#also he's already taken care of all the other evil teams so team meteor's just another one on the list

[moved-to-void-kissed]

safari ball and gs ball for whomever you’d like!! ~zale

Hi @garchompp!! Thank you for these!!~

I think I'll go with my selfship with Luna if that’s alright, since then I know I can give a pretty good answer for GS Ball (my first instinct was to talk about Aria there, but I did that on that other post pretty recently, so.. let’s change things up a bit!)

(question source: this post by jackship)

SAFARI BALL ; have you ever been on a fun vacation with your F/O? where did you go? how did you spend your time with each other? do you have any places on your bucket list where you’d love to go? - It’s pretty safe to say that the current goings-on in the Reborn region have made things a bit too hectic for either of us to take time away - Luna from her role as the Dark-type Gym Leader (particularly given that she’s one of the many Gym Leaders whose reserve leader isn’t ever shown, unlike Aya or Florinia for instance), and Adriana from trying to stop Team Meteor and their plans, especially since Anna specifically asked her to collect all of the Reborn League’s Gym Badges (and given what happens to the only person we’ve seen so far who directly knowingly goes against Anna’s advice.. that girl definitely knows what the best courses of action are for the people she cares about.)

However, once everything is finally sorted out (or as sorted out as it can be, anyway!), I have it planned that Adriana and Luna visit Hoenn for a while together! Mainly since Hoenn is also one of my favourite regions alongside Kalos and Sinnoh. It’s primarily as a getaway from Reborn and everything that they’ve gone through, so that they can both take some time to relax and reflect together, but Adri also takes the opportunity to participate in Contest Spectaculars with her Pumpkaboo while she’s there. I don’t have many of the finer details planned out, but their holiday will probably also include visits to places like Lavaridge for the hot springs and Mt. Pyre for the connections to Ghost-types.

I’m also thinking that we go for a shorter holiday to Galar at some point, mostly because that gives me an excuse to hang out with the many of my friends and mutuals whose self-inserts are based in that region, haha (but also I want Luna to see Ballonlea and Glimwood Tangle, because I think she’d love it there! And since other Dark-type Gym Leaders aren’t very common, but Galar has one, that could make sense for her to want to visit there, too).

GS BALL ; did you have any original concepts for your self-inserts that were scrapped? did your storyline with your F/O go somewhere else than you originally planned? what ideas have changed when creating your relationship with your F/O? - well, Adriana wasn’t particularly fleshed-out as a character to start with, since she was pretty much just “my version of the in-game protagonist” in terms of what she did in the story (hence why she originally used the same name that I used to go by). She didn’t initially have a lot of backstory because of that, until I came up with the idea of letting her be from Kalos since Generation 6 is my favourite of them all (and because I wanted her to have a Shiny Pumpkaboo as her starter/partner Pokémon, because hello they are adorable). That then led nicely into her being a Ghost-type specialist for her journey around Kalos, since in the games, Kalos is the only region without a notable Ghost-type specialist, though a lot of Ghost-type Pokémon that I like are available there. Also, Adriana’s current outfit was originally just supposed to be the outfit she uses for Contest Spectaculars, but.. I got too attached to it and I was able to make it fit her character by tying her to Laverre City (since it resembles the furisode girl Trainer class, but with the colour palette of a Shiny Pumpkaboo!), so now it’s her actual default outfit, haha

As for the storyline of the selfship.. well, it still sticks very closely to the events of the game itself, moreso than most of my other selfships I’d say, and so Adri very much still follows the path of the player character (unlike, say, Noire, who is sort of supposed to replace the in-game protagonists but to a much lesser extent so they probably also exist as characters in their own right too). So, I wouldn’t actually say that that much has changed, since the main changes to the story that deviate from the games (saving Luna from her fate in the game, for instance) are things I had written in from the start.

I think the main things that have really changed are adding in the details about how Luna’s and Adri’s Pokémon teams connect to each other, with Adriana giving Luna the Gothitelle she’s shown with at the Glass Workstation, and Luna then catching a Shiny Mismagius on the way up to the Glass Workstation which she gives to Adri there, plus general sorts of dynamics (like Luna’s Absol and Adriana’s Silvally being friendly rivals of a sort). But, other than that, I don’t think there have been many massive changes.

