#better barry characterisation than most

[poisonandpages]

Ok so I just finished my first read of Peter Darling by Austin Chant after completing it in a few hours, and here are my thoughts (spoilers if you haven't read it) ;

The writing is of better quality than I was expecting. I've been fooled by the "progressive retelling of (x beloved story)" kind of marketing before so I had braced myself for something distinctly subpar in the vein of un-proofread fanfic and was pleasantly surprised to find how well done it is as a novel.

I think the story is more nuanced than I've seen certain reviews give it credit for. Specifically, I think a lot of people saw "Peter Pan/Captain Hook love story" and assumed it had a paedophilic angle to it. Is it kinda sketchy for an adult to get with someone who is technically also an adult but was known to them as a child? Of course, this is something that always makes me uncomfortable irl and I hate to see it played straight in fiction, but it's established in this story that both time and memories are made blurry by the very nature of Neverland, so it enters instead somewhat vague and implausible territory like criticising a vampire for getting with a young human adult - there is no real world equivalent to this so it's easier to hand-wave the age stuff away.

I also felt the author approached the characterisation of the leads and the themes of growing up and coping via imagination vs reality in a much more complex way than most Pan stories do. At times it was brilliantly heart-wrenching.

I can only applaud the decision to leave out the "Indians" from Barrie's original work. The Doylist explanation is of course "it would be hard work trying to justify such a thing in the work of a 21st century writer", but I like to think that the Watsonian explanation is "Peter may still have some growing up to do but he matured just enough to realise Native Americans are people too".

The ending where two people made miserable by their real lives who felt they had no choice but to hide in a fantasy land choose to return to this world together, as honest, awkward versions of themselves? Beautiful. Spectacular. Chef's kiss.

I loved how the fairies were written as these little half-human half-bug creatures, more real than the nameless pirates but less so than Hook and Pan, much more alien than the miniature winged people that could be expected in a disney story. The way they're described and the way in which Neverland "traps" people felt a lot more like traditional legends of the Fair Folk than anything else.

I'd like to know that Ernest lived a happy life but I understand why the author chose not to include that.

As a cis person I don't know how much I can talk about the trans narrative that is key to the entire story, but I personally thought that it was very well done and knowing that it was written by an actual trans person made it all the more wonderful.

In short I enjoyed it, but I know it's the sort of story that won't be for everyone. Glad I got it.

#peter darling #peter pan #lgbt #long post

[anthropos-metronff]

“Where’s everyone going? Bingo?” is deservedly a meme, but also goes to the heart of I think not just Leon’s characterisation but so much of the characterisation of this series - of a palpable push-and-pull between inoffensive middle-of-the-road American heroes and it being an incredibly dark and gore-filled dystopia of corporate/military industrial complex America run wild.

Which leads me onto my main point: How the fuck did Barry not end up as the main character of this series?

Seriously. In the original game Barry - yes, Barry - has the most character depth. He’s caught in a struggle between his loyalty to his comrades and his basic decency, and Wesker blackmailing him over the safety of his family. He’s basically the only character who clearly has an emotional existence outside of the mansion.

He’s also of course the most memorable character from the original game. Now, people will of course say that it’s for the wrong reasons, but it’s still true. Back in the day, Barry’s lines were the ones we quoted the most often. I mean, shit, they were pretty much the only ones we quoted.

If social media had existed back in the mid-nineties, then Barry would have been easily the most memed-about character. Easily.

And I think in that original struggle between his loyalty to his team and the love of his family, leading him to become a pawn of Wesker - I think that’s closer to the darker aspects of the series than Chris and Jill’s starting positions as Generic Male Hero and Generic Female Hero. It feels more authentic to me. It fits the RE universe better.

There’s that line if you investigate his desk in RE2 that “the owner is probably a member of the NRA”. And I understand we got a little of this in Revelations 2, (Though christ it took twenty years to get that) but it would have been fascinating to have seen Barry’s philosophy about guns, his love for his family, and the reality of the corruption of the American way of life all playing out, and him having to somehow reconcile all that. (It’s been observed a few times that RE protagonists don’t fuck, but unlike Barry they also don’t really have families either, which honestly makes things difficult from a character development perspective)

And I know that Barry didn’t become the main character because Barry has no ass, but please humour me.

#resident evil #resident evil 2 #resident evil revelations 2 #barry burton #leon s kennedy #chris redfield #jill valentine #albert wesker

[brawltogethernow]

I genuinely think Barry Allen was better dead and Hal Jordan was better as Paralax/The Spectre. The former left as a hero and the latter as justified villain. Now, instead, Barry lacks an interesting characterisation and looks like not leaving space for newer generations to grow (despite his words stating otherwise) and Hal is stuck as The Greatest Lantern ever, which would be a better title if he stayed evil as a cautionary tale (like Sinestro is, but more compelling).

Well, you have half my agreement! Nothing they've done with Barry since reviving him has justified undoing a very solid permadeath, and for a while there the retcons kept incidentally slamming him, like when it was retained that he had no relationship to speak of with Bart for said grandkid's entire establishment period. On the upside, I'm much more ameliorated now that they brought Wally back into existence and established that 1. there's just two guys who are the Flash now, and 2. being brought back into existence is literal and every DC story that ever happened did happen and everyone just forgot most of them for a bit because...the metanarrative will eat you, or something. I have yet to get a sensible rundown on the internal logic. But I now spend a lot less of my time going "This could have been an e-mail a Wally West storyline."

Hal, though... Disclaimer that I haven't sampled much of his Spectre era at all and I reserve the right to 180 on this and declare it's the greatest thing of all time and should become law immediately, but it's a lot easier to keep a character who was a likable hero for decades dead than evil, as the energy demands of various status quos go. And - I'm really not a GL expert, but I feel like the deal with the first 4 Earth Lanterns is they're ALL the Greatest Lantern Ever? Hal is the First, and Guy is the First Who Could Have Been, and what if he'd have done a better job? And John is the New Hotness and the best of them, the upgrade on the last two guys, and Kyle was the Last Ever Green Lantern, the last word who was going to save the whole concept of them. And then you have them all hang out and all think of all the other guys as the best ever they'll never live up to, and all view themselves as an inadequate imposter with massive personal issues who's going to be caught out just getting by like they were trying to steal real estate and it's the end of a Scooby Doo episode at any second. And the trick is they are all the best ever and they all have the most massive personal issues you have ever seen.

#when i say i haven't gotten a sensible rundown like. i have read the issues. #various of them anyway. just none of them ever exposited intelligibly. #DCU #green lantern #asks answered #anonymous

[kidflashimpulse]

after reading your takes on how Bart's future treated queerness and on YJA!Barry (all very interesting btw!) i'm very interested to ask: do you think Bart came out to his family (i imagine he told his friends first) before or after getting together with Ed (aka when he had a "reason" to)? how and when do you think he did it, and how do you think it went?

So sorry for the delays in my responses! And to the other anons as well! The past weeks have been a bit hectic for me and I like to take my time to properly answer asks. Thank y’all for sending them to me, honestly every single thought that’s shared with me is always so fun to read <3

Im so glad you enjoyed those posts! Especially with the way you related the two because in developing these thoughts they're entirely connected! So I appreciate that. It was so satisfying writing it all out and being able to share it with others to see how it would be received as well as to explore those kind of themes as well, especially since they all make up my general understanding of characterisation and world building regarding Bart and his fam. 

Also that’s such a good question anon! Especially because its one of the few things that I don't have a fixed view on. It usually varies with what kind of stories/plots I think of. I try to usually stick to as close as canon as possible so I  like to develop my theories to a point where I can see it being canon, but with the time jumps its possible that anything can happen, so i struggle coming up with a set outcome regarding the scenario you outlined. And I have thought about it a lot all the way since last year lol. 

According to both canon and my headcanon posts (lol) what I “realistically” can envision is that when he first arrived to the past, Wally was the family member he most probably could connect with the easiest. So I like to think that maybe (especially with how important flirting/girls was to Wally when he was younger) it couldve been possible that they touched on the subject a little bit and he couldve been Barts best chance at comfortably coming out. So with him gone I think it also motivates Bart to kind of rescind back to being generally cautious which I think of as his “default setting” lol. 

So I don't think he finds it particularly important to come out, both out of caution, mixed feelings (discomfort/weariness), as well as most probably trying to figure out both the general reception of his environment to queerness as well as that of his family. Its also generally at the back of his mind, what with his responsibilities as hero etc, but ofc as he gets more comfortable in his new time, it crosses his mind more every now and then. Especially during moments where I think the flash fam might innocently/accidentally reinforce heteronormativity, keep prying him about girls and all that, especially because they're basing their experience of a growing teenager on what they know from Wally. So I can imagine that would make him really uncomfortable. But yeah all in all, I don't think at that stage he would be motivated at all to come out to them. 

