#my hero x villain tumblr debut | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bts-ficrecs · 4 years

Text

Namjoon angst fic recs (no smut)

@ephyra16 asked:

Hey...! Your blog is of so much help to me, thank you for all the hard work you do... I wanted to ask if you know any long Namjoon oneshots or series which mostly have angst but no smut...? Namjoon centered fics are really hard to find. Thanks!!

yes hello for some reason tumblr hates me and idk why everything gets wonky when i try to answer asks so i’m making a new post <3

1) as a jin stan i feel u. is hard to find fics for our mans but that just means when we find one we devour it and cherish it 4 ever lol

2) jsdflajsd you might have more luck asking someone else for straight up angst cause i can barely stomach angst LOL. I tried my best to find some heart breaky fics for you! :”) A majority of these I have not yet read so we will both be riding the emo train together.

As you requested, most of the oneshots are long fics, over 5k but! There are several honorable mentions under 5k are also listed cause they’re great

Thank you for your patience and I’m glad you’re enjoying the fics I reblog! :D so many great stories out there. as always, if there’s a fic that any of you readers think should be on this list lmk!! 🧡🧡 Enjoy!~

A Little Bit Of Sugar by @lthyl

Summary: Namjoon is well aware that some, well actually most people could find his hobby not exactly common, yet he still considers himself to be a man of tasteful words and higher intellect - someone who managed to understand the true, deepest meaning of beauty itself. And so he doesn’t really care if his methods of collecting pretty things end up being darker that expected, once you peek under the surface.

Almost Love by @joonary

Summary: You think you’ve got your life all figured out—after all, you found your soulmate already, and you’re lucky enough to have found him in your childhood best friend. You suppose that maybe, now that you’re older, your luck has begun to run out.

Better To Have Loved by @rkivenamu

Summary: Love, Namjoon had found, wormed its way though people, consumed them whole until it left nothing of the people they had once been. It became a weapon to be used to wound the other. Love, it seemed, was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

Bloom by @hobidreams

Summary: Family is who you kill for. Who you die for. In this society, you and your kin are shadows, clinging to the darkness to obey orders absolute. But when such orders command you to abandon what little honor remains for wealth and notoriety, you find yourself lost in lonely uncertainty about the only vocation you’ve ever known. That is, until you meet a man with gentle hands, a poet’s heart, and a love for coaxing the world into bloom.

Note: okay, this has smut (there are 2 smut scenes) but… it is too good for me to not add to this list

Breathless by @personawife

Summary: Jungkook was eleven when it had begun. At first, he didn’t realize what was happening to him when he had miraculously coughed up a flower petal. He thought that maybe it had accidentally blown into his mouth with the wind, but then he realized that there were no cherry blossom trees around his house.

Pairing: Namjoon x Jungkook

Catching Fire by @namjoonchronicles

Summary: “If you didn’t want to go, then you should have told me. I wouldn’t have taken you here.”

Cut by @chimchimsauce (>5k)

Summary: Namjoon always hated soulmates.

Chasing Perfection by @shuaffeine-rkive

Summary: Kim Namjoon is the only kid in AP Bio that is smarter than me, and I will make it a point to destroy his perfect record.

Emancipated by @imagniation

Summary: CEO!Namjoon is a hero time and time again when your father takes the villain role.

Five Times by @lordofassgard

Summary: Five times you wished you never met Namjoon.

Sequel (of sorts): Part 2 - Namjoon's POV

For All the Petals by @rosaetae (>5k)

Summary: A story in which you met him in the spring, fell in love with him in the summer, but he left you in autumn and how you missed him in the winter.

Forget Me Not by @fairyjeons

Summary: She fell apart that day. An all white day with crowds of adoring friends and family to see them make the most happiest decisions of their lives, to choose to be together. She chose yes. He chose different.

Ghost In The Machine by @jimlingss

Summary: Kim Namjoon is your android that’s modified to become the best serial killer in all of existence. But when he starts to learn about humanity, he begins to threaten your goals.

God of Destruction by @jimlingss

Summary: Everything he touches breaks; except for you.

Jealous by @btssmutgalore (>5k)

Summary: Namjoon remembered the day you left clearly.

Lit Me Up by @floralseokjin

Summary: You find yourself becoming captivated by a mysterious, handsome author, but you may have bitten off more than you can chew…

No Goodbye by @floralseokjin (>5k)

Summary: Even if you’re the one who ended things, you can still feel pain. Your heartbreak is valid. Your sadness for the past is a grieving process…

Noble Gain and Loss by @jaeminlore (>5k)

Summary: You are a person of nobility preparing with your tutor for your royal debut. The two of you fall into a forbidden love.

Not The One by @personawife (>5k)

Summary: Maybe you should’ve realized early on then, that something was bound to go wrong. Meeting your soulmate at sixteen and living happily ever after? No one’s that lucky. But you refused to believe anything else.

Paracosm by @jimlingss (>5k)

Summary: Namjoon’s always known he was your second choice. He was a substitute for someone who wasn’t there. So when you’re on your deathbed, he intends to reconstruct your memories and remove your regrets.

Press Play by @out-of-jams

Summary: You didn’t mean to. Didn’t intend to fall in love with a dying man.

Submerged by @myfeelsinink

Summary: Kim Namjoon is the man of your dreams; or rather, from your dreams.

Suspended Soul by @justimajin

Summary: A silver ring, a live long promise, and an eternity of happiness. All of which, he had managed to break.

The what Ifs by @ellieljade (>5k)

Summary: You would be able to handle the relationship between Namjoon and your best friend if it weren’t for all those damned “what ifs”

Wishf-oo-l by @sseudanym (>5k)

Summary: To fulfill a good man’s bad dream.

Worshipers of the Soul by @jimlingss

Summary: The King of the Underworld was denounced and exiled from Heaven as a god. But with your help, he may rise to power once more and claim his rightful throne.

You’ve Got That by @mikrksmos

Summary: After making a life-changing decision for your career, you’re unsure of how exactly to bring it up to your boyfriend after your relationship and communication has not really been in sync. Namjoon is ready to take this relationship to the next stage, and he is sure that what he needs to ask you will be the solution to all the problems you have been having. Both know this next move is the right idea, but are unaware of how parallel those ideas really are.

Confirm Or Deny by @dinoyoongi

Status: complete series (6/6)

Summary: You’re a member of the rising group FRNZEE. You’ve been dating Namjoon for years when Dispatch releases an article exposing your relationship. Your company confirms the relationship. Big Hit denies it.

Deeper than Ink by @whoajeon

Status: discontinued series (2/?)

Summary: Should you fall in love with someone, even in the slightest, your skin becomes marked with vibrant colors that depict the story of your emotions. A tattoo, per say. However, should they or you fall out of love, the bright hues dull to black and the feelings you once had for each other melt away. To many, it’s a blessing to not have to live with the pain of your past. But what’s the point when you have too many reminders–say 27?

His Deaf Stars by @jooneos

Status: discontinued series (1/?)

Summary: When Namjoon turned 20 he had been excited to finally find his soulmate. He hadn’t anticipated that finding them would prove to be such a long journey. Now, more than 500 years later Namjoon still hadn’t found them.

Note: ok, yes it’s discontinued and only 1 part is up but still… please read it. It’s an interesting read regardless!

Inked by @kookswife

Status: complete series (6/6)

Summary: The day Namjoon entered your life was the day you were a bit more than utterly fucked.

Monster by @wordycerty

Status: ongoing series (1/?)

Summary: Namjoon as a vampire and you’re locked in a basement with him. For you to escape, he first needs to feed.

Noble Heart by @agustkive

Status: ongoing series (1/?)

Summary: Unrequited love can destroy anyone, and in a society where it could literally do so, it made it difficult to want anything more. Being among the population with Hanahaki disease, you battled with doing what you loved without actually feeling it. That is, until a new florist by the name of Kim Namjoon came into your life to remind you of what it actually felt like.

Reality by @thoughtssilent

Status: ongoing series (11/12)

Summary: Namjoon can’t deal with himself anymore, and to make things worse, BTS is disbanding.

Pairing: Namjoon x OT7

Regrets by @nightbts

Status: complete series (3/3)

Summary: When his eyes met yours, you felt your heart squeeze in your chest at the familiar brown eyes that you once used to know at the back of your hand. The very ones you’d wake up to every morning. The very ones that would gaze at you with so much affection as the words I love you spilled past his mouth during the most random moments of your day. It was him, your ex-boyfriend, the very Kim Namjoon.

Solanacea by @softjeon

Status: complete series (10/10)

Summary: There was something between them that neither could deny. It was like this from the first day they had met.

