steal the show, relatively speaking anyway, it's a long series, "last minute" is literal 10s of episodes.

Bulma and the earthlings, besides Mr. Satan, basically have no effect on the plot whatsoever after a certain point, but they should be getting transformations and new techniques too, always striving to keep up with Goku...until he's gone and then it becomes a way for them to carry on part of his legacy. Tien vs. Semi-Perfect Cell at least should serve as a wake up call and push the gang to catch up with all the Saiyans.

It even seems like he was setting something like that up in the Namek Saga by sending them all to King Kai's, where they too should be learning his techniques and catching up to Goku. Watching things unfold on Namek, maybe they adopt King Kai's techniques, and develop their own complimentary moves. Tien could improve the split-form technique and make it not divide his strength by modifying the Kaio-ken, as a literal off the top of my head idea.

Having them more or less be on Goku's level and STILL getting their shit kicked in by the androids, and having them play a greater role in the ensuing conflict would've made things that much more tense and dramatic. You could still have Tien's badass moment against Cell, a way to really hammer home how much danger they're all in if it's taking someone on par with Goku this much effort just to hold him in place and he's only in his SECOND form. It makes the Vegeta and Trunks leaving the hyperbolic time chamber all that much more a big deal because we're seeing just how much stronger than Super Saiyan the ascended form really is, by having the comparison to the fighters more or less on Goku's level.

Just...I dunno. I've looked for fanfics and fan comics that work to make Dragonball a little more cohesive and consistent, but I haven't really found anything.

Anyway, I digressed a lot here, my initial intent was to just talk about how fucking cool Capsule tech is, both conceptually, and in the ways that it could serve the worldbuilding and aesthetics if we were informed by the narrative of Bulma's loadout and limitations, make it more relevant to planning and fight strategy. Watching a reaction to Super, she pulls out a warehouse with a lab in it in Trunks' future and it got me thinking of how cool it'd be if she'd been able to do that sort of on the fly preparation on Namek y'know? Have someone who relies on tech rather than Ki to fight and get around factor into dealing with Frieza and his forces, outfitting Gohan and Krillin, and eventually Vegeta with armor and tools to help them overcome the power difference between them and Frieza's army, as an idea.

#dragonball #akira toriyama #worldbuilding #character writing #capsule corp #bulma #power scaling #storytelling #background characters #son gohan #son goku #vegeta #tien shinhan #yamcha #krillin #frieza #cell #majin buu

[novafire-is-thinking]

Ohhh the Dratchet thing is definitely a bold take, lol. To preface, I'm not a die hard Dratchet stan, but I am curious about your reasoning...

(You mentioned you were thinking about posting about it anyways, so I hope you don't mind explaining a bit more of your take here?)

I agree with you about IDW missing an opportunity to develop Drift more, but I think that applied to like... maybe 9/10 TF characters lmao. That said, I definitely disagree with him revolving around Ratchet.

I really hope this doesn't come off as condescending, it's impossible to convey tone over text—but how many of the IDW comics have you read? (Because if you're going off MTMTE alone, he's most assuredly Ratchet-focused, but MTMTE in general was sorta a bunch of different love stories.)

Outside of MTMTE, I think Spotlight: Drift did a pretty good job outlining his change of heart and new mindset/motivations. And I think All Hail Megatron (#15 in particular) did a fair job highlighting his other friendships. And none of that featured Ratchet at all...

Thoughts?

Yes, most TF characters are underdeveloped.

However, I expect more from characters who are part of the “main cast,” which JRo seems to have done with Drift.

As far as I know, I’ve read all of Drift’s major appearances, except in The Transformers (the ‘Chaos’ storyline).

I loved his development in his miniseries; that’s his peak as a character, in my opinion. I was devastated that his time with Wing was cut short.

As for his “friendships” being highlighted in AHM, they were just that—highlights. I can count on one hand the number of notable interactions he had with those “friends.”

To compare: In MTMTE & LL, even Nightbeat—a character I consider to be minor—had moments with Censere and Rung that were more memorable than what Drift got in AHM.

Drift has lost almost everyone he’s loved—either through death or drifting apart. (pun not intended)

Gasket was killed.

Wing was killed.

His potential friendship with Perceptor was never explored.

His friendly card games with Blurr were insignificant.

Pipes was killed.

Dai Atlas was killed.

Axe was killed

Rodimus drifted away.

His place in Megatron’s life was never explored. In any case, Megs was killed too.

Ratchet, Rodimus, and Wing were Drift’s most significant relationships over the course of his arc.

By the end of his story, all he had left was Ratchet, with whom he’d formed a codependent relationship, which happened to turn into something more.

So, except for that and a very dead Wing, none of his other relationships written did anything to enhance him as a character.

Whirl had Cyclonus and Tailgate.

Brainstorm had Perceptor and Nautica.

Nautica had Skids, Brainstorm, and Velocity.

Megatron had Ravage and Ultra Magnus.

Heck, even Swerve got Skids and Misfire.

In Drift’s story, every relationship was cut short until Ratchet was the “last man standing.” Of course he fell for him.

To me, Dratchet is somewhat of a last-resort relationship. Yes, it works. Yes, there’s love. However, there’s also a strong undercurrent of attachment and dare I say, defeat.

If any of the writers had done a better job of showing (1) how Drift’s other relationships shaped him and (2) how much he grew as an individual outside of relationships, I’d probably like Dratchet more. As it stands, I don’t fully trust Drift’s development near the end of MTMTE & LL, and I don’t find Dratchet very compelling.

Then again, I’m known to expect a lot when it comes to my blorbos. Maybe a bit too much.

(This is still a personal opinion piece. Nothing more; nothing less.)

#asteroid belt of asks & answers #drift ✧ deadlock #I might not need to finish that other in-progress post #I’m basically doing it here xD

[torturedpoetemotions]

so, having watched the first 6 seasons… what did you think of riverdale? did you like it? i'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the show :))

I genuinely cannot believe a show with the premise of "edgy grimdark take on Archie comics" is so fucking good. It has no business being this good. No business whatsoever.