Especially with what I interpret as him having a generally awkward relationship with Barry. Combining that with my post on Barrys heteronormativity, well I don't really see Bart thinking of coming out to him at any point pre-Ed lol and regardless of when he does come out to him, I do think it would be at the very least mildly rocky. Ultimately ofc Barry would have no problem with it, but I think his journey to that point is definitely made up of (again) awkward situations which could really go either way. I think Barry could find out by accident somehow or through a second party just as easily as or if not even likelier than Bart having to come out to him.

I can easily envision Iris picking up on things (because she and Bart have a much better relationship/understanding) and testing the waters to try to coax him into coming out to her and this might eventually give him some sort of comfort to come out to her at some point. But again, I don't see Bart being particularly motivated in doing so unless hes reached some sort of tipping point where it would be important to him for some reason. And dating Ed well thats easily one, so with Iris I think chances of when are more balanced than Barry lol. I think the aftermath would be really smooth, I don't see her having any problems and being very much supportive.

I do think Bart has a really good relationship with Jay/Joan and is very comfortable with them (parent figures who r very dear to him). But I think his general tendency to be guarded which he easily plays off to his family is something thats very much second nature to him, so I can see him unintentionally hiding it from them because its just what hes used to. This also applies to the rest of his fam. Whether they (Jay/Joan) pick up on things themselves or not I think is rlly up in the air and anything is possible. I think him breaking the news to Jay (because at that point Joan has already passed away) of him dating Ed could be difficult for him because its just like any classic situation of how its like coming out to ur parent. Especially in what's essentially a single-parent type of situation. But of course I believe Jay would largely respond positively. 

I don't have the full picture specifics set in stone, but my above essay (sorry lol) is the general sentiment of what I usually envision.  

Thank you sm for taking the time to read all my rambles, it warms my heart <33 lol and I hope I managed to answer your question :) 

#YJ asks #bart allen #kid flash #impulse #young justice #young justice animated #flash family #Flash Fam #Barry Allen #Iris West Allen #Wally West #Jay Garrick #joan garrick #eduardo dorado jr #zetaflash #el dorado #yj #dc #world building #I think I should use that tag for these type of posts I gotta edit my previous posts tags to include this #young justice phantoms #lgbtq

[kitkatt0430]

Hi! I've been making my way through your Neighbours and Butterflies series since you posted a snippet of Chrysalis, and I'm really enjoying it!! I’ve just finished Rampage now. All the references and extra characters you've woven in—Frost, Black Lightning (!!), Oliver (!!!)—mental health being acknowledged (!!!!) (I love the Arrowverse shows, but they're. not the best in that regard :/). I also love how you've written Eobard. And Singh knowing!! 1/3

I really like how you’ve written that whole story with the old captain and Ralph!! I’m not the biggest fan of salt, but I understand it here, and really appreciate how you've handled Joe (/gen! I really hope that doesn’t come across as offensive!) Oh, and Roy Bivolo!! (clarifying Bivolo because we have like three Rays and two Roys) I loved that episode in canon mostly because of the crossover (read: the Olivarry! :D), but I really liked how you’ve characterised him here and developed him. 2/3

I think the backstory you’ve given him is really cool too!! The only tiny thing I didn’t like was his use of the term “Asperger’s”, as that’s a bit outdated. (Again, I really enjoyed the fic and your worldbuilding and hope I’m not being too rude by saying that! /g) Anyway, thank you for writing and sharing this lovely series; I’m off to read the next parts! ♡♡♡ 3/3

I completely forgot to say that Len finding the bugs is so fascinating!! (and for anyone reading this, I'm talking about cameras and microphones, not insects!) ♡

Took me a bit to get around to these, but first off thank you so much for all the lovely compliments Anon. :D It's always great to hear from someone who enjoy's my fics.

I think one of the things I really enjoyed about the Arrowverse was how interconnected it all really feels? It was a bit stilted at first and took some growing into, but they took something that I previously associated the most with Star Trek or CSI - an interconnected tv-show verse - and really set the bar high. So it's always fun for me to try and maintain that interconnection in my fics.

And yes, so many Rays and Roys in these shows. And the number of Noras in the Arrow-verse... or even just on The Flash alone. They've definitely averted the one Steve limit, that's for sure. :D

Joe is definitely one of those characters that I love, but sometimes in a bit of a tough love sort of way since the man does have his flaws that he struggles with. And I do like to give Barry and Iris the space to call him out on those, which can be a bit of a balancing act to write sometimes. But ultimately what I like about him so much is that he genuinely loves his children and wants the best for them - so he expects the best of himself in being there for them. It doesn't always work out and sometimes he goes a little too far in one direction or another (overprotectiveness with Iris, being too much of a friend than a father w/Wally at first) but how much he loves his kids is just really nice to see. And this series in particular was one where I wanted the low points of his S1 behavior called out with while giving him plenty of space to learn from his mistakes and actively do better. Writing his PoV for the Thanksgiving fic was a lot of fun.

With Roy Bivolo, I think if I were to write that fic now then I'd leave out the word 'Aspergers'. I know more about it's history now and... yeah. Not great. It's something that I might address later with editing. Or I might address it in universe? But... i'm more likely to edit and leave a note about it. My reasoning at the time was that when Roy most likely would have been diagnosed, it's a term that would have come up as part of his autism diagnosis - if not the official diagnosis itself. I wanted to show Roy's experiences with autism as being notably different from Jerrie's once I finally have her show up - admittedly not for a while - and to have part of that being their experiences with being diagnosed itself. And while that still stands... I can still have them demonstrate their varied experiences as being diagnosed-autistics (Hartley is definitely undiagnosed but he masks too well for his own good and I haven't actually mentioned that in text yet and dunno when I will) without having to continue using the term aspergers. So thank you for reminding me that I do need to figure that out when I return to this series.

Len finding the bugs was a lot of fun for me to write. I knew I wanted to give Len more to do in the series, but also that a bit of a teaser/cliffhanger would be fun to do too. (I am a bit of a mad scientist cackling maniacally when I write cliffhangers. ^_^ ) And that epilogue scene was an excellent place to indulge both impulses. There's also now a direct line from Len finding those bugs to Len deciding he needs to do more to protect Barry and that'll be something Barry both appreciates and is annoyed by in turns as the series progresses.

#kitkatt0430 answers #kitkatt0430 rambles #thanks again anon #and thanks for giving me a chance to ramble on about this series #it's been on hiatus for a while but i do still have a lot of plans for it

[pulsar-1919]

Finally watching justice society world war II

Spoilers, but I'm probably the last person to watch it so

Art style is interesting

Magical artefacts - spear of destiny?

Nice run down of eveyone, pity Alan isn't here tho

Oh hi steve

Diana!! She looks fantastic gwan girl

I've seen the barry and iris scene before and it's cute. One of the better barry characterisations I've seen lately. He's not a wally/barry hybrid

Except for the green eyes?

Their relationship being secret sucks ass tho who the fuck came up with that

Why is his shirt so tight lmao

Barry's mask is ugly. Pointed chinstrap aint it

Accidental time travel! Or is it?

Wonder woman kicking ass is good, but would be better with the movie theme music. Has someone edited that yet? I hope so

The way she just plucks him up and holds him like he weighs nothing ajdksksk

I'll never get tired of slow mo flash bullet dodging scenes

Oh jay knows about the speed force

Dinah's design is really nice

Jay learning stuff from barry is...new

What's up with Barry's speed

'Cool? That's nifty'

Sudden proposal 'is this happening?'

Everyone day?? Damn boy

Two years? America weren't involved that early though right?

Steve's gonna die isn't he

'What do our scientists think' yes good I like that

Superman???

When did barry learn Clark's identity?

Ah different earth. That explains it

Did they even have the multiverse theory in the 40s?

I know the atlantians are advanced and all but it really throws off the aesthetic of the film

Oh jesus nazi aquaman took me by surprise. Even if he's being mind controlled.

Oh Barry doesn't know about the speed force yet. This is more like it, Jay being a mentor

Aw I just noticed Barry is shorter than both Jay and Diana

Oh okay so we're just protecting the US now. Fuck everyone in europe i guess

Ah, the kraken

Yeah the atlantians are really throwing off the 40s vines

Per usual, hawkman dies. I don't really care for him tbh

The black canary/hawkman thing is...unexpected? But they seem to just be friends so okay

Carter came across as much more gentle than...every other version of him I've seen

So I guess we've completely forgotten about Hitler

'Sorry, I'm an american. We don't do surrender' I can't put my finger on why, but that line? I hate it

This aquaman - wonder woman fight is similar to flashpoint

Gosh Dinah's hair is amazing

Steve introducing himself as wonder woman's boyfriend is very nice. Although it comes after his army rank

I love how Barry is just confused for like 90% of the movie but he's just trying his best to be helpful

'I'll be fine' yeah I don't think so sweetie

We really just fridged two male characters huh? That's new

Oh Steve's death kinda hurts fuck

He couldn't even put the ring on her finger before he died, fuck :(

Ah a ring for Iris!