Thank you again for sending these in, friend!! I hope that my answers were alright and made enough sense, given that it’s so late here, haha~

#a call from the void #selfship #selfshipping #love: dark dreamer (luna) #selfship: void‑kissed (luna/adriana) #self‑insert: soul‑touched (adriana) #out of the inbox #selfship asks #zale tag! #with everything I know about your self-insert and what she goes through i think it'd be really cool if she got to visit reborn #since.. the whole place is a lot darker than most other pokémon regions. but it gets better. people work together to make things better #and even if they aren't *perfect* at the current time of writing #nor is everything resolved - not by a long shot #nor does everyone get a happy ending #even though none of that's entirely the case - things are still very much on an upwards trajectory #also he's already taken care of all the other evil teams so team meteor's just another one on the list #or something along those lines #long post #ask to tag #sorry I rambled there ;w; #okay i'm tired now I need to sleep #but I'm glad I got this out before that #I think that was three asks answered today so if I can keep that rate up that'd be good

[severalspoons]

Liveblog: Rewatching Trigun, Episode 20

Surprise, this blog series continues! I have no intention of letting it end at episode 19. (I mean, that’s not even a nice round number!) While these aren’t liveblogs any more, they still give me an opportunity to discuss meta. 

Life lesson learned: once you start a series of anything, do not stop until it’s finished--no matter what other projects come up, no matter how shiny they are, and no matter how much you’re dreading watching episode 23. Since I do my best work when feeling inspired, I hate to wait and let my enthusiasm for the new project cool, but jumping ship only ends in two unfinished projects instead of one.

This is going to be arranged by theme, not so much chronologically. Also, it ended up being more about Wolfwood than originally intended.  Including a spoiler, so be careful.

Millie’s Transmitter

Millie reports that the Chief of Bernadelli gave her a transmitter/tracking device, which must be a rare, valuable piece of technology -- to prevent anyone from outwitting her. Meryl replies that this is nothing to brag about. I disagree.

First of all, the chief cares about her enough to entrust her with this bragworthy technology. She must have earned his trust and good opinion, also an achievement. He could easily punish or fire her, but instead gives her a tool to perform better. Countless people with learning disabilities dream of bosses like this. 

People tend to take a harmful all-or-nothing attitude towards disabilities. Either PWD are incapable of doing things and nothing can be done about it, or they are capable of doing things, and shouldn’t need help. Since people with disabilities themselves live in society, they end up indoctrinated and taking the same attitudes towards themselves. Shame and self-hatred often result. People strive for years, often with therapy, to get to the matter of fact acceptance Millie shows here.

***

Vash in Hell

Everything is red, from the beginning. The sand, himself and his clothes, the sky. Knives comes into view, blurry and mostly in shadow, only one eye visible.  What looks like meteors, probably chunks from the ships, fall through the sky like rain. We’re seeing from Vash’s point of view.

When waking Vash, Knives’ voice is normal, sounding like a real child. It doesn’t change to his growly evil voice until Vash accuses him of being a murderer. Then, his eye loses its pupil, and he suddenly appears to have fangs. He looks like he’s become some sort of monster. Not human, as Vash says.

Knives beats him up for even daring to compare him to a human. What hurts the most about this is you know it’ll be a long time, and probably many more such beatings, before Vash leaves.

Was it ever possible to take care of Knives? Was Rem’s last request reasonable?

Vash announces he’s finally ready to face Knives. What impresses me most: he’s finally making a significant decision for himself.

***

Meet the Folks

How is Vash more attractive in normal clothes than his signature coat, even in scenes showing only his face? Speaking of which, this episode is full of beautiful shots of Vash’s face. Wolfwood’s, too. 

How the hell did Wolfwood get here? He said he was concerned about Vash crying then jumping off a cliff, and followed him. However, he seems to have climbed up from below. How would he have found a floating platform? Certainly, none is visible below him. And since he seems to know nothing about the flying ship, he can’t have taken Vash’s strategy and jumped onto a platform at just the right time. 

“Come meet the folks!” Yes, they actually do have a summer cottage in the sky. Ever wonder why Vash’s head is always in the clouds? ;) 

Wolfwood actually says “I’m getting sick of your lies.” Hypocritical much?

Wolfwood is the first guest Vash has brought “home” in over 20 years (in other words, since he became The Stampede)! 