Season 1? A murder mystery in a small town full of odd characters and secrets, family issues and generational traumas. Pretty standard CW fare, but with an added element of class commentary that was surprisingly thoughtful. Every character is so interesting and well fleshed out. Every episode feels so intentional. Fantastic balance of plot and character development with an ending I TRULY did not see coming. 10/10

Season 2 is more of a thriller, or a slasher even. Funnily enough though the plot got more sensational, the characters felt more grounded. The story felt very character focused and driven. Every insane detail made perfect sense in the context of what the characters were dealing with. They also really built on the class commentary from season 1 and fleshed out the world of Riverdale. Iconic Jughead moments in every episode. 11/10

Season 3 focused far more on plot, sometimes to the direct detriment of characters in ways that frustrated me. But the plot was interesting enough to keep me from being too bitter about that, especially as the season went on and the character-driven storytelling started to reassert itself. Overall I preferred seasons 1 and 2, but season 3 is iconic in its own way for sure. Betty supremacy this season! 9.5/10

Season 4 was a welcome return to what I genuinely consider to be the central theme of Riverdale as a whole: class struggle and the wicked excesses and abuses of the capitalist elites. I loved the return to more grounded, character-focused storytelling, and the boarding school mystery is a classic trope. It was also nice seeing the characters less siloed into separate stories and more in pairs or groups. There were definitely storylines I cared about more than others (Veronica's endless cycle with her dad began to grate after three seasons of the same shit over and over; I wanted to see her win!). But overall it was a fantastic season that made incredible use of its non-linear storytelling device. Also? Cooper-Jones family absolutely owned this season for me. 12/10

Season 5 was hard for me at first. I balked at the state of everyone after the time jump, especially Veronica ans Jughead. But eventually I realized that the thing that made me balk so hard was how heartbreakingly realistic it was. Once I got past that, I was able to truly enjoy this extremely grounded small town political drama. Archie and Veronica really shone this season, though I continued to be frustrated by Ronnie and Hiram's storyline. This was definitely the season where Archie came into his own, though, and in my opinion Veronica's true victory over her father as well. Toni had a much more central story as well, given how deeply entwined with Riverdale and the Serpents she is, which I loved. This felt like a more adult take on seasons 1 and 2, with the characters now adults who are fully responsible for how their community turns out, rather than kids just trying to survive it. 10/10

Season 6 was pure unfiltered wackadoo in the best way possible. The writers have never adhered to genre conventions, but in this season they took genre as a concept, ran it through a crosscut paper shredder, burned the scraps, and scattered the ashes. The addition of magic made an odd kind of sense given Riverdale exists in the same universe as Greendale, and the Rivervale episodes had me riveted and horrified. The fact that magic in Riverdale is grounded in pre-existing worldbuilding and character development certainly helps. Like of course Betty can see threatening auras and Pop's is the final battleground between good and evil! Of course the devil is a businessman and angels are comrades! Of course the police are corrupt agents of violent control! Riverdale really said the ultimate battle between good and evil is fought with unions, mutual aid, and class solidarity. Chef's kiss. 27/10

I cannot wait to see how it all ends. Though I'll be sad that it's over.

#riverdale #riverdale spoilers #ask box #sonyarebecchi

[bride-of-dracaenca]

First of all: thank you so much to those who made nice comments about the first part of this list (right over here)! I’m glad some people enjoyed my nostalgic rambling, but much more importantly, I loved hearing your thoughts, too! I would see other fans’ own lists, so much.

So without further ado, here is the rest of:

MY TOP TEN BRINKY MOMENTS (FROM THE 1990s): #3-1

(Content warning for one kind of bad word below, and worse, I vaguely mention Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue which...shudders.)

I remember Tom Ruegger and Peter Hastings, probably the most influential voices in creating Pinky and the Brain, saying something to the effect of, “It goes there sometimes, but we didn’t want to just do the old ‘a jerk and an idiot’ story,” several times. Although I’m actually a big fan of Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, etc. and the “Vaudeville Comic Duo” thing is indisputably the kernel this franchise grew around, in my opinion, it was deliberately grown into something more.

A while ago, I listened to an Animanicast where one of the PatB Spin-Off writers (Charles M. Howell) mentioned that he thought that Pinky and the Brain were more complex as characters than the old vaudeville duos, and even said he was getting teary-eyed thinking about the characters because they made him emotional. It’s been a while, but I remember hearing another story where one of the spin-off’s writers recounting talking to an executive with a fellow writer about the characters. Supposedly he was saying, “These two mice…they’re REAL,” and he joked that they thought the guy was maybe uuuh losing it, but said actually, he understood what he meant.

I think that’s probably why most of the Brinky moments I hold dear and remembered through the decades came from the spin-off. The og Animaniacs skits were very funny and cute, and my absolute favorite thing about them was their classic Looney Tunes short tone and sensibility. Still, their spin-off is really where the true humanity of the characters and their relationship was able to develop.

…okay, I know what I sound like, here. I don’t actually think that the show was some brilliant work of high art or anything. There are many weaknesses, it was silly and inconsistent (sometimes very much on purpose, sometimes not), it had a famously troubled production with the network not truly valuing it making these things less surprising, blah blah blah, etc. Still, all I’m saying, as I said in part one of this list, is here are the characters being more complex and unique than people might expect or than many people (including me!) usually remember.

More importantly, here’s their relationship being different than people would expect or are likely to remember, and deeper, too.

#3: “The Pink Candidate” and “Inherit the Wheeze” – Pinky Stands Up to Brain

TL;DR below, but a summary: Once the mice get fleshed out as characters, if Pinky has a problem with something that Brain says or does, he just tells him. If he doesn’t want to go along with something, he just doesn’t. Brain doesn’t attempt to “make” him, and he wouldn’t be able to, anyway.

This might seem like a strange choice. Also, full disclosure: this part is much, much more about “The Pink Candidate” just because it was (in my opinion) the much better episode over “Inherit the Wheeze,” and also because American Drug PSAs from this period in general have…real-world related issues imo. Still.

(As far as I’m concerned, above didn’t happen and was just a bad dream.)

I thought back to these when I was trying to figure out why I never really thought of Pinky/Brain as an unequal relationship, at least not in the particular way I think it might been seen as sometimes. Again, they have massive, massive issues; I think these are so obvious there’s not much purpose to my pointing them out, even. But what’s more surprising is that, even though Brain doesn’t seem to either realize or want to acknowledge this, they actually really are PARTNERS, in my opinion. At least, once their characters are properly fleshed out.

This is more depth than they had at first, while their characters were still being worked out; while it’s a great short with amazing animation, “Brain Meets Brawn” is an example of an early story where the dynamic between the two mice is more “just what you’d expect,” and I’ll be honest with you here, there are a few nice moments in the short that are big exceptions but I mostly just don’t like it! “It” being the dynamic between the mice in the short; I very, very much enjoy the short itself – just not the core relationship in it, mostly.

This brings me back to little summary I wrote before rambling. They’re partners. Brain isn’t forcing Pinky to help him take over the world. Brain wouldn’t even be able to!

“The Pink Candidate” is a really great episode for Pinky’s character, and I could go on and on about it. But it actually shows some of the nuance of Brain’s character, too, which is why put together, it shows some of the nuance in the RELATIONSHIP. I just re-watched it and was again really struck: Pinky’s even less of a frivolous doormat than I remembered, and Brain is even less dismissive or pushy. And this depth doesn’t sacrifice the show’s humor; in my opinion it’s a funny ep. – just that fact that Brain ends up on trial partly because he’s in the Splash Zone of Bil Keane’s Campaign of Vengeance against Pinky for saying that The Family Circus isn’t funny, and that that’s a REAL plot point, sends me.

By the way, Pinky’s right: The Family Circus isn’t funny. ANYWAY.

Pinky stands up to Brain (despite actually CRYING during this scene) and gives well-reasoned points for doing so. This is my favorite take on Pinky: both more aware and, yes, “intelligent” than one would think, but also genuinely a good person. One of the reasons he supports Brain’s efforts is because he thinks that Brain’s leadership genuinely would be “what’s best for the world.” If that changes, he doesn’t stop supporting Brain as a PERSON, because he loves him. But he does stop supporting his actions and he stands up to them and says exactly why.