Nazis just completely fogotten about in a world war two film

Justice league formation!!

Ugh why'd you have to add the 'american way' to it?

I do love some westallen/newsflash

Oh Matt Bomer voiced Barry? And Darren Chris was Clark? Cool

#justice society: wwii #verdit: it was fine #better barry characterisation than most #still don't know why he was in a jsa movie though #sorry my capitalisation is all over the place #it's 12:20am on a school night I shouldn't be on tumblr anyway #spoilers

[talkingtea]

The show lost viewers this season because it was insanely dreadfully bad. If they want any chance of a successful season 8, they're going to have to make some serious changes.

1) un bloat the damn cast. We do not need DP playing 2 shittily written mediocre characters with no plot taking up screentime when they can't even write 1 well. If they're not going to get rid of them both, I'll take Caitlin's blank face looking ass over white privilege Frost. Get rid of that dumbass Chillbean. Get rid of all and any Caitlin love interests forever bc DP has no chemistry with any of them. Cecile needs to be guest or recurring - she has no more use for the plot, esp now that Jenna is nonexistent and Joe is sharing scenes with Kramer. Unless they have a continued significant plot for Joe next season, he needs to be bumped down to supporting cast too and ACTUALLY support his pregnant daughter. Allegra doesnt need to be in episodes not focused on Citizen plots. Even if I dont mind her character, we don't need Sue back. She serves no purpose in the overall narrative. Why tf did they feel the need to bring her back and write for her when they can't even write their existing longterm characters properly?? Too many plates at the table. This focus on side characters has got to go. They didn't develop them well when they first joined the show which they should have done to make us invested. Trying to force in filler for that now after the fact is too late and disrupts the trajectory of the show. The only one they've done right is Chester.

2) go back to the roots of the show, with the Wests and Westallen family at its core and the characters and character dynamics driving the narrative, not the terrible and inconsistent plots. The show needs to stop being so invested in the spectacle and focus on the heart.

3) cool down the corny goofiness and gearing this towards kids bc I doubt the younger audience make up the majority of viewers at this point. This may not be a late time slot show but it is starting to resemble Disney shows with how "kiddy" and silly it has become. If s8 is indeed the last season, I hope they say fuck it and stop giving a damn about those (probably made up) constraints. Is it really that much to ask for the main couple to have some intimacy in bed? Even just cuddling under the covers? Steamier kisses?

4) let the writers who have experience writing the show and characters have more episodes because inconsistent characterisation and writing is ruining pivotal moments. And conversely, stop letting longtime writers with a clear anti agenda have pivotal WA/Iris episodes to write because again, inconsistent characterisation and writing is ruining it

5) they need to do right by Iris. Proper journalism story arc, proper pregnancy arc with her husband, proper investment in her vulnerability emotions and fears. Enough with the misogynoir.

6) a strong overarching villain with good, steady buildup and good motive who has stakes in the personal lives of every character, otherwise ppl are not going to get invested in the fight.

7) utilise their stronger actors more. They have significantly better actors with less screen time playing support like roles and keep pushing the actors who can't fucking act or carry episodes at the forefront and it is resulting in pretty bad episodes. A good actor can make bad writing tolerable. A bad actor just highlights all the flaws in the show. The focus on side characters exposed the show, bad writing, and how crappy some characters are this season, which we've been able to disregard in the past for the most part because at least there was fantastic acting and moments we could focus on instead.

8) they refuse to dismantle Team Flash at this point, so they need to make Barry a CLEAR leader. No more looking to others for decisions or having them in his ear all the fucking time. He's spent all seasons needing everyone's help for everything. How is he supposed to build his legacy as legendary if he needs everyone else to tell him what to do? He's about to be a father. They better have him shape up quick and learn to be a protector and leader in his own right. He's a muppet I can't take seriously at this point. If the titular character is written shoddily, the rest of the show won't hold up.

And 9) STOP PANDERING TO THE RACISTS AND DUMBASS WHINY BITCH FANBOYS. How hard is it to understand that whenever they do, the show suffers for it and has worse episodes, and when they don't, it thrives?? It's morons running this show I swear. How are fans of the show understanding the show more than the actual ppl who made the show??

It's not too late for the show; they can turn it around and end on a higher note but they seriously need to reevaluate the wrong turn they took after s4/s5ish.

🗣🗣🗣

[swingsetindecember]

so like.... is the snyder cut good? y/n jen 'batman expert' swingset seal of approval?

batffleck isn’t in it a lot, and that is probably for the best because i don’t like that version that much. og batman is btas.

it’s more story driven which is better than the previous version of justice league. which already was nicer. it was good. better than any avenger team film because the payoff for the final battle was planned and had a thru line. the story focused more on cyborg, the origin of the motherboxes and overall i would say it is largely more rewatchable than most superhero films because of that. like the moments are earned. 

my criticism is that it could of had a more lighthearted tone at some points, which would have tempered the film more. like more character moments. i think they tried that with barry allen but that needed more. also wonder woman’s skirt could have been longer. but there was no sexualization which already beats out avengers and previous justice league with whedon. 

but it wasn’t a batman film. which is fine because we have had a lot of batman films. it’s nice to see a justice league film not rely on batman as a tent pole. it felt more like an ensemble which makes it palatable. like each character got a lot more screentime and their motivations were outlined more.  

so i would recommend it, it leaves a lot of easter eggs and i hope the fandom runs with it and makes a lot of fanworks because you have a lot of good characterisation of victor, barry, arthur, diana and even superman is less of a lame duck and bruce is more watchable in this film than in batman v superman.

so go watch it. <3

#Anonymous #replies #zack snyder's justice league

[coldflasher]

okay well tumblr very rudely cut me off in the tags on my last reblog like ‘bitch, you talk too much,’ and yeah, i know, BUT i just wanna throw this out there into the void mostly so i can have bragging rights if it happens, and to see if anyone else feels the same way

but i feel like one of the issues i’m having with the flash right now all boils down to the fact that i’m convinced they’re gonna take another stab at a green arrow and the canaries style second-generation spinoff, but with bart and nora. and they’re so busy setting that up that it’s muddying the flash itself.

they’ve been pushing this whole ‘barry and iris as parents’ thing HARD lately. first with the mommy kink season, i mean, ahem, 7a (or was it 7b? you know the one i’m talking about.) and now the next part of s8 is gonna have bart and nora showing up. and i think part of it is because duh, heterosexuals, amiright?? marriage, kids, standard american nuclear family, two kids, a dog and a white picket fence, gotta check all our boxes. but also they’re REALLY trying to sell us on XS and impulse as regulars. and i like them and all, but i feel like having barry and iris’ kids popping back to hang out 24/7 first of all is kinda weird, no one wants to hang out with their parents that much, and secondly, it necessitates making barry and iris act like they’re SO much older than they actually are. like hello, they’re in their early thirties? but now they’re the parents to twentysomethings (who tbh i still headcanon as teenagers, i don’t care) so they have to be all mature, they have to dress like they just came from a PTA meeting... but at the same time they also have this weird inconsistency with barry’s characterisation where he’s this knowing, all-powerful leader of team flash, but also still fucks up 24/7 and needs chester and allegra, who have been on the team for all of five minutes, to be the voice of reason for our weekly dose of ‘barry is stubborn and refuses to listen, only to be forced to eat humble pie and promise he’ll know better next time, but then by next week he’s forgotten and does it again, but it’s all good guys, cos WE are team flash!” 

idk, my gut instinct is... being honest with myself, the show is most likely on its way out. grant is in negotiations to extend his contract, but he’s now taking it one season at a time. candice seems fed up (can’t blame her tbh, after years of horrendous treatment from showrunners and fans alike.) we’re haemorrhaging main cast members at a worrying rate. i think we’ll most likely get a s9, but the show is past its glory days, its on its last legs. a lot of the arrowverse shows are on their way out. arrow is done, supergirl is done. much as it pains me to say it because they’re the ONLY show that i think has actually been getting better over time instead of worse, i can’t see legends lasting much longer either. but the arrowverse is popular (i was gonna say a moneymaker but we ALL know the CW has no money, lmao.) and they won’t wanna lose all those viewers. i think they’re gearing up to hand over the mantle to the next generation.