Does that mean that the whole time Vash has been on the run, he hasn’t visited the SEEDS ship (probably to prevent anyone tracking him from discovering it)? Vash could have simply hid out for the last 20 years in the SEEDS ship; it’s his home, after all. Instead, he chose to go out and protect people from Knives, and each other. (How many of us would have made the same choice?)

***

Inside Legato’s Lair

What does this informant know about Chapel’s duties? From the way Legato dismisses his concerns, it seems like Knives’ followers aren’t given much information about each other.

Wolfwood is now doomed. “You’re such a fool. Had you behaved, you might have lived to see Doomsday. But I’m pleased, for I now have the opportunity to carry out another of my master’s wishes.” 

A surprisingly restrained evil chuckle from Legato. Thank you for sparing us a full-on villain laugh.

How does Legato get shoulder padding that sticks out that far? Each shoulder is almost twice as big as his head.

***

A Series of Awkward Events

The ship has a whole observation team. No one should be able to get up here without the SEEDS leaders knowing, right? Right? ...

The old man tells Brad Vash has changed over the years. How? 

After all this buildup, Brad opens the door, letting in blinding light, and this is what he sees:

The legend acting like an idiot and getting his butt kicked. Very dignified. 

This is Brad’s reaction:

“Is that your great legend?! Huh?!” “What a relief! He hasn’t changed at all.” (A relief? What were they afraid would have happened to him?)

Brad is not amused by Wolfwood’s touchy-feely ways.

“Who’s he?” Vash, looking embarrassed: “I’m not sure.” Fair enough, but not very helpful, and Wolfwood doesn’t elaborate. We already know and love Vash’s embarrassed grin, but I can’t get over Wolfwood’s almost sinister smile in the mirror. 

A cute moment where Vash looks back like, “isn’t my place great?” and Wolfwood just gapes like an idiot. (Close your mouth, my dude. Flies are gonna get in). 

Vash last visited about 20 years ago, and Jessica was a small child then, so she should be about 23 or 24. However, she looks and acts like a teenager. Vash inadvertently becomes part of an unwanted love triangle.

To his credit, Vash tries to put her off, in a joking way (”I have a reputation for being easy but even I need a bit of advance warning”). Wolfwood makes the whole situation worse by teasing Vash about his “girlfriend” in front of a fuming Brad. It’s as if he were going out of his way to antagonize the people on the ship.

When Vash actually has a chance to look at Jessica’s face, he remembers her. Think about that. He may only have met her once, it’s been 20 years, and he still recognizes her and remembers her name. How many other people does he remember from the past ~130 years? This is how he uses his powerful plant brain--Knives would view it as a waste.

Jessica cooks a feast for Vash, which, tragically, he won’t get to enjoy. How did she cook all this food so fast? It’s enough to feed the whole ship.

***

Wolfwood is mistrusted for the wrong reasons

Wolfwood actually takes off his shades and armor of acting like a jerk while introducing himself to Jessica. This is unusually open and vulnerable of him. He actually is trying to behave. But Brad, worried about “a bunch of outsiders” bringing war to their flying paradise, hits him where it hurts.  

...Did I mention Wolfwood has beautiful eyes?

Anyway, everyone gathers around staring at Wolfwood from a distance, while he drops cigarettes on the ground. There’s an entire pile lying at his feet. The whole scene is the definition of passive aggressive. 

What seems to anger Wolfwood is not so much how they treat him personally, but their denial combined with moral superiority. Not to push a metaphor too far, but these folks are able to take the moral high horse because their literal high position keeps them safe. Yet, they use this immense privilege not to help the world below, or to prepare for the ship’s inevitable fall, but to hide in their castle in the sky. It clicks for me that Wolfwood probably feels about running away the way Vash does about suicide (think back to episode 11). 

The SEEDS dwellers do not seem to understand that Wolfwood is both trying to help them and a little resentful of what they have. To them, he is everything they’ve been taught to fear and hate, up here poisoning Paradise for them with his unpleasant ideas. Of course this sort of dynamic never happens in real life.

Also, keep in mind that none of them know anything about the people below directly, only from hearsay. They’re not wrong about Gunsmoke as a whole, but they treat Wolfwood like a monster rather than a person.  That also never happens in real life.