Brain’s actions in this episode get a “condemning with faint praise” framing from me here, but actually, it really does show how different he is here from a shallow archetype. For starters the principles that Pinky gives as reasons to stand up to Brain are ones that Brain just taught him, and Brain seems to genuinely believe in them, even if he’s not practicing them. Brain actually concedes Pinky’s two points to him in their argument scene, and sincerely (if…”wackily” and not very well) tries to address Pinky’s concerns. Obviously, his idea that an absolute authoritarian dictatorship is compatible with democracy is either hilarious or scary depending on the tone of a story, but well, delusional as he is, Brain genuinely seems to think so. Brain’s response, which is basically to have a tantrum and storm off, also isn’t commendable, but by Looney Tunes standards might be downright constrained. He doesn’t belittle, threaten, lie to, or insult Pinky here. He just tells him honestly that he’s going to do it alone and walks away. That’s it.

Of course, Pinky is going to choose Brain’s friendship over the Presidency, just by itself. But again, I like how Pinky’s reasoning here is actually deeper than even just that. Pinky mentions (to the Abe Lincoln statue, lol) that Pinky is only President because of Brain. If Pinky did what they wanted him to, and claimed to not know anything about their “Take Over the World” schemes, it would be an outright lie. Pinky is only President because he knowingly was a part of one of those schemes.

Pinky’s scene in court is also great. “I take full accountability for everything that happens in my administration.” Ironically, Pinky is impeached for doing exactly what a President SHOULD do in this situation.

The little interaction between them in the courtroom scene is nice and telling. When Pinky starts to talk, Brain shouts, “Pinky, NO!” Again, you might expect him to have blamed (or at least implicated) Pinky already or want to be saved here, but he’d rather go down alone. He doesn’t want Pinky to be impacted or take any of the blame. And again I can’t stop thinking about how, though Brain is at fault for Trying to Take Over the World TM, in some ways he’s taking the fall for Pinky here because this happened because Bil Keane wanted revenge against PINKY, and again I’m sorry but The Family Circus really isn’t funny.

Pinky also responds by cutting Brain off with, “Brain, let me handle this,” which shuts Brain right up. I often think of this when people think that Pinky just had no power or say in the relationship. Pinky has lots of issues (including with standing up for himself at times), and they and his strengths are inconsistent in this comedy cartoon. But Pinky CAN advocate for himself and he CAN take charge sometimes. I mean yeah, it’s easier when you’re the President, but this is only one of the times that Pinky puts his foot down or steps up, and Brain listens to him or follows his lead.

(One other thing is Pinky is just…weird /pos. So much that others would find insufferable, he either doesn’t mind or loves, so he wouldn’t want or need to put his foot down about it.)

“Inherit the Wheeze” might be more notable in showing just how much Brain actually does value Pinky’s opinion, despite claiming otherwise: Brain actually calls off the whole plan there, and a big part of it is Pinky’s words. While he doesn’t do that in “The Pink Candidate,” the episode actually ends with Brain thanking Pinky for standing up to him, and reminding him of principles he actually does value, even if he’s incredibly, comically bad at putting them into practice (cue “What are we gonna do tomorrow night?” joke at the end).

Anyway, I could go on and on, but the point here is:

The Family Circus is not funny.

#2: “A Pinky and the Brain Halloween” – Pretty Much the Whole Thing. There.

After rambling on and on too long about the last “moment,” this one is going to be short because it’s just so straightforward. The whole episode almost feels like it’s been written to just say, in big, bold letters:

BRAIN CARES ABOUT PINKY MORE THAN HE CARES ABOUT TAKING OVER THE WORLD.

This episode just makes that incredibly clear-cut. He chooses Pinky outright over, not just losing control of the world (again, he is ACTUALLY ACTIVELY RULING THE WORLD in this episode, and he gives that up), but EVER trying to take over the world again. I think Brain has an “I can do it myself!” attitude towards taking over the world that both seems kind of admirable (see him turning down the Devi-Walt Disney, and ripping up his contract right in front of him!) and also…actually kinda also isn’t, when you think about it (more massive ego stuff at work there), and I could almost see him giving up rulership for that. So he can say he wasn’t just literally handed the world.

But it’s not JUST that that Brain is willing to sacrifice for Pinky, it’s his entire dream, and his supposed goal in life and reason for living.

It's everything.

Brain is also willing to brave He-HADES in the first place. The fact that he briefly is selfish and doesn’t rush to Pinky’s rescue immediately, again, is part of how he’s still extremely flawed in this episode; Pinky made the deal he made, in part, because Brain literally, callously called him worthless. That’s really horrible, but the sheer lengths he goes to for Pinky here show why Brain is a complex (and, imo, pretty great, all things considered) character in the spin-off. It shows how much Brain cares and can demonstrate it through his actions, he just can’t bring himself to say it out loud.

Oh yeah, Pinky also sells his soul to the Devi-Walt Disney here, and that’s NOT because he was tricked. It’s because he thinks it’s a fair trade. ☹

He thinks it’s worth it to give his best friend in the world what he wants. It’s both heartwarming and sad, like so many things about Pinky. But the end is happy: Brain shows through his actions here that Pinky’s reasoning makes no sense.

What Brain really wants is HIM.

;_;

#1: “A Pinky and the Brain Christmas” – “Dear Santa, hello, hah hah, narf...”

I know I know how shocking and original, what a surprise. OK.

So I’ve often thought that if EVERY episode of Pinky and the Brain exploded except for the Christmas special and “Bubba Bo Bob Brain,” I’d be just fine. And if I had to choose between the two, it’d obviously be this one. And honestly, kind of…yeah. If this entire franchise was nothing but a beloved, perennial family Christmas special classic and fond childhood memory that also won a flipping Emmy, I’d still love it. And pretty much, yeah.

It's all about the ending.

I don’t know what I could say about That Scene (plus the coda, where Pinky gives Brain the world ;_; ;_;) that hasn’t already been said. The performances by both Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche here are brilliant, the score is excellent, and of course the rightfully famous Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd., animation is AMAZING. Those camera shots, those pans, those tears!

LaMarche’s delivery of “I don’t care about your STUPID LETTER!” is a great moment where the show really clearly and effectively shows the difference between the mice’s for the purposes of comedy vaudeville duo banter and Brain actually being way over the line. He sounds vicious and cruel there, and it’s not funny at all.

Despite that, I always think of what Brain does in this episode. He’s actually ruling the world, albeit for a brief time, here. He has everybody in the world under his control, in part due to the Christmas special rule that for the special’s purposes everybody in the world celebrates Christmas, but anyway.

But all his does with it is to make everybody genuinely happy, while getting nothing back for himself. Not even acknowledgement. People don’t even know that Brain is why they feel like having a Merry Christmas. They just do.