Pairing: Namjoon x Jimin

The Heiress’ Son by @jimlingss

Status: complete series (3/3)

Summary: Love is never enough. It could never feed you, protect you, stop death from taking you. It chains you down. It compels forgiveness unconditionally. It is dangerous. While it is the most intense of feelings, love is not enough and it will never be. Love never helped anyone.

What If I Said by @thoughtssilent

Status: complete series (3/3)

Summary: If no one is there for him, Namjoon won't be there for them. Or, a collection of sad stories.

Pairing: Namjoon x OT7

#namjoon angst #namjoon fanfic #bts fic recs #rm angst #bts angst #ephyra16 #g recs #g replies #f:knj

207 notes · View notes

rosecoloredwriting · 3 years

Note

Hi there! I wanted to request some headcannons! Of our good bois bakugou, izuku and Todoroki ( or if it's only one character the Izuku definitely)

They're pro heroes and Reader is one too. She's making her debut. Or rather this is her defining moment. She's fighting so hard, only she can take down this villain and she does...and just getting our bois reaction of being so proud of her as they help her to medical?

Sorry if its too specific!

That’s My Boo!

A/N: Please excuse the fact I took so fuckin long to post this. I will be honest here and say i forgot I had this account. I havent been on tumblr at all for the past few weeks so I hope you enjoy this anon. Sorry for the wait.

Summary: When the main 3′s s/o kicks ass

Pairings: Izuku Midoriya x GN!Reader, Katsuki Bakugou x GN!Reader, Shoto Todoroki x GN!Reader

Izuku Midoriya

At your agency, you met Midoriya, someone with who you clicked well easily

Always being partnered up when the time arises it was fun working with him

Only problem is that he overshadowed you

You don't hold anything against the guy but everyone would only give him credit for both of the work you guys did together

You gained your place as a hero but no one seems to notice you

It's so bad that even izuku noticed and feels sorry for

The challenge arises when Izuku isn’t around to take down the villain

Stuck in the agency building filling out paperwork, you did patrol alone this time

Just your luck a villain makes a ruckus

On your hands you had to deal with one of the biggest fights you've had to do

As the sidekicks did their best to evacuate the area you fought the big boss

Trying your best to keep minimum damage and keeping the civilians safe news camera started to flood the area

With deku always stuck somewhere else it was a bit odd

But thrilling nonetheless

Everyone screams weather in fear, support, or excitement they were all watching

Nerve racking but also confidence boosting

In complete control of your quirk you fought the villain

With ever single bow the villain weakening and seeing how much more he will loose

The villain having enough aimed a fatal blow at you but you countered

The attack not only returning back to him but doubling with your force

In a second he was down as silence hit until an uproar of screams by the crowd

Pushed from the blow but not so fatally hurt your were blown across

Opening your eyes as you lay in the rubble you open your eyes to see curls of green

Izuku arriving at the scene and holy shit he had a waterfall in each eye

Did not let you go and did not let the nurses touch you

“You know Midorya that you don’t have to do this”

“No, I have too! I'm sorry for not being there to help you!”

“It’s not your fault that they gave you that pile of paperwork to do out of short notice.” Only fuming more like a mother as he tends to your wounds. Softly gripping your wounded hand wrapping it up in bandages.

“You were amazing out there!”

“I was nothing you probably could have beaten the villain way quicker than me.”

“Doing anything with you makes me wanna work harder.” The tips of your ears heat up slightly at his comment. Looking away embarrassed you hear Midorya make a small squeak. Embarrassed he turns red and wraps his arms around his head. ��I mean who wouldn’t you're really hardworking are great at what you do!” Laughing nervously he tries to avoid your gaze. Reaching out for his hand you clasp yours over his.

“Then why don’t we go out and celebrate this victory with dinner?”

“Together? Like alone?” You hum in response as he turns an even brighter red. With a big breath, he finally looks at you in the eyes. A blush still evident on his cheeks “That sounds amazing.”

Katsuki Bakugo

He was on his day off as you went to the agency

Using his day to the fullest he spends the day mindlessly watching t.v

Shutting his brain off to chill himself from the strain of his job

Until he switches to the news channel

There you are bloodied and bruised attacking the shit out of the villain

Tensing up he's on the edge of his seat watching you defeat the villain

As everyone watching is in awe

Watching as you take down the villain that everyone was having so much trouble trying to stop

Quickly grabbing his phone and keys he speeds off to the scene

Watching the live feed on his phone

you were favorited among a niche group of people but rn everyone finally kept their eyes on you, a moment where everyone watches you

Speeding off katsuki gets in his car trying his best to reach the scene and watch your well being

When getting to the scene he sees the glorious moment of you standing over the defeated villain as everyone erupts into screams

Everyone chanting your name and being the one to shine amongst the other heroes

A feeling of admiration and love for you spilling out of his heart

The next few moments blur past you before you in the hospital

When I tell you this man broke so many traffic laws for you I mean it

Lucky you were not severely injured and could be taken home

He busted into your hospital with a nurse trying to stop him as you and the nurse tending to you jump

Luckily you were not severely injured and could be taken home

Let's just say Katsuki was pissed and did not let you do anything when you made it home

He was on your beck and call but like he’ll ever admit it

#midoriya izuku x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #izuku midoriya #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #Katsuki Bakugō #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #my hero fanfic #rcw's writting #ask #nonnie

20 notes · View notes

irisallenm · 4 years

Text

Perhaps — Kugo Sakamata (Gang Orca) x Fem!Reader

I know I said I had an Aizawa Soulmate thingy buuuuut I got THIRSTY about Kugo, and some HCs that I read here in Tumblr made me change my mind (*coffcoff* @love-toxin, @kazooli , and @fantasydaydreamers *coffcoff*). So instead of that being my first I'm gladly presenting you my try at writing in english, just for you. ENJOY.

AO3 Book

Next | Third | Last (Coming Soon)

Part 1 of 4 in the "Us" Series, (1.3K words).

Warnings: Angst, my bad english, Kugo being the villain he think he is.

During the License Exam Arc — You got yourself an opportunity to finally meet your No. 1 Hero, but it goes wrong...

Keys to read this:

Y/N: Your Name

E/C: Eye Color

If you did not know better you will said that Gang Orca was the best hero ever, even if everyone kept saying he totally looks like a villain, but for god’s sake, why fear someone who keeps saving the city EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

You were angry, to say the least, you have never meet him, but it was your dream. Being a marine biologist yourself, and part of the aquarium staff, you could not see anything but beauty in him. Someone with a little bit of influence got you a pass to the hero license exam, even tho you were not taking the exam per se. The reason? Watching him being… well, just him.

This was your birthday present, turning 25 years old was something big and this was, in fact, the best present of all your life.

‘What do you think about him, Y/N?’ Said a man with black hair, he looked sleepy.

‘This could not be any better, he is so close that it seems he’s right next to me’. Your voice chirped with emotions. ‘I even bring flowers! That way you can give them to him’.

‘How about we introduce him to you?’ The green haired woman who was trying to hug the other man blurted out. ‘And you give him the flowers in person’.

‘Wait, really?!’ Your hands could not stop trembling. ‘I… I would be honored, I’m really a big fan of his, I admire him with all my heart---

You covered your mouth with both hands, your face red and fully blush.

‘Eeeh, is this what I think it is?’

‘No, Ms. Joke, you got it all wrong’

‘I don’t think so, honey. That was very forward of you, are you perhaps in love with him?’

Silence, a thicc and heavy silence.

Admiration? Yes. Happy? Obviously. In love? You didn’t know.

‘I do not think I could call it that, I don’t know him in a personal way, I don’t even know his real name, nor his favorite color, or what makes him angry, and even if this was not the case, you already know I’m quirkless, he would never look at me in that way’.

Sigh.

Sadness, Ms. Joke tried to said something but was interrupted by commotion.

You ran up to the balcony and saw with fear as your hero was covered in an unstable blazing whirlwind, like a fire prison, but relax at the spot.

‘Are you worried?’ Ask the sleepy man.

‘Not at all, I think he is going to throw water to---’, and he does throw water at himself, ‘yeah, that.’

Surprised look on you, but Eraserhead brush it off and got near you.

‘Maybe my kid will give him a bad time’.

‘The one who constantly breaks his bones?, don’t think so, Aizawa-san. He may be strong but has a lot to do, Gang Orca is stronger than them, even with all that gear up on his body’.

You were really serious, it was as if you have watched the fight before, but it was just your knowledge about him, your fannatism crawling up your skin, your mouth, your e/c eyes.

The exam comes to and end after all the “civilians” were rescued.

‘Is that so?’ Ms. Joke smirk without you looking.