Then he gets to the scene of a crime too late--but just in time to look like the one responsible. Although the ship dwellers would love to see him dead, he leaps to defend them against his own colleague. Knowing, perhaps, that doing this would confirm he switched sides, and his own days might be numbered. He doesn’t even pause to think, he just goes, the same way he did when the child went missing in episode 9.

***

Vash Will Save The Day

“Like you care. Five years is probably like a blink of the eye to you anyway.” Vash denies it, but the second part is probably true. He looks so surprised to hear it’s been five years.

It can’t be easy for Vash to admit that he was responsible for the “Fifth Moon Incident,” and is probably more dangerous than Knives. Once again, his only argument is “please.” But there’s no buffoonery or melodrama here. He’s dead serious, and that’s more convincing. 

Wolfwood tries to stop Leonoff from saying his name. No one who would understand the significance or matters to him is present, just Brad and Jessica. Is he merely afraid others will hear? Does he still consider himself to be Chapel?

Even facing Leonoff, Wolfwood still hasn’t put his shades back on.

Now imagine if Vash managed to find ways out of no-win situations and save the day without all the whining and crying.

Wolfwood can pause and wait for once, having faith that Vash will show up. He knows there’s always a third option for Vash. He does not yet see any for himself. Still, progress nonetheless.

***

Unfortunately for me, Vash is back with his red coat in Vash the Stampede mode, yellow glasses hiding his face.

OK, I can see how Leonoff’s puppets get into the ship without being noticed, but how on Earth did the big guy even get here?

#liveblog #liveblogging #trigun anime #trigun #millie thompson #meryl stryfe #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #seeds ship #legato bluesummers #gung ho guns #leonoff the puppet master #character analysis #meta #brad and jessica #love and peace #ethics #faith

[iexbie]

My Country

This is a really long and biased summary of Seon Ho/Hwi  mostly for my friends please don’t @ me. I won’t be talking about Hui Jae or Yeon or Bang Won. I’m a busy woman I had to get down to business.

Our characters:

Seon Ho is the illegitimate son of a high standing political advisor (or something) and a woman he enslaved. When his older half-brother dies, his father takes him from his mother and raises him. His mother kills herself because of this. Seon Ho hates his father (obvi), and believes the best way he can achieve vengeance is by gaining political power. His wig is God Tier.

Hwi is Our Primary Hero. He's an orphan who has raised his younger sister since childhood. Their father (a well respected military man) is publicly executed for a false charge made to cover Seon Ho's father's real crimes. His major goal in the story is protect his sister, Yeon. You know his life is extra hard because his lips are always covered with concealer. He has ambidextrous eyebrows so he can both be >:( and <:(. He’s usually <:(.

They become best friends, bonding over their status as outsiders and their hatred for Seon Ho's dad. Hwi's sister has a crush on Seon Ho, and Seon Ho treats her with kindness and affection. Seon Ho and Hwi find themselves both looking to the same solution to their problems. They want to take the State Exam and climb the ranks of the military. Seon Ho wants to do this to gain political power. Hwi is just desperate for money. They are very supportive of each other at this point. They know only one of them can come in first place, and they promise each other not to hold back. ThEY DON'T. 

Hwi wins the fight after he and Seon Ho BRUTALLY beat each other up. Immediately following Hwi being declared winner, a punch drunk and desperate Seon Ho clobbers him across the head. The main judge declares that ACTUALLY Seon Ho is the winner and Hwi is taken away.

This is the least covered in blood he will be for the next seven episodes.

Seon Ho realizes that his dad bribed the judge. When he confronts his father, his dad challenges him, saying 'If you really want to, you can tell the world I bribed the judge and we'll both lose everything.' Seon Ho is unwilling to give up his chance for power, and agrees to keep the position, even though it will ruin Hwi's entire life.

The face of a man who has realized he’s not shit.

Even a stopped clock...

When it becomes clear that Hwi KNOWS about the bribe, Seon Ho's father makes plans to kill him.  Seon Ho suggests an alternative: Send Hwi away to the frontline of an unwinnable war.

This is how you know a sad bitch is going to die in a historical drama.

Soldiers come to pick up Hwi, saying he's been drafted. During the ensuing fight, Hwi's sister, Yeon, has a seizure and he's unable to reach her. He is sent away without knowing if she survives. Yang Se Jong acts the SHIT out of this scene but his face is COOOOOVERED in blood. I can’t screencap that.