In this one moment, Brain proves that he can be who Pinky believes him to be.  Pinky just described him as this in his letter: someone who “only wants what’s best for the world.” In this one moment, he gives the world a very happy holiday, without getting anything for himself. He made the world a better place.

And it’s all because of Pinky.

As for Pinky’s character in this episode, there I really don’t know how to express what hasn’t already been said. This is part of what makes Pinky one of my favorite characters of all time, why I even think of him as one of the “best,” instead of just the amusing but unthinking sidekick he could have been, instead. Pinky’s letter is really quite eloquent and insightful – and well written! It shows again his utter selflessness, but also his awareness of what’s going on.

And Pinky’s not even crying because he’s mad at Brain, it’s because he’s upset with himself for not getting his letter to Santa Claus. ☹

This whole scene could easily have fallen flat. But the fact that Pinky and Brain get fleshed out into “not JUST an idiot, not JUST a jerk” is what makes this, and the other moments on this list, work for me. If they were that simple, Pinky wouldn’t have been able to write such a letter in the first place, and Brain wouldn’t have cared about it except to think it was stupid.

It’s the way that their relationship follows by not just being “jerk leader and idiot sidekick” who don’t care about, or even hate, each other like people generally expect.

Instead, they love each other. In their own way, they are a family. They come to understand each other very well. They are well aware of each other’s flaws; though Brain is absurdly overly critical and condescending about it, while Pinky wears massively thick rose-colored glasses, even Pinky can be brutally honest with Brain about his flaws (from “Hoop Schemes,” basically - Brain says, “I’m sorry I was such a jerk,” and Pinky says casually, “That’s okay, Brain. I’m used to it.”). But both of them see the good in each other, too. ( “Lets just say that your extra jumbo sized heart more than makes up for your little free sample sized mind,” a jerky way to say it? Yes. Brain’s crummy, tsundere, socially incompetent way of saying he knows that Pinky’s pretty great? Also yes.) They care each other, anyway.

That this scene works at all shows how the mice and their relationship have been expanded into something more touching and human – the heart of the show.

#pinky and the brain #Brinky #animaniacs #pinky x brain #pinky #the brain #PatB

[tiptapricot]

Some extended MCU MK system headcanons!

I’m probably going to be adding a couple more peeps/expanding on stuff already here, including coming up with some totally original characters, but the list rn only consists of canonic or semi-canonic alters. Some of my hcs are based on bits and pieces of general fandom discussion and meta, as well as discord convos. Ideas, suggestions, and questions abt anything here are totally welcome, I hope u like my thoughts >:-)

(Characters already in the show have less info as we already see more ab their dynamics and roles, and characters set up in comics will have a note for their source)

Marc

Main trauma holder, having the memories of Randall’s death, their mother’s abuse, and some of the system’s medical trauma

Physical protector of the system in most situations

Name and characteristics/self-perception are based off the body at the time of splitting

Has lots of internalized ableism to work through

Cohost

Positive triggers: Layla, Steven fronting, Frenchie, the Chicago Cubs, pizza

Steven

Emotional and spiritual protector for Marc as well as the system as a whole

Introject/fictive of Dr. Steven Grant from the Tomb Buster movie

During their childhood years he was the one to take their mother’s abuse, but doesn’t hold the memories of it

A caretaker also, often patching up the body’s injuries

Holds the good memories of their mother and father

Cohost

Positive triggers: Egyptology, Layla, Marc fronting, Wham!

Jake

Protector of the body in cases Marc can’t handle, AKA physical threats outside of their mother’s abuse during childhood, imminent life threatening situations when they’re older, and self harm/sui attempts

Also somewhat of a gatekeeper

Is there to get rid of the threat and then get the body to a safe place

Holds the memory of crawling out of the cave

Lives very moment to moment, no clear sense of time passing for most of his life beyond time working for Khonshu or when the others couldn’t front, getting most new memories outside of that from bleed from the others/moments of blurriness

Once headspace forms spends most of his time there

Eventually, once no longer needing to stay secret from Marc and Steven, becomes a more regular fronter, though never really considers himself a host

Positive triggers: leather, cars

Commander (Lemire, 2016)

Supernatural trauma holder/processor

Formed when Khonshu appeared to Marc as a child, and is the one to hold that memory specifically

Was only meant to hold that memory but came out of dormancy when Khonshu made the system his avatar

Introject/fictive of a spaceman version of Marc that Marc pretended to be and drew as a kid

Shares his childhood love for space as well as memories surrounding it

Lives near completely within a section of the inner world simulating a battle with space wolves for Earth, isolated from the rest of the system

Any interactions fronting he perceives as dreams, or a psychic connection to inter dimensional aliens

Started out as a more fragmented piece of Marc, but developed into his own person

Positive trigger: space

Inner Child (Bendis, Ultimate Marvel universe)

A little who both holds the system’s childhood whimsy and adventure, preserving the childhood they lost, and their sense of their mother’s innocence that was also lost

Trauma free

Started out as a fragmented piece of Marc, his younger self frozen in time, and still considers that to be her, but eventually felt more like a girl and presents that way in the headspace in present

The others refer to her as “child”

Doesn’t age

Maintains a passion for many of the things that have been tainted by trauma for the other system members, including rain, swimming, exploration, and make believe play

Doesn’t front often or fully and never by herself (unless Layla is there)

Really loves Steven because he’s got the same name as Dr. Steven Grant!!!

Positive triggers: action figures, puddles, hiking, kids shows the system watched when they were younger, dresses

Mr. Knight (Ellis, 2014)

Emotional protector for Marc and Steven, and physical protector for the system as a whole when Jake is unavailable

Formed off of Steven when he fronted post show during one of Jake’s missions for Khonshu

Holds most memories of accidental discovery that the system is still tied to Khonshu

Not a fictive, but formed with similar vibes to famous British spies and detectives, AKA a very good detective and fighter

Has a very gentle but firm British accent

Somewhat of a logician, but not completely

So calm, collected, and precise that he can sometimes make bad decisions

Never really gets ruffled or scared, but can get angry

Shares Steven’s suit, though his is slightly different, having a few more moon designs

Wry sense of humor

Doesn’t front much outside of filling his role, and never when the body isn’t wearing the suit, but does vibe in the inner world

Positive triggers: not having the body’s face visible, white cloth, Debussy

Dr. Harrow

Formed post Duat as a maladaptive protector/prosecutor

Was more of a fragment before, holding a lot of the system’s internalized ableism, but formed more solidly with the image of Dr. Harrow

Holds most memories of the system’s medical trauma (though is distanced from it, seeing it from the POV of their doctor), as well as ableist ideas about alter creation/personhood (stemming largely from Steven after finding out he was a fictive in the Duat, as well as Marc’s own struggle to recognize himself as an alter)

Initially is unaware that he is a headmate, very much seeing things as “I’m fine but you guys need help”

Formed additionally as a way to process separating from Khonshu’s abuse, somewhat clinging to/reinforcing ideas that Khonshu pushed on the system of distrust in reality and reliance on a caretaker figure

Continues to harm the system through digging up trauma memories and enforcing harmful ideas because that’s how he’s able to process the trauma he holds