i think what they’re gonna do is try for a bart and nora spinoff, with occasional team flash cameos to keep the original fans watching. so they’re setting up for barry to essentially retire and hand over his legacy, and therefore are acting like he’s way older than he actually is, having him act like the wise dad whilst also needing to have him be flawed and messy enough to keep carrying his own show for as long as they can conceivably keep it on the air. and then they keep bringing bart and nora on constantly, and like, i love them, but it’s not their time. it feels weird to keep having barry and iris’ GROWN CHILDREN dipping back in time to hang out with them and the only way it’d make sense is if it were a season 5 rehash where barry and/or iris are dead and this is the only way bart and nora can see them again and play happy families, which i do NOT want, so idk. i’m like okay, if you’re doing a spinoff, can you maybe save all this for the future? cos having them keep dipping in and out is weird. the odd ep, sure. but it sounds like they’re gonna have them here for the rest of the season, and i’m like, why?? 

maybe i’m just bitter because my original vision for the end of the show was iris giving birth to twins (THEY’RE TWINS IN MY HEAD I DON’T CARE) and then we see her in the hospital with her and barry holding their babies and everything is perfect and we slowly fade out... and the more they keep dangling bart and nora the more they mess with my Artistic Vision cos how can we be excited for the babies being born when we’ve already spent two seasons hanging out with them, you know? like. there’s no potential there. we know who they are. ugh. idk.

i’m not OPPOSED to a bart/nora spinoff show, i’d at the very least give it a whirl, but also if that’s what they’re doing then they’re running the risk of using up all their material before it even starts

#long post for ts #idk man #fandom wank

[sh00t]

Disability representation in Warrior Nun

It is possible to fully enjoy Warrior Nun as long as we are aware of the ableism, don’t excuse it and demand better going forward. Unfortunately Warrior Nun isn’t unique in its use of the “miraculous cure to a chronic disability” trope, and while it makes sense for Ava’s characterisation and the show’s narrative, it’s not enough to use disability as a protagonist’s tragic backstory while ignoring the state of disability representation in the greater media landscape as a whole, especially when people with disabilities are already an at-risk and vulnerable population.

Things Warrior Nun can do better at:

Either NOT using disability terms as insults (stupid, crippled, idiot, cancer, etc.), or explicitly condoning it when it’s used (having ableist language used by villainised characters isn’t enough). This isn’t hard and can be tiny fixes, e.g. “That wasn’t a cool thing to say,” from JC when Zori was being verbally abusive to Ava. He really let her go on a tirade of hurling ableist insults at her before jumping in.

Showing how disability isn’t just a Tragic Backstory and offset the use of the “miracle cure” trope by adding positive disability representation elsewhere in the show. E.g. Imagine having Deaf Sister warrior as a series regular and having the other nuns signing to her! How cool would that be?

Showing accessibility considerations in the show. All shows have the power of increasing awareness and making the lives of people with disabilities better.

Not having Mother Superion literally say Ava is a cancer. Oof.

Why is this important?

Most viewers aren’t paying that much attention to the show as they watch. We unconsciously absorb ableist language into our vocabulary, especially when distracted or multitasking. 

All shows have a duty of care to be mindful about not making already-vulnerable population’s lives worse, and especially a show using disability as a major plot device. Media isn’t created and consumed in a void.

People with disabilities, like everyone, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and never insulted based on their disability alone. Have characters insult them based on their terrible actions and personalities, but never because of their disability. If you have to use ableist insults, examine if it’s necessary in the first place. If you go ahead, you have the responsibility to call it out for what it is, otherwise you’re causing harm. It would be less damaging to have no representation than bad representation.

“It’s okay because it wasn’t intentional,” isn’t good enough. Good intentions don’t excuse the negative consequences.

“It’s better than not having disability representation at all,” isn’t good enough. There is nowhere near enough positive disability representation in the media to be adding clumsy representations to the mix. Until it is overwhelmingly positive, clumsy representations can do more harm that good. I’m not saying to enact positive discrimination, but don’t contribute to the disproportionate representation by having more tragic representations of disability than showing how the majority of people with disabilities do live with them and thrive and lead fulfilling lives still. You can’t just show all the tragic parts of having a disability while not showing the accessibility considerations of having a disabled character, and how to make their lives better and more accessible and how to respect and maintain their agency, independence and dignity.

Reminder: Warrior Nun is a fantastic show and deserves to be enjoyed and appreciated for all of its good things. I am having so much fun with this show and am in LOVE with its characters. Being aware it can do better doesn’t mean we have to chuck the whole show out. Simon Barry, the creator, has already acknowledged they want to do better. 

Source: https://twitter.com/SimonDavisBarry/status/1280208968791412736

Further, here is a post with alternatives for the word ‘stupid,’ that also lists other ableist terms to be aware of and to consider replacing in your vocabulary.  Words like dumb, stupid, idiot, moron, crazy, insane can be harmful. https://anagnori.tumblr.com/post/71020734063/alternatives-to-saying-stupid 

While I’m here, there is a Discord server for Warrior Nun fans if you would like to join and cry with us over there! Here is the invite link:  https://discord.gg/p6tK6tx

#warrior nun #ava silva #avatrice #ava x beatrice #shotgun mary

[oftincturedwords]

First of all: I'm currently listening to the songs you added to the descriptions of Steven and Bucky and I LOVE 'em!

I would ask for Doc Roe/Legolas/Dr. McCoy, whoever you most feel like describing!

(I hope you and your stitched up hand are doing well!)

send me a character and i’ll list: ACCEPTING !

DOC EUGENE ROE <3

favourite thing about them : doc roe is another top tier favourite character of mine so i everything about him is my favourite <3 but i won't cheat & just say everything agdjfkglg so to give a specific thing , i love how roe will do everything he can to help the wounded. from running out amidst a firefight / bombings to get to them & get them out to telling off superior officers to sacrificing pieces of himself to ensure he can do his job the best he can. his dedication to that is on par to lipton & winters i feel. he was right there during the absolute worst bits of some of these men's lives , working not only to patch up their bodies but to keep them calm , talking to them & using their nicknames whenever they're wounded so those hurt know they’re in good hands & with a friend , whether they make it to aid station or not. i admire roe for that , in giving his all for the wounded & not letting anything get in his way for advocating for a patient or ensuring his patients know he's treating a man with personality & life back home rather than another number of men on sick call / list of the wounded.

least favourite thing about them : what is not to like about this man ??? agdjfkglg but seriously , the only thing i can think of would be his decision to draw away from everyone during the time in bastogne & become isolated , but honestly i can't blame him for using that coping mechanism with everything that was going on then. but he may have had an easier time of it if he didn't resist heffron’s attempts at friendships & perhaps opened up somewhat to spina , even if spina is a lower rank than him , but roe is the sort to help others before himself & continue to do so until he's used up. he's rather self sacrificing like that & that's not healthy. but again it was 1940’s so they didn't have much concept of mental health help or understanding in ways that we do today & even still today it's stigmatised so i can too see why he wouldn't be openly talking , just wish he perhaps think he had to separate himself from everyone , to create distance & choose his job as a medic over creating those tight-knit friendships as everyone else did.

favourite line : “You are officers, you are grownups. You ought to know!”

brOTP : roe & spina , roe & heffron , roe & luz , roe & malarkey

OTP : roe / heffron

nOTP : roe / winters , only because winters needs nixon & vice versa

random headcanon : back during training , a group from easy company were swapping scary stories they’d been told from where their from or ones their parents shared with them , there's all sorts being told & some overlays , but somehow they convince doc to tell one , so he tells the one of the rougarou & with his low way of speaking & lilting tone he manages to be a good story teller , he’s most likely imitating how his grandparents on his mother’s side told him it. he’s one of the only guys out of three ( luz & malarkey are the other ) to actually get everyone a bit spooked. not scared but it's definitely difficult to not think of it when a few days later they have an exercise that has them out in the swamps of north carolina

unpopular opinion : erm i’m not certain that i have any unpopular opinions on roe , hmm i don't think that i do , but if i think of one i'll come back to fil this out

song i associate with them : oats in the water by ben howard or the humbling river by puscifer

favourite picture of them :

send me a character and i’ll list:

LEGOLAS <3 ( books / films )

favourite thing about them : another top tier favourite character of mine , i think you managed to pick every single ultimate favourite character in these fandoms xD that's very cool ! but back to the favourite , hmm i admire legolas’ ability to still find joy & happiness in the world even though his home has been besieged by darkness’ taint , & losses he's faced as well as the fight he's had to keep along with the rest of elves there. even during trials of the quest he was usually light & could find something to smile about. he has a lightness to him. yet he doesn't allow him to not see the reality of the situation or the quests’ weight , he is very grounded whilst being able to see the brightness that still lives in arda. he can sing , laugh , smile , & find humour even in dark times without seeming like he's clueless or ignorant or careless.