Seon Ho was WATCHING Hwi get taken away from the shadows, and runs to save Yeon.  He manages to get her back to his place, where he stands up to his father for he first time and DEMANDS they help her. Meanwhile, Hwi begs someone to tell Seon Ho what's up.

This is still a lot of face blood.

FLASHFORWARD THREE MONTHS

Hwi wakes up in the midst of a giant battle. He's now one of hundreds of men just trying to survive. The fight scene extremely rules. He's a great fighter and becomes an unofficial Lieutenant among the advance forces.

Seon Ho is now a military official. The General Lee Seong Gye now trusts him and he's able to give council on war decisions. One time he sees a guy who looks like he might be wearing Hwi’s wig and he runs over to him desperate to see his friend.

He’s makes such bad decisions, but he’s so pretty.

The General Lee Seong Gye wants to turn back to the capital and start a revolution, but he doesn't know what to do with the advance group. Seon Ho (baby evil) proposes they send a team to kill the remaining 75 men, so no one can question their decision to turn back. He’s pretty mouthy about it, so the General has him go in with the Murder Team.

He really does think he’s a bad bitch.

Seon Ho gets the advanced camp and starts fighting when he makes eye contact with his enemy and....it's Hwi.

This is so many screencaps but C’MON.

Seon Ho sees his second in command attacking Hwi from behind, so he jumps in front of him and takes the life threatening hit himself. Hwi unlocks Beast Mode in vengeful rage. This clip is on youtube.

Hwi and his friends nurse Seon Ho back to health, despite his trying to MURDER THEM. Seon Ho wakes up and behaves like a snot. It’s sweet actually.

Just like old times before I sent you away to the frontline of an unwinnable war :’)

This is fucking. like. It’s like. Jane Austen shit.

Seon Ho shits on the moment by asking why Hwi hasn’t mentioned the fact that Seon Ho sent him to the frontlines. Hwi evades the question. Seon Ho continues on by confessing to both sending him to the frontlines AND bribing the judge (which he did not technically do so it’s extra juicy that he’s taking the fall for it here.) Hwi tries to get him to stop talking. Seon Ho then confesses it was his idea to kill the advance troops. Hwi yells at him to stop and says that if Seon Ho was there to kill him, why did he save his life? Seon Ho says he was just indebted to him but now they’re even (obvious lie!)

Hwi asks Seon Ho about Yeon. Seon Ho flashes back to his father saying that if anyone finds out they're harboring Yeon he'll kill them, and tells Hwi that Yeon is dead. This could have been executed more smoothly tbh.

Hwi says he’s going after Seon Ho’s dad, and Seon Ho tells him he can’t!!!!

Also the room is on fire.

Hwi leaves Seon Ho and returns to the city. Turns out Yeon IS alive!!!! But she has amnesia (l.mfao.) He agrees to work for Seon Ho & his dad as a means of insuring Yeon's safety. This next portion fo the story is EVEN MORE POLITICS, so in short: during this arrangement there are several instances where Hwi is in mortal danger and Seon Ho (self proclaimed prince of darkness) COMES OUT OF THE WOODWORK to save him even when it messes up his plans:

Hwi is not moved by this and even double crosses Seon Ho, leading to Seon Ho being brutally beaten by like idk  the palace special inspectors? Something like that. I will also save you from screncaps of his bloody face though I will confess I was personally into it.

Hwi just looked handsome here idk.

Hwi and Seon Ho are for real really broken up, and Hwi seems pretty firm on his resolve to not care about Seon Ho (which is definitely fair.) When Seon Ho learns that Hwi is going on a suicide mission for his father. He runs to stop him but he's too late. 

This is only like the fourteenth  most romantic thing to happen on the show. That’s BONKERS. I’m literally deleting more pictures of Seon Ho on the ground sadly staring at Hwi, because I know you get it, but like. Wow.

Seon Ho’s dad shows up and appears to finish killing Hwi. Seon Ho sees Hwi unmoving and has to be physically restrained from going to him, even though he’s already all tied up.

THIS IS PRIMO TRAGIC ROMANCE CONTENT.

He decides to run away with Yeon. As he's escaping they're surrounded by his father's guards, who have been ordered to kill her.  Hwi's friends to save them and reveal that Hwi is alive waiting for her. Turns out he was playing dead, haha. Jokes on Seon Ho!