Eventually and very slowly is able to discover and accept his place as an alter in a system, and starts trying to work towards a more constructive role

Is eventually (like after a lotttt of work) able to shift into more of a gatekeeper/organizer role, giving the system structure and support that it needs, and creating a safe internal space for headmates to process trauma memories and their own systemhood

Doesn’t front

Moon Knight (no specific source but is sometimes treated as or referred to as something more separate from other established alters)

A fragment that forms after the system separates from Khonshu, mainly displaying/spreading either feelings of anxiety and hopelessness, or feelings of anger

Formed from a piece of Marc that was always sure he was going to be stuck serving Khonshu forever, and who wasn’t able to move on after that reality was broken

He is solely Moon Knight, dehumanized from being anything else by his perception of being perpetually stuck in the role of Khonshu’s tool

He doesn’t think they’ll ever be free, and views himself as a monster, always stuck in the past, always stuck in Marc’s worst days in the suit

He rarely fronts, and doesn’t interact very often with other headmates, mostly sticking to himself or not really appearing at all, except in moments of either very high distress, or extreme joy at being free, where he can often blur with whoever’s fronting and either increase their anxieties, or pull back their enthusiasm

Jake is the one most aware of him, as he comes close to front pretty regularly while Jake is on missions with Khonshu

General trigger: in depth/extended talk of Khonshu

#my brain has been so full of so many thoughts… #i love any and all ideas of extended MK system stuff and wanted to share the ideas I’ve had #these have been so fun to discuss n think ab w ppl #excited to incorporate em into fic >:-) #moon knight #moon knight 2022 #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockley #arthur harrow #commander moon knight #the fruit is talking again #the fruit is headcanoning again #mikes mk meta

[fairymascot]

Which comics or media do you like with Poison Ivy? Genuinely, I want to see the take on the character you like.

hi anon, thanks for the ask! :)

the definitive version of the character for me is in the harley quinn animated series! it's also one of my favorite takes on harley, their relationship with each other, and honestly the batman universe in general. if you want to give it a go, though, do note it's very much an Adult Animated Series TM with lots of violence, gore, foul language, and crude/off-color humor. people can be put off by it, but as someone who normally can't stand that type of series, i've found it carries itself with considerable elegance. it's genuinely funny and has remarkably good character development, many emotional moments, and great development for harley and ivy. so if you have the stomach for this kind of show, i definitely recommend it.

when it comes to comics:

gotham city villains anniversary giant: a villain-centric anthology that includes an ivy oneshot by g. willow wilson, serving as a prequel for ivy's current ongoing miniseries. featuring beautiful, delicate art and incredibly poignant and gripping writing, wilson does an amazing job of getting into ivy's head and sharing her inner world with the reader. she's deeply troubled, more plant than person, part gorgeous ethereal forest spirit and part terrifying bog witch-- but ultimately still incapable of burying her own humanity. if you only read one thing out of this list, read this!

poison ivy 2022: the aforementioned continuation of the above story, it's fantastic for all the same reasons. only one issue out of six is currently out, but for once in my life where dc comics are involved, i have very high hopes!

more under the cut--

secret origins: gardener is the current canon origin story for ivy in the main continuity, told from the pov of her college girlfriend turned also-ecoterrorist, bella garten. the art is lush and gorgeous, ivy is shown in an extremely sympathetic light (bella might be MILDLY biased), and it reinforces her romantic relationship with harley from early on. i'd say my only fault with it is that it insists on her relationship with woodrue being mutual and romantic, instead of y'know, her college professor exploiting her, conducting inhumane experiments on her and ruining her life. still, though, a great read! 

poison ivy: thorns is a young adult reimagining of her origin story, including gorgeous shoujo manga-esque art, an original female love interest for ivy, and a story that makes her equal parts sympathetic and fearsome. on its own, it's not exactly groundbreaking literature -- the plot is fairly predictable, the romance is shallow -- but as an ivy story, it's a gem. it focuses on her trauma & her craving for human intimacy that's ultimately eclipsed by her connection to the green, and spins a narrative of a victim that learns to stand up for herself and take revenge on those who've wronged her.

catwoman: soulstealer is another ya retelling, this time focusing on-- you guessed it-- catwoman. despite being clumsy at times (the comic adaptation has a bad habit of slapping entire paragraphs from the novel directly onto the page) and featuring a wholly uninteresting romance between selina and batwing (apparently that’s a real guy?), it's also got some of the best sirens content dc's ever put out. selina's budding friendship with ivy and harley is one of the focal points of the book, and the two of them are fully fledged, engaging characters in their own right. they're all just starting out in their villain careers here, and ivy is young, optimistic, and confident, her character focused less on the trauma of becoming poison ivy and more on the ways it's empowered her. (she's still, however, very weak for harley, and desperate for friendship). a very sweet and enjoyable take, if you skim through the dragging/cluttered sections. the art and designs are top notch, too!

dc pride 2021: features a short harlivy story by mariko tamaki and amy reeder which, despite being around twelve pages long, manages to nail so much of what makes their relationship great. it shows them bantering, arguing, revealing their vulnerabilities, and talking out major issues in their relationship that seem so obvious and yet have basically never come up in mainline canon. it was really great to see. plus, the art rocks!

dc: love is a battlefield: a romance-based anthology featuring a harlivy short, detailing the evolution of their relationship through the years. though it's condensed into a handful of pages, it shows probably my favorite 'redemption arc' for ivy-- in which she gets older, mellows out (in big part due to harley's influence, but also, i think, just due to the passage of time), batman and the justice league also mellow out, and then they kinda meet halfway when they realize that by compromising, they can join forces and actually make the world a better place. on the whole, it's a very sweet, emotional story.

though she’s only a supporting character in them, and they’re still ongoing series so who knows how they’ll turn out, the alternate universe titles knights of dark steel and catwoman: lonely city feature great takes on ivy, as well.

you’ll notice practically all of these recs are standalone, and don’t require immersion in any of the bigger canon titles to read. this is because getting into the meat of comic continuity is a nightmare process that is simply not worth anyone’s energy or time. there are a few points in mainline canon where i've enjoyed her characterization, like the everyone loves ivy arc starting in batman vol 3 #41, or the harley quinn and poison ivy 2019 miniseries. in my personal opinion, though, the majority of main canon arcs are so bogged down with crap that it’s just not worth it. they sprawl across a billion titles, featuring heaps of characters i don’t care about, and the plot itself is usually nonsensical at best. but yeah! if you’re interested in ivy, this list should keep you busy for a while! hope ya dig :”)

#askbox #text #poison ivy #dc comics #recs #harlivy

[musette22]

why do I feel like the only people who care and have been worrying about Bucky's future in the mcu, is us stucky stans? why can't every other bucky Stan side with us? if you're a bucky Stan and you want to keep on seeing him in the mcu then i just don't get you, the moment they took Steve away from him, that was the moment they killed the character

Oh boy, this is a tricky one. I definitely understand your feelings and to a large extent I feel the same way, as you know. But objectively, I do also get why there are Bucky stans who are still excited and who don't necessarily think it's all going downhill for him, and I don't think it would be fair to automatically call those people bad Bucky stans. I may not understand or agree with their opinions, but I do want to respect them, because at the end of the day, Bucky is a fictional character. Which means that to a certain extent, he's open to interpretation, and different people will approach him and view him in different ways, and as long as those people don't try tell others that their views are wrong or bad, that's ok.