least favourite thing about them : i really don't like his characterisation in the hobbit films , but that's more due to writing than the actual character. i guess i would say least favourite hmm his prejudice against the dwarves , like i don't the elves have their sides & reasons just as the dwarves have theirs , but he really should go find it out for himself instead of just believing a long steeped prejudice & dislike. ( this is excluding the events of the hobbit films )

favourite line : “I go to find the sun!” or “How about side by side with a friend?”

brOTP : legolas & aragorn , legolas & gimli , legolas & elladan & elrohir , legolas & tauriel , legolas & faramir

OTP : legolas / gimli , although i see legolas as more asexual than anything

nOTP : legolas / éowyn , i love éowyn with faramir too much to ship this , so it's not that i hate it , just it isn't a favourite

random headcanon : legolas knows how to use a leaf as a musical instrument , by pressing it between their fingers & then bringing it to their lips to esstentially whistle against it , as do several in his patrol , during moments of downtime they try to play tunes on it & judge each other on how well it sounds or just laugh at the attempts or guess which song is being playing ( or trying to be played )

unpopular opinion : i think my unpopular opinion is in the fact i see legolas as aromantic asexual , tolkien never says that legolas gets married or has someone waiting for him back home , nor do i see he & gimli as anything more than friends. do i like the gigolas ship ? yes ! is it my canon when writing those two ? no.

song i associate with them : i love to see the wheels in motion by barry phillips or fear no darkness by adrian von ziegler or flight of the silverbird by two steps from hell

favourite picture of them :

send me a character and i’ll list:

LEONARD MCCOY <3 ( tos / aos )

favourite thing about them : his dedication to his patients & profession , he will tell off the highest of admirals if it’d help his patient & he'd risk his own life / safety ensure a patient was helped like when he tended to mirror!spock’s injuries or when he stepped in to alter the course of the kal-if-fee to save both spock & kirk , no doubt he got into some legal issue with vulcan on that one. too i admire his ability to remain calm , cool , & collected under any circumstance. like when khan threatened him with a knife to treating the horta to learning he had xenopolycythemia to tending crew members he's come to know as friends & even family.

least favourite thing about them : i don't really like some of his xenophobic comments to spock , especially in tos , i know it transforms more into a banter / teasing thing between him & spock later in their friendship , but it doesn't fit his character to be the sort to try to change someone's ways to prove a point or think humans are better because we express our emotions. i know he's a gruff doctor who speaks his mind , but it just let very off with his character to have him say those things with actual meaning & intent

favourite line : “When the personality of a human is involved, exact predictions are hazardous."

brOTP : mccoy & kirk , mccoy & spock , mccoy & scott , mccoy & uhura

OTP : mccoy / kirk

nOTP : mccoy / chapel , nothing against it , it just isn't my favourite pairing , i much prefer chapel with rand more than anything

random headcanon : his fear of transporters actually comes from an accident he & some of his childhood friends had with a transporter , it all turned out fine in the end but it always left mccoy feeling a bit weird round them , then in school he learnt about all the transporter incidents / injuries that had happened & it just increased his dislike , not to mention when he got to medical school in seeing some of those sort of injuries first hand , & just being on the enterprise with all her transporter incidents it just keep piling onto it , although it means he's picked up some very good ways of coping with it , some good some not. i think that's why he's especially cranky when it comes to transports because he's nervous to hell & back so instead of being anxious , he just gets angry.

unpopular opinion : hmm again i'm sure if i have an unpopular opinion for mccoy … i can't think of any

song i associate with them : far too good by john smith , feels like home by sam tinnesz

favourite picture of them :

#snidgethex #answered asks #character asks #i'm so happy you loved the songs for steve & bucky !! <33 that makes me happy to hear ! <33 thank you ! #&& thank you so much for sending this in !! <3 #i decided to answer all three ^^' i hope that was allright ; you managed to name three top favourite characters of mine & i couldn't resist #& thank you for the well wishes <33 i too hope you're doing well & that your days are kind to you <3

[oosteven-universe]

Infinite Frontier #3

Infinite Frontier #3 DC Comics 2021 Written by Joshua Williamson Pencilled by Paul Pelletier, Jesus Merino, Tom Derenick & Xermanico Inked by Norm Rapmund, Raul Fernandez, Tom Derenick & Xermanico Coloured by Romulo Fajardo Jr. Lettered by Tom Napolitano    Barry Allen's history with the Psycho-Pirate isn't pleasant.  The Flash encountered this mind-bending villain all the way back in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it did not end well for the Scarlet Speedster. For the first time since his death and rebirth, Barry runs afoul of this foe-hopefully it will go better this time around! That is, if the even bigger villain behind the Pirate stays out of the fray, or if President Superman of Justice Incarnate sticks around to help win the day.    It is interesting to me that this contains four different simultaneous arcs and the one that excites me the most of the Justice Society one, I say this because basically the JSA consists of Infinity Inc and the last membership of the JSA so for me it feels like the natural progression plus everyone’s back from the dead meaning Beth and Yolanda weren’t killed by Eclipso anywhere which makes me so very happy, you really have no idea.  Now if the All-Star Squadron could make a comeback.    I really do like the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well.  The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter and continues to flesh them out exceptionally well.  The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story it covers so much and feels so natural.      I really appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen.  The layers are where we see the characterisation, the plot developments and so much more and whether they work with the main arcs, yes plural, or not they all add depth, dimension and complexity to the story.  How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.      The inteiros here are fantastic and each segment has a different set of creators and what I appreciate about that this is that it all feels like one person has done the entire thing which is really impressive.  I wish we’d see more backgrounds being utilised but it is what it is and how we see the composition within the panels bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is pretty marvellous.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels how several remarkable eyes for storytelling.  The colour work is really rather brilliantly rendered.  The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational eye for how colour works.   ​    The potential that this series possesses and how they can spin off into various series of their own is something that I would love to see happen.  Yeah the Justice Incarnate book and the JSA book at the very least and I would like a Chase of DEO title but hey i’m a greedy guy so those along with the All-Star Squadron would make me very happy camper.  With some amazing writing and intelligent characterisation with some stellar interiors make this a self-contained event that has so much more potential than a full blown company wide event.  

#Comic Books #Comics Reviews #DC Comics

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Why (most of) the 2010s Marvel legacy characters didn’t work

For Marvel characters I think it comes off as profoundly undermining when they get legacies, at least in the specific way Marvel attempted this throughout the 2010s.

To explain this we need to actually first look at DC’s characters in order to compare and contrast why legacies for them tend to work out better than they do for Marvel.

Simply put back in the 1930s-1950s (if not even later) DC’s characters were almost always created as powers first, people second. Wish fulfilment fantasy figures over flawed mere mortals.

Consequently you could legacy Green Lantern and the Flash in the 1950s and then do so again in the 1980s-1990s because so so long as you had a guy with a ring and another guy with super speed you were retaining the essence of both characters, the fundamental point and appeal of them.

But the Marvel characters were the other way around and practically deliberately designed to be so. 

Thor was the story of the life and times of Thor Odinson. Spider-Man was the story of the life and times of Peter Parker. The Fantastic Four was never the story about a brainiac who stretched, a girl who could go invisible, a kid who could burst into flame and a guy who looked like a rock monster. 

It was about a stern scientist obsessed with his work. A nurturing young woman who loved him but was frustrated by his tendency to get lost in his work. Her younger brother interested in sports cars, girls, excitement and other typically hot headed teenage endeavours. And an average Joe who was tortured and depressed that he was no longer human. 

Ben Grimm could’ve looked like any kind of monster and the central point of his character would have been retained. The F4′s specific powers, complemented their personalities, but they were not the driving point unto themselves. 

In contrast let us consider Captain America, probably the Marvel character who’s done the ‘replacement legacy hero’ storyline the most (at least within 616 canon). How comes he  lends himself so much better to this type of story than the other Marvel characters? 

Simple, because unlike most of the big name Marvel characters you know of, he wasn’t created in the 1960s or beyond. Cap was the product of the 1940s and was a peer to those same early days super heroes from the Golden Age, including the original Green Lantern and Flash. Like them he began fundamentally more as a symbol and powerset than a person. 

But now flashing forward to the 21st century many (most in my view) Flash fans were upset (and continue to be so) Wally West’s ascension to the Flash mantle was undermined and ultimately undone for the sake of restoring Barry Allan to the spotlight. The reason for this upset when Wally himself had replaced Barry? Wally had proven himself a far more flawed, nuanced and complex character than Barry had ever been. 

He demonstrated a degree of characterisation in the Flash role that Barry never had. It wasn’t even that he simply had more of this than Barry, but that Barry, just like Jay Garrick preceding him, had little to speak of in the first place. Thus the contrast between Jay and Barry was mostly superficial but the contrast between Barry and Wally was as stark as comparing Spider-Man to 1950s Superman.*

But Wally West, and the entire DC Universe from Post-Crisis onwards in fact, were in that mould precisely because they were trying to be more like Marvel comics has been since the 1960s onwards. 