‘But…’ You said.

‘But?’ She added.

‘Even if the did not have that stuff, he might have been injured at some point in the fight.’

Both of them stayed quite, surprised actually, of the harsh words.

‘She might be right’ A deep voice said, and your eyes met his, red and e/c, not letting go of each other’s gaze. ‘I could have injured myself to the point of being unable to continue fighting.’

Blush again, all the way up to your ears.

He then disappeared, just to reappeared on the same balcony as you, getting handshakes and words from his friends there.

‘Dude’ Said Aizawa, ‘She is a big fan of yours, she is Y/N---

You interrupted him before even finishing.

‘Y/N’, bright smile in your face, ‘just Y/N’.

‘Well, Miss “just ‘Y/N’”’, he bowed a little, ‘I’m Gang Orca, the pleasure is mine’.

You giggled, and feeled like ten again. ‘I know that, I actually came here just to meet you!’

Your tone started slow but turned up the volume, did not realized but ended up almost screaming.

You covered your mouth again, ashamed and blush.

Joke laugh and Aizawa tried not to do the same.

‘I’ve waited for so long, just for this moment’. The smile on your face shy, like the way you felt.

‘Are you not afraid?’ You were mesmerized by his gaze, it was not fear what you feel but something else, something different than you ever felt before. Perhaps this was indeed that.

‘Of course not, I would never be afraid of you, actually…’ quite the opposite. You didn’t say that lasts word out loud, you let them in your heart, for it to sank like his next words.

‘Actually?’

‘Nothing’. He looked.

‘And why are you here, just to say hello? That’s all?’ His eyes changing with every seconds.

You knew something was wrong, he was not like the one you knew. Your eyes searched for the flowers on the table.

‘I just wanted to gave you---’ he interrupted you.

‘How much did they paid you for this?’ His face looked angry.

‘Excuse me?’ Perplex and wondering coming out of your eyes.

‘Isn’t it funny?’ Orca said, this time sounding angrier and for the first time in your life you feared him. ‘Playing with others feelings?’

‘I don’t quite understand’.

‘Ms. Joke, I can’t believe you bring a child just to mock me,’ The smirk on his face irritated as it could get.

‘I’m not a child’ You stated, ‘and they did NOT pay me for this words, the are coming directly from my heart’.

There, you said it.

‘You know I joke’, the green haired girl utter ‘but I will never do something like “use” another human being just for the sake of it, not when the words she is telling you are truth’.

‘You should understand already that there is no one in this damn word who will like me’ the face of his deforming. ‘They don’t call me the number three hero who looks like a villain, and even if it was true, which I don’t believe it, she must be really dumb just to be here wanting to said that’.

It sank, your heart, your words in your mouth, your feelings… You.

The tears were almost out but you bit your lip and swallow that emotions.

‘Yeah, you are right’ your voice sounding dull, hurt, but trying your best not to. ‘I’m sorry Ms. Joke, this did not go as we expected’.

‘Y/N, I’m terribly sorry’ If you looked up into her eyes you will totally cry, so your eyes stuck on the floor. ‘Maybe next time?’

‘Don’t even bother’ Cold words from the one you admire… admired? Perhaps this was the right outcome, someone as quirkless as you would only suffered if this went on, if you got yourself involved with heroes. You hated yourself for being this way, even tho you knew this wasn’t your choice.

‘I will see you around’ the flowers on the table stood there, you could even go near to pick them. You left them there, at the end your gaze met his for the last time that day, and you regretted it. 'I won't bother you anymore, never again’.

You closed the door.

The tears fell down your red cheeks. Flustered, no dignity left, you sob quietly while going back to your car.

And perhaps this was indeed love, your first one to put it worst. All those years since his debut up until now, perhaps this was how a broken heart felt, you didn’t want the feelings, you wanted to throw them away, but it was also a first time too, that was gonna be impossible.

And perhaps, maybe perhaps this was for the best.

And you didn't look back.

You just drive away.

Sad.

Broken.

Glad to be alone, so you could cry all your heart's content.

#kugo sakamata #mha #of course is going to be mha #kugo sakamata x reader #kugo sakamata fanfic #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #gang orca #gang orca x reader #angst #mha angst #us series #first time posting a fanfic here #kugo sakamata fanfiction

181 notes · View notes

anhed-nia · 5 years

Text

BLOGTOBER 10/9/2019: INQUISITION

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m trying to post this for the second time, with slightly different image choices, because my previous attempt was IMMEDIATELY flagged and then I IMMEDIATELY got a message saying that I can’t appeal it. I can only assume that this was because of a teeny tiny boob in the background of a pretty low res picture of Naschy as the inquisitor. Let’s see if this works! PS Fuck Tumblr and Fuck Wordpress.

Apparently, 2019 brings us the blogtober of me being shallow about major cinematic legacies of which I do not know dick. The films of Paul Naschy have been on my to-do list for far too long, and while I may not have much enlightening to say about his storied career, at least I picked a good one to start with. Having earned a reputation as the “Spanish Lon Chaney” for his many portrayals of famous monsters(TM),1976′s INQUISITION marked Naschy’s directorial debut with a big bloody X. Obviously inspired by movies like WITCHFINDER GENERAL and MARK OF THE DEVIL, but firmly on its own loopy trip, INQUISITION is a delightfully delirious introduction to Naschy as an auteur.

The director plays the typically earnest but delusional inquisitor Bernard De Fossey (and also the devil and the grim reaper, but I digress) who goes from one plague-ridden village to another, hunting down the predictably female causes of the their woes. De Fossey’s superior moral fiber is tested when he falls for a local maiden named Catherine, whose social circle actually involves women who practice witchcraft. The inquisitor’s evident weakness is exploited by disfigured farmhand Renover, who sees there an opportunity to punish the young women who have rejected him. Thus the movie plunges into an interestingly complex intersection of personal delusions--namely De Fossey’s pompous nobility, and Catherine’s feverish hallucinations of sorcery, the latter of which gives the movie its fabulous visual character. The witches’ sabbath alone is worth the price of admission.

Paul Naschy went on to direct numerous movies starring himself, and it’s easy to poke fun at his open narcissism--I mean the number of smoldering, luminous, highly staged and curated closeups that he gives himself here surely identify him as the inventor of the selfie--but I think he provides a valuable opportunity to meditate on the role of beauty and ugliness in horror cinema. Naschy’s vast resume as an all-purpose monster demonstrates his natural understanding that villains are always sexier than heroes, but there is also something to be said about the venn diagram of deformity, bestial charisma, and sexual desire/virility. Naschy worships his own beauty as the leather-clad inquisitor, while acknowledging that the character’s eros will be his downfall. Meanwhile, Renover--played by Antonio Iranzo, a decent-looking actor himself under the gnarly prosthesis--embodies may common fears about disfigurement. Malformed characters often appear in horror movies as threats, which I think can only be so because audiences instinctively fear for the preservation of their own vanity. We must imagine what it would be like to be permanently romantically alienated, and by extension, we fear for what could happen to a person mentally if they were dealt such a hand. Surely unexpressable desire must come to an unbearable boiling point, certainly jealousy would mutate into violence. Perhaps we also wonder if the deformity causes not only emotional but chronic physical pain, another popular cause of psychosis. The average person does not want to know what it must be like to be set apart from society so radically by our appearance, but when we consider it, we only assume the worst. As a movie about plague and torture, INQUISITION is peppered with images of nubile beauties being irretrievably marred by lesions or hot irons, reminding us further of the maddening nature of our own perishableness

...obviously I’m still chewing on the idea of a longform essay about the power of ugliness in horror, though I feel totally unequipped to take it on myself. If anybody knows of preexisting work on the topic, fork it over!

#blogtober #horror #witch #witch hunt #satanism #period piece #inquisition #paul naschy #daniela giordano #antonion iranzo #1976

6 notes · View notes

toaarcan · 5 years

Text

Sonic X, Sonic Heroes, and IDW, or: How a bad anime from 2004 spoiled a comic from 2019.

Now, I haven’t been following IDW Sonic all that closely. I get regular updates from Nemesis via Discord, and additional info from some of the Tumblrs I follow that are invested in it, but I don’t really have a desire to touch it myself. Here’s why.

There’s a multitude of reasons for this. Starting with the background of Sonic Forces wasn’t really a good place to begin from, and being based on present-day game lore in general was always going to hurt it, mainly because SEGASonic canon is currently a confusing mess of retcons brought on by Iizuka taking the J.K. Rowling approach.

Wait, no, he’s just saying stupid shit that contradicts previous canon, not trying to score woke points and hoping nobody notices the frankly terrible stereotypes and TERF tweets. Iizuka is taking the Greg Farshtey approach.