But yeah, I personally only know MCU Bucky, so that's pretty much all the context I have for him. But there are plenty of people who are also into the comics, for instance, and who know and love different storylines for Bucky that aren't part of the MCU, so for them it probably feels less black and white than it does for us. And some people are just better at compartmentalising than I am, I think 😅

I also am a Stucky shipper first and foremost (more than I'm a marvel enthousiast, I mean) so obviously what happened to Steve, and to Steve and Bucky's relationship, majorly influences my opinion of Bucky's character development (that's not to say that I don't also think they screwed up other things about his character development, but still). Similarly, I'm steeped in fanon (fics and headcanons and meta etc.) and I much prefer the way fandom handles these characters to the way they've been treated in the movies and shows, but I can imagine why people who don't read much fic or who move in fandom circles where different opinions on these characters are prevalent might view Bucky in a different way to how we view him. They may well still really love Bucky, but just a slightly different Bucky, I guess?

Also, I've personally never been much of a marvel fan, and after EG and other developments I actively dislike it, but there are lots of people who genuinely love marvel and get really excited about new movies and shows. So I imagine that for them, generally speaking all new content is good content? And unless it's bigoted dudebros or people like that, I can't begrudge them their excitement. We all need things that bring us joy. But for myself and for people like you who feel the same way I do, I absolutely wish that they'd just leave Bucky alone already. He deserves so much better, but since they're never going to give him that in my opinion, I wish they'd just let him be.

#I do get upset sometimes too when I see opinions about our boys that I don't agree with by the way! #that's only natural I think #sending you a big hug nonnie ❤️ #and I'm definitely not a saint lol #bucky barnes #stucky #anti mcu #anti marvel #anti disney #minnie answers

[stackthedeck]

the dd fanfic writers slowly fading is SO SAD to watch. like in january i used to refresh the mattfoggy tag on ao3 like 3 times a day and there would be several new fics every time, now there’s only like 1 fic every two days :(

I KNOW RIGHT!! I watched season 1 of Daredevil when it first came out but dropped off between seasons because there were other marvel things I was more interested in but the fact is that the fandom was active for way longer back then! Even though there was a "Daredevil Renaissance" it was incredibly short-lived and it sucks

actually, I've had this rant prepared for a long time so I'm sorry anon but I'm going to take your ask and run with it. So one of the bigger topics of discussion in fan studies is the shelf life of fandoms. Generally speaking, the fandoms that last the longest are serialized works. The best examples are tv shows: star trek, superwholock, x-files, etc. Why is this? the generally accepted answer is that there is a perfect balance of content and no content. You watch the episode and then you think about it for a week until the next one airs and the cycle repeats. You go see a movie, you'll think about it for a week maybe watch it again but eventually, you run out of things to think about. The formula for fandom is frustration+passion, enough time without content is going to increase frustration and diminish passion. This is why Harry Potter still has a thriving fanbase, the books were a series and the movies were a series, there's a lot of passion in the potential and the nostalgia and a fuck ton of frustration. So now that tv is less serialization and more binging, there's way too much content with no time to process it, audiences can find neither frustration nor passion, they simply binge.

okay but Daredevil was originally released as a binging series why did the fandom have such a short shelf life the second time around? Well for one, it's a good show and there was a lot of time between seasons. but two, the original fanbase probably watched marvel movies but they didn't have the mcu mindset yet. The mcu is serialized, it releases things with enough time between to process it but not so much time that you forget it exists, this should be the perfect Petri dish for fandom, right? My working theory is that the mcu is trying to have the best of both worlds with transformative and affirmational fans. There's plenty of merch to collect and trivia to memorize, but there are also lots of character moments and missing scenes to expand on in fic. I mean they even try to queerbait fans, they don't do it well, but they try. The mcu is trying to create the fandom of tv shows and movie franchises and they have, but the fandom model they really should be replicating is comics. Comics fans usually just have their one character or team and then are loosely aware of other things happening in the larger universe for whenever there's a company-wide event (which use to be few and far between but that's a different rant). Because comics are serialized and the big favorite characters were always going to have a book, transformative comic fans were small but consistent. But because the mcu are movie adaptations, they simply can't function like comic fandom. If you're watching the mcu, your fav may show up in a movie for a minute and that'll jump-start the fandom, but it doesn't change the fact that they haven't had a story or development since their last thing.

The mcu is huge, but it is migratory within itself (a largely unique and unstudied phenomenon in fan studies). Mcu fans engage with the mcu like it's a tv show, always waiting for the next episode or season, but because they're really so unconnected, so are the fan works. (this is not a dig at phase 4, this is a dig at the mcu as a whole because it can't tell a complete story like a tv show or film franchise without having one director and a start and an END point. It wants to be a film franchise and a comic book run, but it can't be both.) There's too much content demand of the audience and it's weird that it's all connected. It's weird that I have to watch the iron man movies to understand what's going on in the spider-man movies, that's not how it is in the comics, you just read the spider-man comics and maybe Tony Stark shows up and there will be a little foot note directing you towards the important iron man issues, but you frankly don't need to read them. There's too much content and fans can't possibly be invested in all of it. It's like if you were watching Supernatural and after season 3 we had to watch a prequel about Cas and it's only until two season of that, that Dean gets brought back, you probably wouldn't remember why you cared about Dean in the first place. Like audiences can only reasonably be invested in a team of 3 to 7 heroes, you could maybe push it to 9 or 10, but frankly, 5 is the sweet spot. Having over a dozen heroes that all have dynamics and stories is too much for me as a fan to keep up with and frankly it's too much for directors and writers to keep up with. There's so much happening all the time and there are wildly conflicting tones and fans are expected to not only watch it but remember it!