DC in effect began prioritising the people beneath the costumes over the powers.** But Marvel starting in the 1960s had pretty much always been like that with their heroes.

Consequently when legacies popped up and those new characters were pushed as being just as good, just as worthy, or (in some cases) lowkey pushed as being better  than their predecessors it naturally rubbed those fans with decades of emotional investment the wrong way. OBVIOUSLY  a woman or a POC can be just as worthy and just as capable as a man or a white person as a superhero. But series to series, character to character, it was almost like Marvel was taking away your beloved pet.

Imagine for a moment you had a pet named Rex that you’d known and loved for years. 

Then Marvel insisted on taking Rex away from you when there was nothing wrong with him. In his place they give you another clearly different pet with Rex’s collar, who gets Rex’s bowl, Rex’s food, Rex’s toys, Rex’s bed and even Rex’s name and asks you to treat them not as just a new dog but straight up the new Rex.

Except he isn’t Rex. Rex is Rex. The ‘new Rex’ playing with Rex’s toys, doing the same tricks as him or having his collar doesn’t change that.*** 

Because Rex was more than a collar, his toys or his tricks. He was an individual that you’d known and loved. And even if you know Rex is going to come back ‘eventually’ having Rex taken away from you at all, having the new Rex supplant them (especially if old Rex was screwed over for the sake of new Rex’s arrival) and having so many people insist new Rex is just as great or more great than old Rex (to the point where many people loudly proclaim they don’t even want the old Rex back and the old Rex was kinda lame and boring) is going to create a massive dissonance. Maybe you would’ve been chill with the new Rex is he was just another additional pet called Rover or even like RexY who was similar yet different to Rex, but not actually promoted AS Rex or as his replacement. 

Maybe you would’ve been okay with the new Rex if the old one got too old, died naturally or accidentally. But you aren’t okay with it because there was nothing wrong with Rex, you LOVED Rex and Rex had been with you and been around generally forever. So the new Rex felt like he was undermining him, especially undermining Rex’s individuality. 

That’s how I think most Marvel fans felt about practically EVERY legacy situation that’s ever cropped up from the 1960s onwards, not even the ones just from the 2010s. I remember  the outrage when Bucky was announced as the new Cap. I know there were people salty about Eric Masterson as Thor and the Spider-Man Clone Saga speaks for itself.

Compounding the situation is that more than a few media outlets (despite imo not representing the feeling’s of the majority at all) promoted (and in some cases still promote) the new characters as not just better than they are (see the dozen or so lists talking about how great Riri allegedly was) but along with many fans tear down the older characters whilst doing so. 

See every article ever talking about why Peter Parker in the movies (and sometimes in the comics) NEEDS to die for the sake of Miles becoming the new Spider-Man in spite of their rationales rarely making sense from a creative/financial POV and utilizing misrepresentations of both characters to varying degrees. Even fans that appreciate the social/political relevancy of the new characters are going to naturally be upset in response to that and angrily voice opposition when the character they love gets dragged through the mud like that. And that then gets exacerbated when they are labelled as bigots for feeling upset by the changes or reacting against the character they love being dragged through the mud.**** 

Especially considering they would’ve reacted the same way regardless of who was the replacement hero.  Again, fans at first didn’t take kindly to John Walker or Bucky as the new Captain Americas so the idea that backlash against Sam Wilson was entirely or primarily racist was itself profoundly ignorant. Especially when you consider black reviewers such as those on the Hooded Utalitarian were calling it out as bad storytelling and bad representation for black people. SpaceTwinks went issue by issue through Spencer’s Sam Wilson run and called it out as racist, ignorant and naive. NONE of which is me saying that there isn’t more than a little bigotry going around detractors of these new characters nor that there aren’t obviously bad actors.

But those people did not and do not represent the majority and framing the situation as though they do is disingenuous and highly unethical. In conclusion, the backlash against the 2010s Marvel legacy characters was entirely natural, understandable and for the vast majority came from a place of love for the original characters not a bigoted hatred for the new characters skin colour or sex. 

It was a testament to Marvel’s, and the wider media, misunderstanding the psychology of most comic book fans. 

P.S. In regards to that, though it isn’t exactly talking about what I’ve spoken about I’d highly recommend checking out this video which touches upon the disenchantment Star Wars fans felt over the Sequel Trilogy, which itself could be viewed as doing the same thing Marvel did with it’s replacement legacy characters.

P.P.S. The reason I think the likes of Miles Morales or Kamala Khan succeeded where others failed is chiefly due to their rise to the role of legacy replacements stemmed from their predecessors not  being sidelined for their rise to the spotlight. Miles never ever replaced the 616 version of Peter Parker, widely considered by most fans and Marvel internally as the true and legitimate version of the character. Kamala Khan meanwhile picked up the Ms. Marvel only when Carol Danvers discarded it and became Captain Marvel. She was still in the spotlight in her own right, Kamala simply got her own spotlight using Carol’s obsolete name. Which isn’t all that dissimilar to fan favourite Cassandra Cain’s rise to the Batgirl mantle now I think about it.

P.P.P.S. A possible counter argument to all I’ve said is the success of the Superior Spider-Man/Otto Octavius. After all why was he embraced when Sam Wilson and Jane Foster wasn’t? Was a double standard rooted in bigotry at play?

No, but the answer isn’t neat and simple.

I think Ock as the new Spider-Man was more embraced partially because Ock had been around essentially as long as Spidey himself. But more poignantly  pre-Superior Spider-Man was so atrocious that a sizzling and sexy idea like Superior (which generated tons of cheap novelty) felt utterly refreshing, even to people who had actually LIKED pre-Superior Spidey under Slott. It’s like how people praised the early Big Time stories despite their problems because compared to BND they were genuinely better.

Plus Superior, for all it’s god forsaken writing, didn’t exist to clearly workshop potential movie ideas or chiefly in aid of a social/political cause. Someone can agree that there should be more black or female superheroes but disagree that the older characters should be sidelined in the attempt to achieve that.

Especially when there were better alternative options such as introducing those newer characters within and alongside the established hero’s narrative or simply introduce them independently as has happened recently with the likes of Lunar Snow.

*This is also why I suspect Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman survived from the Golden Age into the Silver Age. Because they were the DC characters who (more than any of the other ones) had actual personalities/substance to them. **Of course this didn’t begin wholesale with the post-Crisis era. But noticeably the characters who had worked with this new shift in priorities prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths stayed generally the same thereafter (E.g. the Titans, Batman) whilst characters who had largely vacillated or struggled (e.g. Superman and Wonder Woman) were given fresh starts which proved critically and financially successful.  

***Not even if he does everything just as well as Rex did or does some stuff differently that’s still good (although the overwhelming majority of the time new Rex is clearly not as good as the old Rex).

****I’ve seen people be called racist and misogynists for calling out Riri Williams honestly ridiculous degree of competency as a hero/tech genius in spite of her age. This is not an invalid criticism, yet disliking the character because of those reasons is grounds to be labelled as something ugly by another (imo minor yet also vocal) contingent of fandom. 

Hell I was called a Trump supporting Breitbart reading bigot for calling out Marvel as two-faced due to never putting a black writer in charge of Sam Wilson as Captain America or a woman in charge of Jane Foster as Thor. It isn’t exclusive to comics either as I and other people have been accused of racism/misogyny for disliking the Last Jedi in spite of that film to my eyes being itself racist and sexist anyway.

#Marvel #Marvel Comics #Marvel legacy #DC #DC Comics #Spider-Man #Captain America #Flash #The Flash #Green Lantern #Barry Allan #Jay Garrick #Wally West #Riri Williams #Iron Man #Iron heart #Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi #The Last Jedi

[sulietsexual]

Hey! I read that you find Friends relatable now that you're older. How is the show relatable to you? Is it specific to your generation or to people your age? Because I don't think any of the friends' lives are relatable. In particular, the fact that they're always in relationships, or hooking with random people they meet wherever, is extremely weird to me. And let's not speak of how most of them have great jobs and no college degree or higher schooling... Anyway, I'd love to read your thoughts!

Okay, so I just want address a couple of your points before I get into how/why I find the series relatable. So, first of all this part:

“In particular, the fact that they’re always in relationships, or hooking with random people they meet wherever, is extremely weird to me.”

First of all, I don’t think that the characters on Friends date or hook up or have relationships any more than characters on any other television series out there. So many shows have their characters dating lots, sustaining long-term relationship etc. Also, I think that while, yes, all the characters did have relationships and hook ups, it wasn’t as constant or as prevalent as your statement implies. Let’s look at the characters individually.