Added, as anyone that’s had experience with my opinions will tell you, I started falling out of love with Ian Flynn’s writing somewhere around Issue 200, and moved to outright dislike during Mecha Sally, and to make matters worse I started noticing that some of the flaws in the 200-247 era were also present in the 160-199 era, retroactively making those harder to go back to.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I kept up with Archie for the SatAM cast. SatAM reruns back in 2004 were my Sonic, moreso than anything else, and even now I still have way more attachment to those two seasons of animation than I do to most other aspects of the franchise, warts and all. So Archie providing me with additional content for said characters was a major draw for me. I’d generally put up with a lot just to get myself more SatAM content.

That in itself is a large part of why I fell off the Archie train during Mecha Sally. The entirety of the SatAM cast were removed from the regular lineup, just leaving three SEGA characters with their personalities stunted, even if that didn’t make sense in-universe. But that’s a discussion for another day.

So being written by someone whom I no longer enjoyed the writing of, set in a mess of a canon with a thoroughly shite game as the main basis, without the cast I read the previous comics for gave me little reason to invest in IDW Sonic. It wasn’t for me, I’d just keep reading Transformers and move on.

Then MTMTE/LL ended with a heart-twister and Ex-RID ended with a giant Unicron-shaped fart, and the new comic is dull as fucking dishwater and started by killing off one of my favourites, who was also one of the franchise’s confirmed LGBT characters. So now IDW is getting none of my money. Which is good because I’m broke.

Tangents aside, my lack of interest wasn’t something set in stone. If it turned out that the comic was actually really good, then sure, I’d try it. I was up for being proven wrong. But so far, I haven’t felt compelled by the responses from the internet. If anything I’ve been more turned off.

I could talk about how zombies are really fucking boring. I could talk about how SEGA’s recent confusion over what to do with Amy has combined with Ian’s need to include a Sally-esque character to make IDW Amy into Sally Lite. I could talk about how Ian seemingly fundamentally misunderstood everything that was cool about Neo Metal Sonic and somehow managed to reduce him to a boring Eggman minion in an arc where Eggman was out of action due to amnesia… But I won’t.

Instead I’m going to talk about how the comic has done something that would legitimately make me think twice about picking it up even if the FF were to debut tomorrow.

Yeah, I would pass up a SatAM fix because of this, that’s how much this ticks me off.

Now, I presume that if you’re reading this, you have a favourite Sonic character. And you probably feel pretty strongly about how your favourite character is portrayed. If they get a bad run in a game or two then you probably get a little salty about that. Tails and Knuckles fans in particular, as of late, seem to be the ones getting the short end.

Well, my favourite character in the entire franchise is Emerl the Gizoid. I will take Gemerl as a worthy substitute, they’re basically the same character. And the comics have been doing them dirty since the Archie reboot.

(Sidenote: I will be referring to Emerl with male pronouns from this point on. The Maria-soul thing isn’t as widely known as I’d like it to be, so I’m going to compromise for the sake of keeping the focus on the actual point)

However, not everything about this can be laid at the feet of Ian Flynn. Arguably his portrayal of said character is merely a symptom of a long-running issue that has plagued Sonic storytelling for roughly 15-16 years now.

But before we get into that, let’s get into something important: Why Emerl is my favourite Sonic character.

Part 1: Emerl in Sonic Battle, or “How I learned to stop worrying and love the Gizoid”.

This game doesn’t get enough love.

Now, I totally understand why it doesn’t get enough love. There are game design choices, like the grinding and the repetitiveness of the story mode that really drag it down, and because of that, Battle can become a slow-going and tedious experience, and that’s a real shame, because the story that’s hidden in this game is a thing of beauty.

Like most Sonic games from the 2000s, this game introduces a new character to join Sonic’s list of friends. Unlike the games that aren’t SA2 and Sonic Rush, this new character is actually good (This is hyperbole, Omega, Silver, and Shade were fine too).

Emerl enters the story as a mute, barely-functional robot that doesn’t do much of anything for a while, and only seems to come to life when Sonic locates it and attacks it. However, as the robot absorbs more Chaos Emeralds, slowly a personality starts to form, largely pieced together from other characters’ traits.

Emerl, as he is dubbed, is initially childlike and naive, but as he grows he develops a sassy streak, and his speech becomes a lot more developed. Maturity sets in, as Emerl grapples with his own nature, particularly the legacy he carries from the ARK, and Shadow’s ongoing turmoil with regards to the whole “Living Weapon” deal. Ultimately he becomes a hero, following in the footsteps of his mentor, parental figure, and closest friend, Sonic.

That’s right, Sonic, not Cream, is Emerl’s closest friend. We’ll get to that.

But this heart-warming story of Sonic becoming a dad for a robot doesn’t have a happy ending. Despite Shadow and Rouge finding a way to neutralise Emerl’s destructive Gizoid programming, Eggman has a way to reactivate it anyway, driving Emerl into a berserk rampage. This is kind of the one sticking point I have with the game’s plot, Eggman shouldn’t have been able to do this after Shadow and Rouge neutralised Emerl.

Additionally, while Emerl was on the ARK getting Maria’s soul crammed into him, Gerald also added a self-destruct mechanism that would trigger if he ever went Ultimate again.

So with Emerl quite literally exploding with all the power of the Chaos Emeralds, but his destructive programming forcing him to turn Eggman’s latest Death Star knockoff on Mobius/Earth/Sonic’s World, Sonic races up to confront his mecha-child, and things take a turn for the Old Robot Yeller.

In a moment that really deserves more attention, Sonic confronts his own child on the bridge of a space station, while Emerl is running on the power of the Chaos Emeralds and outputting more energy than he can physically take, and they fight. In the space of thirty seconds, they have a ten-round knock-down, drag-out brawl, and at the end, Sonic stands triumphant. Without using a single transformation. Yeah, that’s how powerful this guy is, that’s not travel speed, that’s combat speed. Looking at you, Death Battle.

It’s not really clear whether Sonic outright defeats Ultimate Emerl, or just survives long enough for his opponent to reach his limit and self-destruct, but the end result is the same. Sonic cradles a robot that became his own child over the course of the past few weeks, someone he raised from a baby-like state into a mature and heroic individual, and Emerl looks up at him and asks “Sonic… am I going to die?” And despite Sonic desperately trying to get him to keep it together, Not only does Emerl die, but he’s aware that the end is coming, and bids farewell to all of his friends as Sonic pleads with him to hold on. Shadow is equally distraught, his only friend with a connection to the ARK, someone he can call a brother, someone who carries the soul of his deceased sister within him, is dead.

Emerl: “Sonic I don’t feel so good.”

Like it’s canon that Eggman basically murdered Sonic’s kid.

And goddamnit this ending hits me hard. It frustrates me that Eggman was able to pull a means to drive Emerl into his Ultimate freakout mode out of his arse, but other than that, it’s so gutwrenching, I love it.

Gamma’s story from SA1 gets a lot of praise on the Internet, but for me, this is even better. It’s like Gamma’s story, but if Gamma was actually central to the plot of the game and the characters other than Amy gave a shit about him, and gave a shit about him for longer than a single cutscene, after which they are never mentioned again. Hell, due to Chaos Gamma being a thing, Gamma gets more love from the other characters in Battle than he does in SA1.

But, unfortunately, it doesn’t end there.

Part 2: (Sonic) Anime was a Mistake, or: “Sonic X ruins everything.”

I’ve made my dislike of this anime quite clear in the past. The characters are flanderized, Sonic is a B-lister in his own damn show, the villains are weaksauce or boring or both, the plot is only remotely close to good when its cribbing from two videogames which told the stories in question better, and for the first two seasons the entire show actually revolves around not Sonic, but the least relatable audience surrogate ever made. The third season would continue to include him, but shove him (And everyone else) to the side in favour of a Pokemon whose only move was “Flashback”, making audiences the world over question why he was even there in the first place.

Oh, and it also near-singlehandedly destroyed the thin shreds of character development that Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Eggman had received in Sonic Adventure 2.

All four of these characters had been significantly enriched by the then most recent console game. Eggman had been revealed to be motivated by an admiration for his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, but in the same game learned that Gerald had lost his marbles and programmed the ARK to smash into the planet and kill everyone on it, probably including his surviving family, i.e. little baby Ivo Robotnik. Gerald betrayed Eggman posthumously, and it’s clear from Eggman’s interactions with Tails during the credits of the game that this is giving him a lot to think about.