The Daredevil renaissance was over the minute the thor love and thunder trailer dropped because mcu fans are not behaving like comic book fans—picking and choosing a fav to stick with—but like tv fans. Mcu stans are fans of marvel movies first and their fav second. But like if you're a Daredevil fan—someone who likes gritty street-level heroes that are very grounding in personal drama—I wouldn't recommend high-concept sci-fi like thor or wandavison, I'd maybe tell you to watch falcon and the winter soldier, spy movies are kinda like detective crime thrillers, but there's nothing to keep you engaged with everything at least not in a transformative way. Like this method of producing content is great for people that want to watch movies once or twice and move on, but if you're someone that likes analysis and creation, you going to get burned out fast.

the problem is that there is too much content and not enough at the same time. The release schedule for phases five and six is terrifying, that's way too many movies at once. Even if by some miracle they are all high quality in every aspect, fans will not have enough time to thoughtfully think about it, discuss it, make fan works, and make decide what they want next, etc because the next thing will already be there. Like it's not marvel's job to cultivate a fandom, they want as much money as possible so more projects mean more ticket sales because people aren't seeing these movies twice in theaters. It's a cash cow and a terrible way to make art and it's disrespectful to the comics and all the creatives involved in the project. But hey that's capitalism baby. If you are really taken with a movie or show and you want to make a fan work for it, you'll have to do it fast for people to see it because they're only checking the tag for a week max. On the other hand, there's not enough content. There is a huge Moon Knight fan base and they're probably not going to get more content till phase seven. The show was good, but not cult classic good, no one will be around to watch the next season unless they give Moon Knight a cameo in one of the next movies. But at some point that gimmick is going to get old especially if it's like the Matt Murdock cameo in no way home because like...he didn't do anything, he wasn't important to the plot, there's nothing new to work with here.

like listen, Matt's going to get some more fics once She-Hulk airs and once Echo airs and he gets his own show, and freshmen year happens. Wait a second we're back at the too much content problem. All these projects are happening at the same time people are going to have so much Matt, but unless he's got a compelling story that runs through all those shows and changes him as a character, he's just another set piece no different than the glowing sky beam. All these projects have different writers and directors, mcu matt won't be Netflix matt (like god come on, that "I'm a really good lawyer" line was fun at the moment but when has matt ever said something like that in the show?) Comic fans understand that your fav is going to go do a team-up with another character and it's probably going to be out of character because it's a different author, hell sometimes your fav just has a terrible run and you IGNORE IT. You pick and choose canon with comic fandom especially when you're writing fic and you only want the storylines that respect the character and tell meaningful stories. Mcu fans haven't figured out how to do that because they have to watch everything and like everything or otherwise they've waste years of their life on this franchise. And it's like...yeah you have, these movies are military ads with a CGI coat of paint, but like sometimes a bad movie is just a bad movie and you either write a fix-it fic or you ignore it. Disrespectfully I ignore the entire comic civil war arc because I hate it and it's boring and spits in the face of a lot of growth and characterization (also Nick Fury makes Susan and Johnny Storm go undercover as husband and wife and it's like what the fuck marvel)

and so yeah. Bascially my point is that the mcu is trying to be both a comic franchise and a movie franchise but it is impossible with the constraints of the mediums and they should just commit to making good content even if it means that there's less of it. They need to find a way to assure fans that not everything needs to connect in a big cosmic plan, but it can still connect in a shared universe that feels lived in. Like I don't need Ms. Marvel to team up with Thor and Jessica Jones to fight Galaticus. like just let there be different levels of heroes and fans should just pick their favorite and stick with that. This as much content as fast as possible model may be good for making money in the short term but this will likely exhaust fans, affirmative and transformative alike, and will probably mean an unresponsive fan base in the future and this will result in fewer fans that they have to squeeze more and more money out of with no new fans coming in because you have to watch almost two decades of content (oh wow they're closer to the comic industry than I thought lmao)

yeah these fandoms have an incredibly short shelf life because Marvel doesn't take risks with their storytelling, there is no frustration or passion, only bright colors and flashing lights. Fans don't have time to develop complete thoughts about a work that goes past "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" much less develop their own creative work in response to it. the reason the Daredevil renaissance was so fun was that not only were people discovering this character for the first time, they were going back to old fanworks as well as making their own. Read old fanworks more often, I promise they're still good. That original Daredevil fanbase had lots of content stretched out for a long period of time, they had time to sit with it and think about it and analyze and create about it. But the mcu fanbase does not allow that because there's always the shiny new toy and as a fan creative, it's discouraging knowing that if I just got this fic out a month earlier people would have cared. So you stop posting because suddenly there's no passion, only frustration.

#asks #marvel #matt murdock #daredevil #mcu #fandom #fandom meta #like it's so bad for transformative fandom in the long run #i really liked writing in the spideytorch tag because the fic got way more attention than I though it would #but that because i was writing for the comic fans #sure it's a smaller fan base but it's active and your work doesn't get lost #seriously writing for not the mcu is so liberating #i have my problems with the comic industry #but fundamentally the mcu fanbase is unstable #i want younger fans to know that it didn't used to be this way #superwholock was a years long phenomenon #it is weird that a fandom is only active for a month #this is also the fault of social media to an extent #but i do want to encourage people to not jump to the thing everyone is talking about #stick with your thing for a while and engage with it deeply #because it is that deep and it's rewarding #i mean the mcu isn't that deep #but the daredevil show is

[bbyboybucket]

Thoughts on Multiverse of Madness (contains major spoilers!!!)

- I’ll start by saying over all, I liked it. It was fun, crazy, definitely visually stunning and captivating, it some insanely awesome scenes. It was very enjoyable. BUT I had some big issues with it.

- first, I feel like it was rushed in the beginning. Things went too fast and there was no build up, it was just kinda like “hey this is happening” and it was especially that way with Wanda’s villain arc and I’ll be talking about her first.

- literally it was so rushed and felt ooc because it was right off the bat. Her villainy and motivations originally felt very shallow. It was all so surface level and lacking for like the first half of the movie. Once again, she felt so out of character to me, like it wasn’t even the same character I know and love.

- I will say though that it was FUCKING AWESOME to see what she was capable of. I lived for seeing her power be so great and loved that the movie gradually continued to show us more of her ability. Seriously, the further in we got, the more awesome she was.

- also will say that I liked it being pretty comics book accurate.

- however, I really just don’t understand why they chose this story line for her. It was so unnecessary and undid every bit of character development in Wandavision. It would have been better if there was some kind of build up to her realizing what she could have from America’s powers and she’d slowly getting more corrupt. But she went villainous off screen and it was shown within the first few minutes of the movie. I didn’t expect it to happen so quick. And I understand the whole thing of her being corrupted by the dark hold, but that just felt like a cop out. An easy way to justify making her like this when there was potential for real depth and dimension here.

- also gotta say I LOVED HER BREAKING THE 4TH WALL

- but, towards the end, there were some real good character moments for Wanda. The line of“I wouldn’t ever hurt you, I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I’m not a monster.” hit so hard. And just that whole scene in general. It made me feel so much, and honestly it was super in character and very well done. I loved it.

- but I’ve gotta say I’m kinda surprised they didn’t make Vision a more important point here. I know she let him go in WV but if they were gonna undo most of that development anyways, why would she not care more about him. Like really, if she’s going to a new reality where her kids exist, why would she not go to one where she has her kids AND vision. It doesn’t make sense and that would be infinitely more in character.

- I also don’t think she’s dead. There’s no way in hell she is. 1. If she actually was, it’d be much more emotional, especially since she’s such a well liked and huge character. It has almost no emotion to it, even less than previous mcu “death” scenes where the character turns up later (ie. Bucky, Loki, etc.) 2. They wouldn’t kill off one of their most popular and most profitable characters, especially not in her prime time. This is Wanda’s golden area, the hype is all hers, she’s pulling in awards, she’s getting tons of talk. She’s too valuable for the mcu to lose.

- now, I do like what they did with strange here. I feel like they have him a lot more depth and made him much more likable than before. Not that he was unlikeable, but more so you feel more connected to him after this movie, like you got to know him.