Joey - probably the most sexually active of the group but this is also a big part of his character (similarly to, say, Barney Stinson). Joey does frequently hook up with women because he’s not interested in a long-term relationship, he just enjoys the brief, no-strings-attached intimacy of one-night stands but I don’t find his promiscuity to be unbelievable, especially since it’s an organic part of his characterisation. I also don’t recall him ever hooking up with a random person? 

Chandler - Chandler spends most of Seasons 1 and 2 either single or with Janice. If I recall correctly, he only briefly dates a couple of women other than Janice in those seasons. He spends half of Season 3 with Janice and the other half single. In Season 4 he briefly dates Kathy and then at the end of the season he hooks up with Monica and, as we know, the rest is history and he spends the rest of the series in a committed relationship. Again, I don’t really see this as unrealistic? Chandler has two serious relationships and a third which never really gets off the ground and he casually dates a few women, and this is within the time span of about four or five years. That seems pretty normal to me, especially within the landscape of 90s television, which often portrayed young adults dating around.

Ross - Ross actually dates quite a lot, we see him with many casual love interests, however, as with Joey, I feel like this suits his character. Ross is actually a serial monogamist, he’s hopelessly in love with love and so I find it really in-character that he would date lots in order to find his ideal partner. Again, this is very keeping with 90s culture of dating around. And, of course, Ross has three long-term/serious relationships (Carol, Rachel and Emily) and this is over a ten year time-span, which again, doesn’t seem like a huge amount of romantic developments.

Rachel - Rachel probably dates the least of the characters. She leaves Barry, who is implied to be her only long-term relationship, at the beginning of Season 1 and then has her “fling” with Paolo, which was more about her exploring an exciting and sexual relationship which she hadn’t experienced before. She then spends Seasons 2 and 3 pining after and then involved with Ross, only briefly dating Mark post-Ross. In Season 4 she has her crush on Joshua, which doesn’t go anywhere. Her only other “serious” relationship is with Tagg in Season 7 and other than that, she doesn’t really date that often.

Monica - single for most of Season 1 with only a couple of casual dating relationships, Monica spends most of Season 2 with Richard and then the majority of Season 3 single, until her short relationship with Pete. She’s single for all of Season 4 until she hooks up with Chandler, and then she’s in a committed relationship with him until the end of the series.

Phoebe - Phoebe dates a lot but again, I don’t necessarily find that unrealistic? Like Joey, she doesn’t seem to want or need a long-term partner (until she meets Mike) and she’s happy to just casually date around. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this once again (to me) ties in nicely with 90s dating culture and I think it suits her character. However, I do find her relationship with Mike rushed and it did very much feel like she was shoe-horned into the relationship by writers who seemed afraid of having a female character end the show single. That being said, I do find her and Mike sweet.

So yeah, I’m not sure if it’s a personal thing or a generational thing but I never felt that the romantic relationships and dating habits of the characters felt unrealistic. If anything, I think each of the character’s dating habits and relationship organically tie into their characterisation.

Now, the next part I want to address: 

“And let’s not speak of how most of them have great jobs and no college degree or higher schooling…”

This isn’t completely accurate.

Ross and Chandler both attended college (this is how they met, they were college roommates) and Ross has a PhD, so he definitely completed higher education. While it’s not wholly realistic that Ross would have a PhD and a high-paying job at the Museum of Natural Science at the age of twenty-seven (his age in the first season) it not entirely inconceivable, especially in the early 90s when a college degree actually did guarantee one a job and the job market was much better than it is these days.

Chandler completes college and then works in the same job for several years before receiving a promotion, which does come with an adequate pay rise, but again, he had to slog it out in a cubicle for at least four or five years before receiving said promotion, which he did so at about age twenty-seven, which seems pretty realistic, especially for the 90s. He then works at this job for the next several years, making solid money, before quitting to pursue a job which he’s passionate about. He completes an internship at an ad company and is then offered a more senior position due to his age and experience. I think this is all pretty realistic.

Rachel at least started college (she mentions in a Thanksgiving flashback that she’s taking psychology because the parking’s closer to the building) and she ends up having to work as a waitress for several years because of her lack of job experience, not exactly a great or high-paying job. Her lucking into the job at Bloomingdale’s is a little unrealistic, but she does start at a lower-level position (an assistant) before being moved to personal shopping, which she mentions is a step down for her. She interviews for and obtains the Ralph Lauren position based off her previous experience at Bloomingdale’s and is promoted after being there for a couple of years, again, a fairly realistic trajectory for her. I think Rachel’s work situation is perhaps the least realistic, given that a lot of it rests on luck, but I don’t think it’s completely unbelievable.

We have to assume that Monica went to culinary school, given that she’s a professional chef. It’s not unrealistic or unbelievable that she would be working as a Sous Chef at the age of twenty-six, especially in the 90s. She then loses her job and is forced to work at the demeaning and low-paying diner for over a year, before finally being given the chance to run her own kitchen, where she stays for several years, before being head hunted into a better-paying job when she’s in her early 30s, a realistic move for her, given her experience.

Joey and Phoebe are the only two who are explicitly stated to not have completed college (and in Phoebe’s case high school) but neither initially have particularly demanding or high-paying jobs. Phoebe works as a masseuse, for which she would have needed to complete a certificate or diploma in massage therapy, which she easily could have done in her early twenties. She appears to make enough to live on and doesn’t seem to want a different or higher-paying job and it is mentioned that she doesn’t make as much money as some of the others. And Joey spends so much time on the show unemployed or working odd-jobs in-between auditions, only really starting to get good/steady work towards the end of the series, so I think his career is pretty realistic and an accurate portrayal of how sometimes breaking into an acting career is about right place, right time.

Wow, that got long. Let’s get back to your actual question, of how/why I find Friends relatable.

It’s more little things that I found relatable as I got older. Things such as wanting to work a job I was passionate about (Chandler’s dilemma in Season 1 and again in Season 9), not having a plan for my life (Rachel in Season 1), going against my parents wishes for my career (Joey), having overly-critical parents (Monica) etc. Even smaller things, such as using sarcasm to cover childhood trauma (Chandler) or Monica’s OCD or Rachel always crying. These things made the characters real and relatable to me, even if the world they live in isn’t always completely realistic (their apartments, for example. Even in the 90s Monica wouldn’t have been able to afford that apartment, even with rent control!)

#we pay for everything #answered #f.r.i.e.n.d.s.

[speedprofessor]

pllssss meta how he feels about nora west allen

Okay so I’m going to give you two versions of this, one is the version show is most likely going to do, and the other is My version which we all know is better than actual canon because Flash writers suck

What show is likely going to do:

Eobard doesn’t see Nora as anything other than a means to an end. He doesn’t care for her and only exploiting a lonely, betrayed girl. (Season finale photos have Nora choking Eobard and shouting at him. So yeah. Prepare to be let down) And he is using her as a means of escaping Death Row. Because Flash??? Doing Morally Complex villains?? What is this, season one??

MY Version:

Now I’m gonna preface this by saying making it so that Nora and Eobard meet 90 minutes before Eobard’s execution is uhhhh.... Stupid. So let’s just pretend that clock acts on a Comic Time Scale aka it doesn’t move unless the Plot Necessitates it moves

So I think, the very moment he meets her, Eobard doesn’t want anything to do with her. He is on death row, he is being constantly tortured, he just wants it all to End. ( bonus points if he is indeed immortal as a Paradox and they just keep killing him over and over and over again so he is Utterly Exhausted. ) He remembers her from when she time travels to season one, so he does suspect He may be the one training her, but at that very moment, he doesn’t want to deal with her. 

When she comes back again later, with her best friend dead, the trust in her mother completely shattered, Eobard does see an opportunity. Especially considering his smile when Nora says ‘’I have no one left I can trust.’’

That is very much an Evil Scheming Smile, which we see a hint of again later when the Phasing Speech fails and Eobard is just about to call it quits, at which Nora says she does trust him

He looks extremely relieved.

But he is also a Professor, he used to teach, both regular people and speedsters. So when Nora, the little runner, talks about how she managed to take down Godspeed thanks to his help

We can see that he is relaxed, happy, despite the circumstances. He loves teaching, loves training Speedsters, so I think he is starting to grow fond of the girl despite himself. 

So let’s say the ‘I had my speed for six months’ thing Nora says in 5x01 is legit and not uhhh writers forgetting what they fucking wrote (which is likely) or a Lie (which is also likely). If we assume Eobard trains Nora for six months, I think he genuinely comes to care for the girl. It was a similar thing to Barry, whom he had trained for nine months before his Identity was outed, he does say he had started to view Barry with a look of pride and fatherly love, and assuming writers have not forgotten their own characterisation (which I suspect they did but whatever), the same train of thought can be applied here, but much more clearly since Eobard does not harbor the same hate toward her that he does towards Barry.