My soul left my body like that Winnie the Pooh gif.

Seon Ho realizes his father won't let Yeon and Hwi leave so he goes to warn them.  He and Hwi fight off his father's guards, but Yeon is killed despite their best efforts (Every man in this show would survive getting hit by a meteor but it just takes one stab for Yeon to go down. I have longform thoughts about this, but now is not the time.)

SIX YEARS LATER

Hwi has aligned himself with a prince (THE PRINCE imo) looking for the throne. Seon Ho is Team Current King.  Their ultimate goal is still to kill Seon Ho's dad, but they have different plans for how to accomplish this.  Hwi wants to destroy Seon Ho's dad's dream of power before killing him, while Seon Ho wants his father's treachery to be made public and then kill him himself, so that he's remembered as a traitor killed by their own child.  Potato Potato, I say.

Hwi gets the upper hand and stabs Seon Ho through the gut. 

YOUR SWORD

STILL FEELS AFFECTIONATE.

Ultimately, this relationship is characterized by one man (Seon Ho) who believes he can do anything to get what he wants, and another (Hwi) who might really be able to do anything to get what he wants. It's effed up man,  I can't get enough.

Seon Ho survives that by the way. Just a flesh wound. He walks it off.

#my country #don't read all this. #tw: suicide mention #blood

[scifigeneration]

'Black Panther' and its science role models inspire more than just movie awards

by Clifford Johnson

King of a technologically advanced country, Black Panther is a scientific genius. © 2017 – Disney/Marvel Studios

It has been said many times that the Marvel movie “Black Panther” is an important landmark. I’m not referring to its deserved critical and box office success worldwide, the many awards it has won, or the fact that it is the first film in the superhero genre to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.

Instead, I’m focusing on a key aspect of its cultural impact that is less frequently discussed. Finally a feature film starring a black superhero character became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – a successful run of intertwined movies that began with “Iron Man” in 2008. While there have been other superhero movies with a black lead character – “Hancock” (2008), “Blade” (1998), “Spawn” (1997) or even “The Meteor Man” (1993) – this film is significant because of the recent remarkable rise of the superhero film from the nerdish fringe to part of mainstream culture.

Huge audiences saw a black lead character – not a sidekick or part of a team – in a superhero movie by a major studio, with a black director (Ryan Coogler), black writers and a majority black cast. This is a significant step toward diversifying our culture by improving the lackluster representation of minorities in our major media. It’s also a filmmaking landmark because black creators have been given access to the resources and platforms needed to bring different storytelling perspectives into our mainstream culture.

2017’s “Wonder Woman” forged a similar path. In that case, a major studio finally decided to commit resources to a superhero film headlined by a female character and directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins. Female directors are a minority in the movie industry. Jenkins brought a new perspective to this kind of action movie, and there was a huge positive response from audiences in theaters worldwide.

And beyond all this, “Black Panther” also broke additional ground in a way most people may not realize: In the comics, the character is actually a scientist and engineer. Moreover, in the inevitable (and somewhat ridiculous) ranking of scientific prowess that happens in the comic book world, he’s been portrayed as at least the equal of the two most famous “top scientists” in the Marvel universe: Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic). A black headlining superhero character written and directed by black artists is rare enough from a major studio. But making him – and his sister Shuri – successful scientists and engineers as well is another level of rarity.

Scientists on screen

I’m a scientist who cares about increased engagement with science by the general public. I’ve worked as a science adviser on many film and TV projects (though not “Black Panther”). When the opportunity arises, I’ve helped broaden the diversity of scientist characters portrayed onscreen.

Jason Wilkes is a black scientist on ‘Agent Carter,’ whose character emerged from the author’s talks with the show’s writers. ABC Television, CC BY-ND

Panels from ‘The Dialogues,’ including a black female scientist. 'The Dialogues,' by Clifford V. Johnson (MIT Press 2017), CC BY-ND

I’ve also recently published a nonfiction graphic book for general audiences called “The Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe.” Its characters include male and female black scientists, discussing aspects of my own field of theoretical physics – where black scientists are unfortunately very rare. So the opportunity that the “Black Panther” movie presents to inform and inspire vast audiences is of great interest to me.

The history and evolution of the Black Panther character and his scientific back story is a fascinating example of turning a problematic past into a positive opportunity.