- I love that they took his worst traits and exaggerated them in his variants. Why? Because it’s very interesting to see this cool, all powerful superhero, humbled and not be portrayed as perfect by the narrative.

- But even more than that, it shows that you don’t have to be perfect to be good. It’s all about what you chose and how you try to be, and owning up to your mistakes. Because even though the other Stranges weren’t so great, our Strange made the right choice and did the right thing over and over again. He tried to be the best he could and proved everyone who doubted him for his flaws, completely wrong.

- I also liked seeing the more emotional side of him. I liked seeing have so much love for Christine, but putting hers and everyone else’s best interest above his deepest desire.

- I also really really loved the father-daughter like thing he had going on with America. Some may see it as more of just a mentorship or something, but I definitely feel that parent relationship and I could feel that he really cared for her. It reminds me of Tony and Peter, but 10x better.

- I have mixed feelings on the reveal of Donna. Idk. I do like the insight it gave us into his character. But I feel that it was dropped to quickly and it was a shame it wasn’t explored just a bit more. It almost felt random and irrelevant. Like yes, I do get the thing of them both saying “we don’t talk about that.” and it showing how much Strange bottles up inside (kinda a small theme in this movie, hm?). I like that and I felt so bad for him when he said “I couldn’t protect her.” But also I just wish there was more of a pay off to it, I just wish it didn’t feel so misplaced because it could’ve had more impact.

- also liked the growth of his magic in this, he had quite a few new tricks up his sleeve.

- I’m very curious about what the screaming was at the end. Also wondering about the end credits, when he suddenly was fine? Was that a time jump, different Strange? Also curious to see where his character is going from here and how it’s going to play into the bigger part of the phases 4 and 5 of the mcu.

- also super cool that we have a new character introduced that I’d never heard of till today and I wonder what role Clea is gonna play from here on out.

- speaking of new characters, I fucking loved America. Like love love love love loved that girl. God she was such a little sweetheart. Her powers are awesome for one, but who she is is awesome too.

- I think she had great development in this movie, I loved that they made her not be able to control her powers. Is it a bit cliche? Maybe, but they made it work so fucking well. I felt for her, because she couldn’t help any of this, she was just a young and innocent girl who was scared but tried to be brave anyways.

- my heart hurt for her when she said she killed her parents. imagine, growing up with that heavy of guilt and fear of your own capabilities. That poor bby. 💔

- but once again, loved the relationship she built with Strange. I also love how as time went on, he helped her have more faith in herself and really gave her that needed boost of confidence. But fuck, I also felt terrible when she was going to sacrifice herself. She’s such a sweet kid omfg.

- also, I love love love love that she had the idea to show Wanda the horror of what she actually wanted. America sat up that powerful moment. Her badass fighting scene was followed up seamlessly with one so emotional.

- also love her spunk, and sass, and she was so cute trying to learn other magic and in her robes. I’m so excited to see more of her in the future.

- I was so worried about the cameos in this movie. Like going in, I was anxious that the movie would be relying too heavily on them….but I was wrong. It was very well done.

- first, I loved seeing John Krasinski as Reed Richards. I LOVED IT!!!! Like literally he was so perfect for that role and it was just fucking great. Perfect in all senses. (Also very sexy)

- Maria was a bad bitch, being the one to survive longest and gave Wanda a run for her money.

- I have mixed feelings about Captain Carter. I originally was not excited about her being in it because of the fact that she was such a huge role in “What If?” And I didn’t want a repeat of that. But I truthfully didn’t mind her too much in this.

- however, I fucking HATED!!!! AND I MEAN HATED!!!!! The fact that she said “i can do this all day.” No. No. No. No. No. I will not accept that. I’m not even a big Steve stan, but that is his and only his to say and they should not have made her rip it off and take away the value. Steve says that iconic line so many times because he was a disable bullied kid, showing his bravery and putting up with hell to stand for what he believed in. Peggy Carter was not that. She’s not the same.

- also I just don’t even really understand why she was a part of the Illuminati in the first place because she is way less powerful compared to all the other characters that surrounded her. Also don’t understand how she didn’t die sooner. I feel like they just wanted to give her as much screen time as possible here but I don’t feel like she should’ve been an Illuminati member at all because realistically, there’s nothing that special about her to be in such a position. I didn’t mind her, but it would’ve been better to see a different character, especially since we already got our fill of Captain Carter in “What If?” and I feel like the more she pops up, the more it undermines Sam.

- anyways, continuing on, the scene where Professor X enters Wanda’s mind has to be one of the coolest fucking scenes in the entire mcu. It’s one of my new favorites.

- the visuals in this movie were just so good omg.

- also liked the further explanations of the dark hold and the souls of the damned. That was cool as was the antithesis, the book of Vishanti. Once again, the magic in this movie was amazing across the board.

- The cinematography was amazing too by the way. Not just the CGI but the way things were shot, the way it felt almost like a horror movie at some points, the way it was just so pleasing to the eye the entire time. I loved that.

- also i was kinda expecting Mephisto to appear at some point. I never have taken that seriously before but for the first time I actually wondered if he’d appear because of how much talk about the dark hold, the forging of the scarlet witch, etc.

- also was kinda thinking Shang-Chi was gonna make a cameo and Loki too but neither happened.

- last thing I can think of right now, is that I kinda wish we would’ve gotten another post-credits scene that had more connection to what’s coming up in the mcu. Bc that short little one about just what’s next for Strange, isn’t enough for me 😩. I fr was hoping for something new to freak out about.

That’s all.

#dr strange #dr strange multiverse of madness #dsmom #dsmom spoilers #doctor strange #multiverse of madness #multiverse of madness spoilers #spoilers #dsitmom #dsitmom spoilers #wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #stephen strange #america chavez #wandavision

[drachman]

I‘ve attended the Jack Benny fan club convention virtually for the last two years (it‘s only virtual, which in a way is too bad, but it improves the caliber of speakers), and while there have many vivid moments, the most interesting was Neil Gaiman.

First of all, really interesting that he’s a huge Jack Benny fan. His observation that Jack Benny would have made a really good Dr. Who was so interesting. Because it was true. Because it was almost certainly the first time in history that anyone had ever said it.

But also because it highlights two things - any great actor would be a really great Dr. Who. It’s the only TV character like that in history.

Also because he’s acknowledging that Benny had an acting range that was barely tapped. As Dr. Who, he couldn’t “do” the “Benny character.” It would need to be something new, funny in a Benny-esque (not Benny-ish) way, with the reluctant bravery he showed in To Be or Not to Be and especially in the relatively obscure 1935 comedy, It’s in the Air, when his persona was still developing and I guess he thought he could be a comic actor with some range.

Audere was bought as you know and I’m not writing for it anymore, I guess, but I’m trying to help build out a new site, and I think I’ll write about this.

I think a lot of people would have found this idea interesting in 1971 but not today. Jack Benny was one of the biggest stars of the twentieth century, but in less than a generation he’s fallen into near-obscurity. I wonder how many of you know who he is or even recognize the name.