Don’t get me wrong, he is still manipulating her to a degree, eventually wanting to use her towards breaking himself out and being free, but I do think he does hold a degree of genuine care and pride towards Nora and all the things she has accomplished. Much like he did towards her father.

It’s like poetry it rhymes.

#watch as the show says none of this and makes Eobard pure evil again #Todd Helbing is gonna let me down one last fucking time before he leaves as a showrunner #I can just Feel It #Anonymous

[jim-reid]

Rollercoaster - Tour De Force

The Stud Brothers / Melody Maker 04.04.1992

The Mary Chain, Blur, the Valentines and Dinosaur all touring together proved too much of a temptation for the Stud Brothers who tagged along for the ride, blagged their way backstage and drank all the booze they could get their hands on. Here's what they can remember. It's true that "Rollercoaster" is the best show you'll see this year. The evidence is there onstage - the Valentines' dream-quest into ambient heavy metal, Blur's bold, knowing nihilism, Dinosaur's compulsive, self-destructive cacophony and the Mary Chain's indefatigable cool. As Blur's Damon Albarn remarks with a grin, "It's the four faces of teenage alienation". And all for 12 quid or, as one spectacularly shabby William Reid lookalike puts it, "a mere one-third of your unemployment benefit". Rollercoaster is undoubtedly cause of celebration. Nonetheless, there's little or no evidence of the confident, self-congratulatory camaraderie that apparently characterised Rollercoaster's American forebear, Lollapalooza. Still, this is only the second night. Dinosaur and the Valentines excepted (te two recently toured the States together), the groups don't actually know one another. Backstage in Glasgow, the atmosphere's one of awkward but inviolable politeness. When members of different bands meet, they exchange sheepish nods and single syllable greetings, reminding us of house-guests bumping into each other on the way to the bathroom. When we finally catch up with the Mary Chain, William's casually reclined on a sofa and a tired-looking Jim is sitting upright in a chair, both inadvertently mimicking the pose they struck for the sleeve of "PsychoCandy". Jim is unusually quiet, partly due to a monstrous hangover and partly because the Glasgow gig is to be played before the admiring but unnerving eyes of the Reids' extended family (which, by the way, seems to consist almost entirely of 14-year-old girls and some fairly fierce-looking matriarchs. Plus there's Jim and William's delightfully gregarious mother who gives us the distinct impression she'd give a pretty good interview herself). We ask about the muted atmosphere backstage. "Well, for a start it's only the second date of the tour," says William, "so there's no buddy-buddy, hanging around in the bar. We just say, 'Hi', and get on with it. Maybe by the end of it we'll all be good mates, maybe we'll all be breaking bottles over each other's heads, saying, 'I never wanna see you again in my life, ya bastard!'. Who knows?" Two weeks before Rollercoaster began, the Maker ran an article in which Murph, Dinosaur's drummer, suggested that the whole tour had been conceived specifically to promote the Mary Chain's new album, "Honey's Dead". Jim and William were reported to have been incensed by the remark when it first appeared in print, but have since discussed the matter with Dinosaur. "That was said in a conversation, not in an interview," says Jim, "and it should never have been written down. When we approached the others with the idea for this tour, any one of them could have said no. Tours are always to promote thingsg, everyone here is promoting their stuff. You can have a good time and put on a great show, but the idea is promotion. It always is." Dinosaur's J Mascis and their extraordinary-looking bassist, Mike Johnson (he appears to have dyed his hair grey), now seem only slightly embarrassed by the gaffe. "That wasn't either of us," says Mascis, cheerfully passing the buck. "That was Murph". Mascis is one hell of a lot more forthcoming than we'd expected. In fact, he might almost be described as garrulous. Maybe he finds it easier to talk in the dark. Dinosaur's dressing-room is lit by a single sorry candle and the steady orange glow of a couple of jossticks. "We heard that people might have been upset by what Murph said," says Mike. "Well, not upset, but they might have thought we were..." He searches for a word. "Dicks," suggests Mascis, helpfully. "Yeah, right. Assholes," Mike continues. "But it was just an off-the-cuff remark." "The weird thing was," says Mascis "that 20 minutes before Murph said that, we'd been explaining to him that all tours are about promoting things. He didn't seem to grasp the concept. When he said that, we looked at him like, 'What are you saying?' because, at the time, touring and promoting was exactly what we were doing." Mike is later kind enough to introduce us to the Valentines' Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher who've just finished the first set of the evening. Kevin seems quietly bemused by "Rollercoaster". Either that or he's been lobotomised by the extraordinary volume his group employ. "It's gonna be really odd tomorrow night," he whispers, "when Dinosaur go on first. It'll be like they're supporting us, and we've just toured America supporting them." "It'll be great," says Mike, magnanimously. "I think it's so cool supporting you guys. Soon we'll be supporting you in the States, too." Do you think any of you have anything in common? "I think," says Kevin, "the only thing the four of us do have in common is that we're all pretty much the Establishment." This notion is one shared by everyone here except the Mary Chain. Damon, unprompted, later repeats almost word-for-word what Kevin has said. It is a peculiar idea because, while it's certain that all four bands are deserving of music paper front covers, they're hardly bosom buddies with Simon Bates. Dinosaur are often a wilful shambles who take a perverse pleasure in lacerating their best pop songs with vicious feedback. My Bloody Valentine are arguably one of the weirdest bands on the planet and currently without a recording deal. Blur, carelessly indulging their present obsession with Syd Barrett, are getting stranger by the minute. And the Mary Chain, in our opinion the most immediate and accessible of all four groups, couldn't get "Reverence", a Top 10 single, on "Top Of The Pops". "Someone the other day in Germany was saying that we were part of the Establishment," says William, "so I asked him to name a band that were more extreme than us. He couldn't do it." The Mary Chain, now embracing Ben Lurie (guitar) and the two former Starlings, Matthew Parkin (bass) and Barry Backler (Barry once auditioned to play drums with Nick Cave's Boys Next Door), are now an immensely powerful live band. The four of them, lined up at the edge of the stage, three armed with guitars and Jim draped spectrally over the mikestand, look and sound like the classic rock assault. William's also become a very great guitarist, able to give a new force and aggressive dimension to the Mary Chain's gorgeously insidious melodies. This new confidence, striking in itself, is accentuated by a simple but spectacular lightshow of sensuous crimsons and velvet purples. It's the Mary Chain's most extravagent lightshow to date, so much so that when it was initially proposed Bennie, their longtime tour-manager and friend, expressed reservations. "I thought it might be too much, too big. I thought it might undermine them." In fact, it does quite the reverse. After the show, a jubilant Mrs Reid tells us that tonight was one of the highlights of her life. "My boys," she says, sounding touchingly awestruck. "I'm so proud of them." We leave for the hotel so that the Reid brothers and their family can be proud of one another in peace. In the bar, much of what we'd hoped would happen backstage is taking promising shape. This is in large part due to Blur who've basically been rocking since four o'clock this afternoon when bassist Alex James decided Guinness was best savoured through a straw. Blur's dressing-room was teeming with people of indeterminate but doubtless dubious intent and, when earlier we invited Damon to have a drink with us in the auditorium's bar, he was mobbed within six feet of the backstage area. Now the boys are heroically drunk. First evidence of this is when Dave Rowntree, their lanky, ginger-headed drummer, starts playing a dangerously competitive game of knuckles with Lampy, Blur's lighting technician. The game rapidly deteriorates into a continuous rerun of the banned Tango advert, and ends when Dave cracks Lampy with a devastating right hook to the jaw and, as if in sympathy, passes into unconsciousness. Across the room, Alex, who reminds us a little of Rupert Everett in "Another Country", is being apologised to by a man who was once uncharitable enough to devote a whole feature on Blur to how much he disliked Alex. Alex in turn is uncharitable enough to refer to the man as "an enormous homosexual". Since the man is neither tall nor particularly heavy we can only assume Alex was referring to the enormity of his homosexuality. A good deal of handshakes are exchanged but nothing is resolved. Damon decides to help Dave up to his room and Alex, having abandoned his penitent adversary, decides he needs another drink. Since the bar has long since shut, Alex clambers over it and tries to operate the pumps. When this fails, he starts picking at the lock of the metal shutter that mercifully separates him from the optics. When that fails, he attempts to vault the bar, fails again and crashes arse-first to the floor, much to the astonishment of J Mascis and the Valentines' Deborah Goodge, who have hitherto been locked in conversation nearby. Alex, who appears to have the remarkable ability to sober up at will, then wisely decides the carnival is over, bids us a fond adieu and retires for some well-earned kip. Jim Reid, probably present for some time (we're actually in no better state than Alex), wanders over and asks is we enjoyed the show. We tell him it was great. It was great. The best show you'll see this year.

#interview