Created in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he’s the first black superhero character in mainstream comics, originally appearing as a guest in a “Fantastic Four” Marvel comic. As a black character created and initially written by nonblack authors, guest-starring in the pages of a book headlined by white characters, he had many of the classic attributes of what is now sometimes controversially known as the “magical negro” in American cultural criticism: He ranked extremely highly in every sphere that mattered, to the point of being almost too unreal even for the comics of the time.

Black Panther is T’Challa, king of the fictional African country Wakanda, which is fathomlessly wealthy and remarkably advanced, scientifically and technologically. Even Marvel’s legendary master scientist – Reed Richards of the superhero team Fantastic Four – is befuddled by and full of admiration for Wakanda’s scientific capabilities. T’Challa himself is portrayed as an extraordinary “genius” in physics and other scientific fields, a peerless tactician, a remarkable athlete and a master of numerous forms of martial arts. And he is noble to a fault. Of course, he grows to become a powerful ally of the Fantastic Four and other Marvel superheroes over many adventures.

While likening Black Panther to a ‘refugee from a Tarzan movie,’ the Fantastic Four marveled at his technological innovations in ‘Introducing the Sensational Black Panther.’ Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). [Marvel Comics]

The key point here is that the superlative scientific ability of our hero, and that of his country, has its origins in the well-meaning, but problematic, practice of inventing near or beyond perfect black characters to support stories starring primarily white protagonists. But this is a lemons-to-lemonade story.

The Fantastic Four were amazed by the scientific ingenuity of Wakanda in ‘Whosoever Finds The Evil Eye.’ Fantastic Four #54 (September 1966). [Marvel Comics]

Black Panther eventually got to star in his own series of comics. He was turned into a nuanced and complex character, moving well away from the tropes of his beginnings. Writer Don McGregor’s work started this development as early as 1973, but Black Panther’s journey to the multilayered character you see on screen was greatly advanced by the efforts of several writers with diverse perspectives. Perhaps most notably, in the context of the film, these include Christopher Priest (late 1990s) and Ta-Nehisi Coates (starting in 2016), along with Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey, writing in “World of Wakanda” (2016). Coates and Gay, already best-selling literary writers before coming to the character, helped bring him to wider attention beyond normal comic book fandom, partly paving the way for the movie.

Through all of the improved writing of T'Challa and his world, his spectacular scientific ability has remained prominent. Wakanda continues to be a successful African nation with astonishing science and technology. Furthermore, and very importantly, T'Challa is not portrayed as an anomaly among his people in this regard. There are many great scientists and engineers in the Wakanda of the comics, including his sister Shuri. In some accounts, she (in the continued scientist-ranking business of comics) is an even greater intellect than he is. In the movie, T’Challa’s science and engineering abilities are referred to, but it is his sister Shuri who takes center stage in this role, having taken over to design the new tools and weapons he uses in the field. She also uses Wakandan science to heal wounds that would have been fatal elsewhere in the world.

Black Panther isn’t an isolated genius – his half-sister Shuri is a technological wiz herself. Marvel Studios

If they can do it, then why not me?

As a scientist who cares about inspiring more people – including underrepresented minorities and women – to engage with science, I think that showing a little of this scientific landscape in “Black Panther” potentially amplifies the movie’s cultural impact.

Vast audiences see black heroes – both men and women – using their scientific ability to solve problems and make their way in the world, at an unrivaled level. Research has shown that such representation can have a positive effect on the interests, outlook and career trajectories of viewers.

Improving science education for all is a core endeavor in a nation’s competitiveness and overall health, but outcomes are limited if people aren’t inspired to take an interest in science in the first place. There simply are not enough images of black scientists – male or female – in our media and entertainment to help inspire. Many people from underrepresented groups end up genuinely believing that scientific investigation is not a career path open to them.

Moreover, many people still see the dedication and study needed to excel in science as “nerdy.” A cultural injection of Black Panther heroics helps continue to erode the crumbling tropes that science is only for white men or reserved for people with a special “science gene.”

The huge widespread success of the “Black Panther” movie, showcasing T'Challa, Shuri and other Wakandans as highly accomplished scientists, remains one of the most significant boosts for science engagement in recent times.

About The Author:

Clifford Johnson is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Clifford V. Johnson is the author of:The Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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