Knuckles is a weird case because most of his characterisation in SA2 is conveyed via… the lyrics to his rap music. Yes, really. He gets minor growth through the cutscenes, most notably in his decision to shatter the Master Emerald early on. Having already reassembled it once after it was broken in SA1, he’s now confident that he can do it again, so is willing to break it to prevent Eggman or Rouge stealing it. Via the rap lyrics, however (Yes I just wrote that), we also learn that Knuckles is slowly warming up to Sonic, gaining a greater respect for him, that he is more in-touch with his history and ancestors after SA1 (Though fortunately not in a Ken Penders way), and that he’s also struggling with feelings for Rouge, a plot element that went completely out of the window after this game.

Tails and Amy, however, get it the worst, as both went through arcs in SA1 that are followed up on and expanded in SA2. Amy had come to the conclusion that she didn’t need to rely on Sonic for everything, and that she would make him respect her as a hero in her own right. And while Amy is clearly in way over her head throughout the events of SA2, she still makes a significant difference, not only freeing Sonic from his cell on Prison Island, allowing Tails’ invasion to be a distraction and stealing a keycard to facilitate it, but of course, she later saves the world by motivating Shadow to join the fight to stop the ARK drop.

Tails had a similar plot, about learning to believe in himself as a hero, without having to rely on Sonic, and in SA2 he gets to prove it, not only partaking in the same rescue operation as Amy and fighting Eggman on even footing, but effectively taking command of the heroes and becoming their new leader, and for the first time, Sonic defers to him.

And then Sonic X came along and fucked it all up.

Eggman became a clownish antagonist with no semblance of nuance, and he actually got off the easiest.

Knuckles became a loud, dimwitted loner who got tricked by Eggman constantly, which would go on to be his personality for the rest of the franchise, ultimately culminating in the travesty against all sense that was Boom Knuckles.

Tails was reduced to a wimpy taxi driver, incapable of doing anything without his giant mecha plane to sit in. This was largely exacerbated by the presence of Donut Steele, who usurped his role as Sonic’s best friend and sidekick for two seasons, a problem which only got worse in the third season when Donut Steele suddenly became a genius inventor too, encroaching even more into Tails’ territory. Tails did get himself some more focus in S3, but only to make googly eyes at the Pokemon, a role which frankly could’ve gone to literally anyone else and would have made no difference on the plot. I would say that Tails being involved in a romance story at all is weird, but given the comics and Boom the weirdest thing about this latest tragic love story for the kid is that the Pokemon was actually close to his own age, because outside of this it really does seem like Tails goes for older ladies. Though she did turn into an adult at the end so I guess that counts?

But Amy arguably got the worst of it. Not only was her crowning moment in SA2 taken away from her and given to Donut Steele, but the poor girl had her promising character arc cut short and replaced with an obsessive, unhealthy fixation on Sonic, combined with a violent temper and an eagerness to smash anything that displeased her, Sonic included, with a giant hammer. Her admiration and crush on Sonic were warped into her being a possessive, mean-spirited stalker, whom only got away with it because she was an anime girl and therefore it was cute rather than creepy.

I want to take the time at this point to stress that stalking is not okay, under any circumstances. A girl obsessively following an older guy and threatening him and everyone around him with violent assault if they ever so much as imply that he isn’t interested in her is not cute, it means it’s time for a restraining order. Sonamy is not cute.

Now that I’ve swatted that particular hornet’s nest with a cricket bat, let’s move on!

I’ve always found it ironic that, despite being the adaptation with the most oversight from SEGA and Sonic Team, and the most endorsement from them too, Sonic X had easily the worst characterisation of any of the shows at the time. But, for all its faults, I can’t blame everything that went down in the aftermath on it. It had a comrade-in-arms. Mediocrely-written arms.

Part 3: Partner in Crime, or “Sonic Heroes also ruins everything.”

Sonic Heroes has a lot to answer for. And I mean a lot. It was the beginning of the franchise’s obsession with references to the classic games, it codified the really awkward ages for certain characters, and it seemed to be dedicated to completely unpicking everything established in the Adventure duology.

Shadow’s sudden resurrection is one thing, at least they had the graces to include a means to preserve his sacrifice via having him be an android, the blame for that not taking should be laid at the feet of his own game.

But the rest of the cast? Ohhh boy. Sonic’s still fine, he didn’t change much in the Adventure games, but then there’s Tails. Despite all the development he went through in SA1, in this game he needs to turn to Sonic when Eggman returns, and honestly this whole setup could’ve been fixed if Tails sought Sonic out not for the sake of having him lead the charge, but rather simply to recruit him into the counterattack he was already planning. Nevertheless, throughout the rest of the game Tails is almost as wimpy as his X counterpart, not helped by the voicework he’s given. No offense to William Corkery, who was probably like six when he recorded his lines, but this what you get when you choose actors via nepotism, rather than talent. But at least he does something.

How about Knuckles? As the other side of his derailment, Knuckles just turns up in this game, buddy-buddy with the characters he was only just starting to warm up to before, and blatantly not caring about the Master Emerald until Rouge mentions she’s going to steal it at the end. This will combine with his becoming a dumbass in Sonic X and become basically his entire character for… ever. Even in Forces, where he’s supposed to be doing slightly better as the leader of the resistance… but he’s a dumbass, and even Ian Flynn, who kept Knuckles as competent and intelligent in the Archie comics (Making the best version of Knuckles we’ve had in forever), kept this ongoing in the IDW comic. The Forces prequel portrays him as deciding to become leader of the Resistance (To an empire that hasn’t actually formed yet) purely to be a glory hound, and then goes on to establish that he was basically a figurehead while the real work was done by Amy, of all people.

And speaking of Amy…

Yeah, poor Amy is basically her Sonic X counterpart. But worse. I didn’t think that was possible, but at least X’s Amy seems to care about her friends. In Heroes, we’re treated to an equally violent and stalkerish Amy, who ostensibly starts searching out Sonic because he’s implicated in the abduction of Cream and Big’s pets, but when they actually catch up to him, Amy clean forgets why she is looking for him in the first place and tries to force him to marry her. Despite being twelve.

Y’know when Amy said she wanted to marry Sonic in SA2, she was joking, right?

This is why I find the idea of Amy being the real leader of the Resistance frankly absurd: Because the only time she led anything, it was a team that consisted of herself, a small child, and a man less intelligent and aware of reality than said small child, and she completely forgot their actual objective the moment she set her eyes on Sonic. Add in an unfortunate stint of very poor eyesight that got less and less understandable with every instance, and we got Amy’s rough personality for the next decade.

While Knuckles mostly stagnated at the same level of stupidity during that time, Tails got worse and worse, losing all of his badass traits with every game, a factor only increased by the “Sonic only” mentality costing him playable status, until he reached his nadir in Forces, cowering in terror from Chaos 0, and crying out to Sonic to save him, despite knowing full-well that Sonic was captured already. Amy, meanwhile, limped along at the same level until about 2014, where it seemed someone at SEGA finally realised that A) Having the only female character you regularly use be a pink-coloured gender-bent version of your male hero whose only function is lusting after said hero doesn’t and shouldn’t fly in this day and age, and B) violent stalkers aren’t cute, and dropped this trait. Unfortunately, this has been more of a lateral move than a fix, as, much like Antoine in the comics, they forgot to give her anything substantial or fitting after she lost her negative traits, leaving her a bland and dull character, and when you’ve had a character be consistent for ten years, even if they were consistently bad, then changing it without cause or warning is still going to be jarring and awkward.

Part 4: Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right, or “Why the fuck did this happen?”

As I said in Part 2, Sonic X was made under heavy oversight from Sonic Team, and was heavily endorsed by them at the same time. There were promos for the show inserted into Sonic Adventure DX, a few episodes were released on GBA cartridges, and it received a long-running comic from Archie that ran alongside the main book, even after the show had ended. Additionally, characters that debuted in games from 2002-2004 were restricted from appearing in Archie’s main book for years afterwards (Which will become relevant later). The third season was commissioned solely off of the response to the first two, and primarily overseas response, hence why the original sub was never aired in Japan.

Sonic X was huge. And with that in mind, it’s plain to see that the portrayals of the characters in Sonic X were intended by SEGA. Yeah, all that horrible characterisation was intended as the vision for the franchise going forwards, and subsequent games were adjusted to match it.

And unfortunately, not only did this have a serious impact on the main cast of the games, but it had an even worse effect on Emerl.

Part 5: Emerl in Sonic X, or “Emerl vs. ‘Emel’”

Sonic X’s original mission statement was to adapt Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Battle. Why they skipped Sonic Heroes, despite Shadow being a major player in Battle’s story, I don’t know.

For whatever reason, the show took a full season to actually get to the first game adaptation, SA1, and instead spent the first 26 episodes on bland episodic “adventures”, in some kind of strange reverse-Isekai series. However, once it got there, the adaptation work was fairly faithful to the source material, which the exception of Donut Steele’s being crammed in to the plot. However, he mostly followed Big around, and since Big was the least involved in the game’s plot, he didn’t disrupt too much.

Sidenote, after 26 episodes of filler, the actual SA1 adaptation only lasted six episodes.

SA2 was likewise only six episodes, but with the exception of Amy’s big scene, it likewise wasn’t too bad. Tails suffered this time around too, which is somewhat surprising since he was mech-dependent in the anime anyway.

After some more filler, which introduced the Chaotix and then did nothing with them, Emerl finally made an appearance, albeit they got his name wrong.

‘Emel’ looks like Emerl, and somewhat works like Emerl, but might as well be completely different. ‘Emel’ stays completely mute for the entire time he’s around, never advancing much beyond Emerl’s initial silent, pre-first Emerald persona. He does get better at fighting, but he’s limited to only absorbing a single skill at once (Except for when he isn’t).

Dispensing with Battle’s interesting, rich, and heart-twisting plot, Sonic X instead has ‘Emel’ linger in ensemble for three episodes, before condensing the entire game’s premise into a two episodes of really bland tournament arc, where Sonic himself doesn’t actually fight and we get two rounds of Donut Steele being a dick to his friend and his father.

‘Emel’ wins the tournament, and is given a Chaos Emerald, and just when you think it might kickstart him becoming an actual character, instead it just drives him insane and he immediately becomes a pathetically weak version of Ultimate Emerl. After kicking the crap out of the entire cast, he is defeated by Cream and Cheese, because even though he can take on Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge at the same time and win, along with Tails, Amy, Donut Steele and everyone else, he… can’t handle two opponents at once.

This is stupid.

You’ll notice that I haven’t talked about Sonic’s relationship with ‘Emel’, and that’s because he doesn’t have one. The wonderfully-written parental bond that these two characters share in the games is completely excised, and instead the focus is put on Cream. Bare in mind, Cream is so inconsequential to the actual game that she doesn’t even get mentioned individually in Emerl’s dying speech like Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow do. Instead she’s just grouped in with Amy.

This is also stupid.

And as a result of this, it means that what is arguable base form Sonic’s most impressive feat just doesn’t happen in the anime, instead Emerl dies because he is lightly kicked a bit by Cream. Yeah, unlike the Advance games, Sonic X’s Cream is not an unstoppable engine of destruction, she’s basically just a small child who can sometimes fly.

Instead of Emerl’s tragic speech and Sonic’s desperate attempts to keep his son alive, we get treated to a prolonged scene of Cream crying over the death of her “friend”, something that is probably meant to tug at heartstrings but doesn’t because Cream’s voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

And Shadow isn’t even there! He doesn’t come back until a third of the way through Season 3, and never meets ‘Emel.’

This is really stupid. And, for those keeping track, that means of Sonic X’s originally commissioned 52 episodes, and the full series run of 78 episodes, a stunning total of seventeen of them were actually adaptations of the games that the series was supposed to focus on, leaving us with 61 episodes of what might as well be filler.

And, unfortunately, that franchise-wide initiative had damning consequences for Emerl.

Part 6: Gemerl and Sonic Advance 3, or: “An incomplete resurrection.”

So, Gemerl. I know his name is apparently G-Merl now but fuck that I’m calling him Gemerl. If the comics can do it then so will I.

Gemerl is the worst thing Eggman has ever done to Sonic. Like, there is no contest. Some of his other schemes might be more destructive and generally evil, but in terms of personal pain inflicted, nothing has topped this.

Eggman salvaged Emerl’s corpse, and brought him back to life as a mindless murderbot under his control. So not only did he kill Sonic’s robo-son, but he also brought him back as a weapon.

Come the conclusion of the game, Gemerl predictably betrays Eggman, steals the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic, and goes on another rampage. I have… headcanons about this fight, but that’s something to worry about later. What’s important is that, once again, Sonic is victorious, and Gemerl’s defeated body plunges into the atmosphere.

Fortunately, Tails is able to bring Emerl back properly this time, presumably using the Chaos shard that was left over at the end of Battle’s finale. So, it’s all a happy ending, right? Sonic has his child back, Shadow has his connection to his history restored, and Emerl is alive and well, right?

Wrong.

See, the vile spectre of Sonic X rears its ugly head once more, and sabotages this conclusion. Gemerl doesn’t return to Sonic, in fact we never see him reunite with his father. Instead, Sonic X’s version has enough clout now to take precedence, so Gemerl is now Cream’s playmate.

Bear in mind that Emerl’s idea of a fun game is all-out combat against his friends, and Cream doesn’t like fighting (Even if she’s really good at it in Advance 2 and 3).

And then he never shows up again. Even when Cream is part of the game’s plot, like in Rush or Generations, he’s not there, and most egregiously, in Sonic Chronicles, where Cream is not only an active player in the plot, but so are Gizoids, the creators of said Gizoids are the main antagonists, and Emerl himself is mentioned… Gemerl is not there.

But he did make it into the comics, for better or worse. Mostly worse.

Part 7: Embargos, knock-offs, and misused tropes, or: “Ian Flynn dun goofed.”

For a long while, Emerl/Gemerl was barred from the Archie comics, due to the Sonic X embargo, and when it was lifted, he didn’t appear until the reboot. We did, however, get a suspiciously similar substitute in the form of Shard.

Shard was the original Metal Sonic, but when he was brought back and rebuilt for the Secret Freedom arc, he was given a colour scheme ostensibly derived from Metal Sonic 3.0, but one shared with Gemerl, and a personality that was a lot like a watered-down version of Emerl’s own.

On some level I can understand Ian’s decision to bring back Metal Sonic v2.5, rather than use the character that seems to have been an inspiration for this new incarnation in some way. He’d need a fully-formed Emerl, necessitating a skip over the whole story, since there wasn’t room for an adaptation during the Mecha Sally arc that the Secret Freedom story was framed within. Heck, for all we know, the similarities between them may simply be a pretty sizeable coincidence.

But then the reboot happened and Gemerl finally joined the comic cast. And to say it was underwhelming would be an understatement.

You’ll notice that I said “Gemerl” rather than “Emerl”, because his entire story was indeed skipped. The events of Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3 had both happened already. This wasn’t Ian’s decision, as far as we know, his intention was for the comic to start over from the beginning. However, due to the interference of Paul Kaminski, who wanted a softer reboot, Ian was forced to fill the characters’ active histories with a large chunk of the games’ stories. Battle and Advance 3 were among those that had already happened, so Emerl made cameos in both incarnations via flashback… which unfortunately led to a plot hole.

See, Advance 3 and Sonic Unleashed are rather difficult to keep in the same continuity, because both share a common plot element: The world breaking into seven pieces.

For a long while, it was generally assumed that the handheld games and console titles were only semi-canon to each other. This avoided the awkward question of “If the Gaias were already there, why didn’t they emerge when Eggman broke the planet in Advance 3?”

Ian shoved them blatantly into the same continuity, and gave no attempt to explain what was different about the Advance 3 world-break compared to the Gaia incident, which served as the backbone to the reboot’s three year long Shattered World Arc. Why didn't the Gaias wake up during Advance 3? Because that's now a question we have to ask of the comics' world.

When Gemerl finally showed up doing something other than yard work for Vanilla (Despite allegedly being Cream’s friend, Cream spends all her time with the rest of the cast, and Gemerl is basically Vanilla’s maid), it was to get effortlessly dispatched by a brainwashed Mega Man with a terrible name in the extremely lacklustre Worlds Unite event.

This one was more than a little bit of a slap in the face, considering that Emerl and Mega Man are very similar in concept- robots that can copy the abilities of other characters- but Emerl is demonstrably more powerful. Now, if Ian had established that Gemerl had been nerfed when he was rebuilt, either by Eggman or by Tails, that would be fine. But he didn’t. In fact, Gemerl is given the title bubble “Super Gizoid”, implying that he’s stronger than a regular Gizoid.

Worlds Unite is generally pretty bad for having its corrupted heroes easily curbstomp every other character around, to the point that the only thing that can stop them is each other, but in Gemerl’s case it really serves no purpose.

This is the only thing that he actually does in Worlds Unite. He shows up to get beaten up and make Mega Man look stronger. That’s it.

This is something that TV Tropes refers to as “The Worf Effect”, a trope wherein an established powerful character is defeated easily by a new character, in order to demonstrate the latter’s power. Now, there’s nothing wrong with using this trope, but please note that I said establishedpowerful character, which Gemerl wasn’t.

At the point that this comic released, Gemerl’s last appearance in any Sonic media was over ten years prior. None of the comic’s intended target audience would remember him, and they wouldn’t know why defeating him was impressive. And this was, in addition, a terrible way to introduce him to new fans. Though the worst part is easily that this was unnecessary. Mega Man had already defeated everyone else, and had established his power pretty well just on them, and he was about to get removed from play permanently in the next issue. There was really no reason to throw Gemerl under the bus for this.

He made one more appearance in the event, getting controlled by the Zeti along with every other robot, and after that he got bopped on the head and just flew away.

Later, he’d make another appearance in the Panic in the Sky arc, and while his portrayal was far from the worst thing about Panic in the Sky, it only adds to the issues caused by the previous showing.

Gemerl makes one appearance, and promptly gets pinned down by the Witchcarters and Team Hooligan. Bear in that one of those groups are the joke villains who nobody takes seriously, and the other are a gang that was defeated by Tails before he met Sonic.

Archie Gemerl was a character who only existed to lose to villains in a vain attempt to make them look better, and that’s legitimately all Ian ever did with him, which makes me wonder whether he disliked the character. And it didn’t even make the villains look good, when you think about it. For anybody that was actually the intended audience for this book, Gemerl had no significance. He was just a robot that got beat up all the time. But for anyone like me, who does remember the games he appeared in, it stands out, not as good writing, but as a blatant narrative device and misused trope.

In this situation, I would simply rather Gemerl never appeared in Archie. At all. If Ian wasn’t going to give him time to shine, or at the very least be an adequate member of the supporting cast, he shouldn’t have used him at all.

Part 8: A Fresh False Start, or: “Wait, how did this get worse?!”

And now we arrive at IDW.

The one nice thing I can say about Archie Gemerl is that at least his personality was mostly on point. He read like a generally accurate take on the character that Emerl was at the end of Battle, which is what he’s supposed to be.

The same cannot be said for IDW.

In the pages of IDW, Gemerl acts like the most generic robot. He speaks in emotionless, stilted sentences with little in the way of actual grammar, leaving him to read like a poor man’s Soundwave, or Soundwave in one of those comics where the writer can’t decide whether they want him to speak normally or adopt his speech pattern from the G1 cartoon, so they just sort of do both.

Emerl pretty much never talked like this, as far as I can recall. His speech development is much more reminiscent of a child learning words, and the only time when he did adopt a more robotic speech pattern, it was a clue that he was slipping back into his destructive programming. He only spoke like a generic robot when he was in mindless destroyer mode.

He gets thrown for a loop by a simple logic flaw, unable to reconcile “Protect Cream and Vanilla” with “Don’t kill the zombots”, and has to be talked out of killing everything around him, when the entire point of Gerald’s modifications to the Gizoid was to make him a bringer of hope rather than destruction, and give him a compassionate heart.

The part of Battle’s story where Cream imparts a pacifistic mindset doesn’t frame her as being right. In that part of the game, they are cornered and under attack by hostile but ultimately mindless drones, and when she convinces Emerl to stop fighting, he almost dies. It’s Cream that learns the lesson there, that sometimes fighting is okay.

This character is already compassionate, he shouldn’t need to be talked into not killing the zombots by a small child, nor should he need her to point out that they’re innocent people who have been made this way by Eggman, because he was made into a killing machine by Eggman twice, and the first time he did die because of it. The character that lay dying in Sonic’s arms, scared and bidding his last goodbyes to his loved ones shouldn’t be the one experiencing this struggle when Omega is also in this arc.

That’s it, really. He’s not Gemerl. He’s a second, less goofy Omega. And it boggles my mind that, despite getting Gemerl’s character, if not his combat abilities, down almost perfectly in Archie, Ian is now subjecting us to this travesty.

Like with the Archie example above, therein lies the crux of why the steady decline of Emerl/Gemerl that began with Sonic X is pushing me away from IDW: I don’t want to read Ian’s take on this character, because, to me, No Gemerl is better than Badly-Written Gemerl,

This isn’t the first time I’ve said this, either. Way back in 2016, when I complained about Ian’s portrayal of Gemerl in Panic in the Sky, I said that the way he handled characters that I liked tended to make them the least likeable parts of the stories he wrote. As well as stating my dislike for his handling of Gemerl, I also stated that I used to really like Fiona Fox, moreso in concept than in execution, but under Ian’s pen she was largely an insufferable antagonist, little more than a trophy to make his pet recolour look better, and almost every story she was in only added to the “List of reasons she needs to stop lying to herself and just start the redemption arc already”. Additionally, I said that I didn’t want to see him bring back Neo Metal Sonic or Mephiles in any context, and we got the former, and it was exactly as bad as I thought it would be.

So, that’s basically why I don’t want to read IDW. That’s why, even if the aspect that was a big sticking point for me back when the comic launched was to be undone soon, I still probably wouldn’t pick it up. Because I don’t want to see my favourite Sonic character continue to be written badly by a guy that should know better, and has done better in the past.

If he were simply screwing up Gemerl’s personality the first time he wrote him, I would file it away under the same category as “Emel”, but the fact that he’s done better before, in a book where he had greater restrictions on what he could do with the characters, really settles this as an interest-killer for me.

Well done, Mr. Flynn. I legitimately didn’t think you could make me actually miss SEGA’s tighter control, but you somehow managed it. I would be impressed if it weren’t so sad.

#Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic X #IDW Sonic #Archie Sonic #Emerl #Gemerl #Emerl the Gizoid #Gemerl the Gizoid #Critical #Sonic Heroes

13 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 5 years

Text

House of X and Powers of X: Key X-Men Comics to Read

https://ift.tt/306iu50

We picked out some key books from Marvel's history to help you understand the big X-Men reboot.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

House of X and Powers of X have done the unthinkable: they’ve made having an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel X-Men continuity minutiae an asset. Now I have a reason to talk about Xorn’s brother Xorn who was posing as Magneto pretending to be Xorn OTHER than to make someone go away.

This is, of course, a joke. HoX/PoX is remarkably accessible for anyone with any level of background knowledge of the X-Men, from “I like Hugh Jackman” to “remember the time the Sentinels tried to kill the sun because it was causing mutations?” But there is certainly a lot in here that rewards deeper knowledge. And to help you understand it all, we put together a reading list that might help you see the throughlines from Marvel Comics history that help create the comics sensation revitalizing the X-Men books.

For this reading guide, we’re not only going to tell you what’s good and why we like it. We’re also going to try and piece together how it fits into what Jonathan Hickman and crew are doing in today’s series. Because of that, we’re slapping a big ol’ SPOILER WARNING here: proceeding beyond this point risks spoiling big twists from the first half of the HoX/PoX epic.

FOR GENERAL BACKGROUND: X-Men: Grand Design

Ed Piskor is the indie comix guy who, prior to this book, was best known for a webcomic-turned-prestige-series, Hip-Hop Family Tree, which told the story of the origins of the biggest genre in music (it’s fantastic, by the way). His acclaim for that book, where he would quite frequently homage superhero covers, eventually garnered enough attention from Marvel for them to take a risk on him. In a fit of uncharacteristic ambition, they allowed Piskor to rework thirty years and 300 issues of X-Men or X-adjacent comics into one miniseries. The result is absolutely stunning.

There are retcons involved, but Piskor manages to turn several eras of comics history into one coherent narrative. Retcons become plot points, characters move rationally instead of for post-hoc rationales and slow-burn payoffs are seeded even earlier. It’s all done with a distinctly underground style, which is refreshing and appropriate, since this is the era when the X-Men became counterculture iconography.

In other words, if you need the best X-Men comics history lesson imaginable, this is the book for you.

Pay close attention to: Anything with Moira Mactaggert. The revelation in House of X #2 that current Marvel continuity was the tenth time Moira had been resurrected and that she had been planning for six lives to protect the mutant race casts literally the entirety of X-Men history in a new light. So now any interaction with the Professor or his students, like, say, when she was watching Jean Grey become the Phoenix on Muir Island, has potentially new meaning. Grand Design is particularly valuable here because Piskor started before the planning for Hickman’s relaunch did, so you are reading source material that the rebooter himself was probably working off of.

read more - The Best Episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series

You may also like: For tone and craft, X-Men: Grand Design is unique. Despite countless reboots and cleanups attempted in the almost 50 years the X-Men have been published, nothing to my knowledge has been this comprehensive or accessible. However, if you like the characters and the idea of a modernized, streamlined origin-esque story, Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz’s mid-aughts series, X-Men First Class, which tells new stories with the original team of X-Men, is worth checking out. It’s a lot of fun, certainly a lot more fun than reading the original Silver Age issues themselves.

start with the first volume of X-Men: Grand Design here.

TO UNDERSTAND THE BIG THEMES: Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye

No, I’m not kidding. I am absolutely recommending an alternate universe Hawkeye miniseries in an article about X-Men comics.

On his way to destroying it, Jonathan Hickman was given space to play around with the Ultimate Universe, and he used it, writing a Thor miniseries and relaunching the Ultimates. Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye was the third prong of his overall story and it focused on a fictional country - the Southeast Asian Republic - as Hawkeye and a team of SHIELD agents arrive on site to deal with a civil war. We quickly find out that SEAR scientists have created a virus to eliminate the X-gene, and a serum that gives their own people a virus-resistant mutation. A “paradigm shift,” as one of the SEAR officials calls it.

That government unleashes both prongs of the plan and promptly loses control of the situation, setting up SEAR as a mutant haven for people taking their serum and thus one of the three prongs of a global conflict that plays out in Ultimate Comics: Ultimates.

Pay close attention to: The Xorns. Not because they’re anything like the ones who have shown up in HoX/PoX - the ones in House of X have only thus far been glimpsed, and the millennial nihilist icon from Powers of X is a corpse in an alternate timeline (probably).

read more - Pryde of the X-Men: The Animated Series We Almost Got

No, we’re watching the Xorns in Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye because the idea of mutants as resources in a geopolitical struggle seems central to the conflict playing out between the Krakoan mutants and the humans in the X^1 timeline of today’s series. With all the talk of omega mutants and alignments, you should be able to get a very good sense of what is to come in the mutant conflict by reading this.

You may also like: Ultimate Comics: Ultimates, Hickman and eventual Secret Wars collaborator Esad Ribic’s story of what else is going on in the world while SEAR blows up. That story is mainly concerned with SHIELD being woefully outgunned by the mutants on one side, and evil Reed Richards’ Asgard- and Europe- destroying hyper evolved Children. It’s really good.

read Ultimate Comics Hawkeye here.

FOR A SENSE OF THE TONE: “Days of Future Past”

“Days of Future Past” is right smack in the middle of what Piskor covers in Grand Design. So why read it separately? Because I strongly suspect this is the foundational text of what Hickman is trying to do with his story.

This is one of the all-time classic X-Men stories by maybe the most well liked team in the franchise’s history. In the far future of 2013, Sentinels have taken control of the US and are on their way to taking over the world, because they see human existence as the flaw causing mutation that they are programmed to wipe out. So they kill most of the heroes and round up the remaining ones into camps. Wolverine, Rachel Summers (in her first appearance), Katherine Pryde (not long after her debut), Colossus, Storm and Magneto all team up so Rachel can send Kitty’s consciousness back in time, take over her younger body and prevent the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (led by Mystique and Destiny) from killing Senator Robert Kelly, sending the future spiralling towards extinction.

These two issues function as an effective preview of the conflict that HoX/PoX explores. Humans are irrationally afraid of Mutants, who alternate between trying to be left alone and trying to dominate their progenitors. Meanwhile, the robots say “you both suck” and (presumably before falling into the sun in the case of Mothermold) just start killing.

read more: X-Men Movies Watch Order

Furthermore, “Days of Future Past” is precisely the kind of dystopia that PoX is pushing. The X^2 future has lot of Age of Apocalypse trappings, but its central conflict is between mutants trying desperately to survive and robots who hate everything biological trying to destroy everyone. Surprisingly, though Nimrod is closely associated with this dark future, he doesn’t actually appear in these issues. He comes back in time about 50 issues later, from that future but not seen in it.

Pay close attention to: The mood and milieu of this story are the important factors, but it’s also probably worth keeping an eye on Destiny and Moira Mactaggart here. The mutant precog had one very...pointed...run in with Groundhog Lady in her third life, and they come very close to each other here. This may be fertile territory for a retcon.

You may also like: Uncanny X-Men #208-209. This is Nimrod’s big battle with the X-Men and the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, as Rachel Summers lays dying in Central Park. It’s nowhere near the bleak, oppressive tone that “Days of Future Past” has, but you get some sense here of the sheer power that Nimrod has at his disposal. Also, he’s clearly insane, and as far as things you want from your robots, insanity is not high on the list.

read Days of Future Past here.

TO UNDERSTAND THE MAIN VILLAIN: “The Phalanx Covenant”

The X-Men crossover that introduced Generation X, the second wave of mutant students after the New Mutants/X-Force, also seems surprisingly important. Originally presented as an offshoot of the techno-organic space mutant Warlock’s race, the Phalanx are half Borg, half grey goo nightmare. In this story, they invade Earth to assimilate and destroy it, but find that they can’t assimilate mutants, so they start trying to figure out why by kidnapping the X-Men and a group of teens identified as potential students. They fail, of course, but not before planting phalanx eggs around the planet and killing off a character who became inexplicably popular a year and a half later (Blink, who existed in the 616 for a grand total of 20 minutes before dying. She’s great, but I don’t get why she endured and not someone like Synch).

read more: The Many Different Versions of the X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga

The Phalanx are the hive galaxy in the X^3 future being called down by the Librarian to assimilate humanity, and it looks like (at least in whatever life of Moira’s this is), they’re finally successful.

Pay close attention to: Husk and M. I went back and forth on whether to prioritize this or the other comics you might like, trying to figure out which is more important to the narrative, and what sold me on The Phalanx Covenant is the fact that Husk and M are part of the X-Men strike force attacking Mothermold in space in House of X. They’re also two of the more plot-relevant members of Generation X during this crossover - Monet is the one who finally breaks them out of captivity, and Husk’s powers are revealed because one shell is infected with TO virus. That doesn’t feel like a coincidence.

You may also like: Annihilation: Conquest. This is the second mid-aughts Marvel Space crossover, the first helmed by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning exclusively, and the one that launched this line of books into what would eventually give us the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. The galaxy is reeling from the events of Annihilation, and as it recovers, the Phalanx take over Hala and the remains of the Kree empire. This series is good, pure Marvel Space fun. It’s the exact moment where I fell in love with this line of books. It’s also very thorough in laying out the mythology and rules of the Phalanx.

read The Phalanx Covenant here.

TO TAKE A WILD GUESS ON WHAT IS YET TO COME: “The Dark Angel Saga”

This run on Uncanny X-Force, ostensibly a side book full of stabby mutants (and Deathlok) brought together first as Cyclops’ wetworks squad, then held together by Angel’s money, is without a doubt the best X-Men comic of the last 15 years. It’s also brimming with Apocalypse lore, which feels like one of a couple things left deliberately unstated by the events of HoX/PoX.

The gang finds an Akkaba enclave in the desert, discovering that they’ve resurrected Apocalypse and are training the now six year old kid to be the evolutionary destroyer they believe he’s destined to become. So Fantomex shoots the kid in the head.

read more: The X-Men Movies You Never Saw

What follows is an extended superhero musing on nature vs. nurture, while at the same time the Death Seed Apocalypse planted in Angel’s back to turn him into Archangel takes over Warren’s mind, turning him into the new Apocalypse. The story goes through all the reasons for it and has Warren reassemble his horsemen. It functions essentially as a deep dive into the reasons for Apocalypse’s ascension and the role that he plays in the galactic ecosystem of the Marvel Universe.

That’s noticeably missing from Apocalypse’s scenes in the new series.

Pay close attention to: The Celestial stuff. Apocalypse in Powers of X was a heroic figure, leading a suicide mission against Nimrod and the robots to get Moira information on Nimrod’s emergence so she could stop it in life 10. There’s no mention of the role he was originally created for, one that exists separate from the Moira cycle because it started thousands of years before she was born: to guide evolution on Earth so the Celestials don’t return and destroy it. How that plays into the man-mutant-machine war seems like a clear fit, but also completely unmentioned.

You may also like: Uncanny X-Men vol. 2 #14-17. Even though it takes place during the utterly dreadful A vs. X, Kieron Gillen’s Mr. Sinister story is the definitive recent take on the master genetic manipulator, and he’s DEFINITELY coming.

read The Dark Angel Saga here.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Feature Jim Dandy

Sep 10, 2019

Marvel

X-Men

Jonathan Hickman

from Books https://ift.tt/2ZPW4sO

#aion-rsa #Books

3 notes · View notes

lydiaandarry · 5 years

Text

{The Murder of Alternative Character Design}

Hello there!

My name is Arabella, but you can call me Arry if easier. You may be looking at the title and feeling a bit confused by it. “The Murder of Alternative Character Design” may be quite a confusing title and leave others wondering what the hell it even means. But that is why I am here to spread awareness about this horrible phenomenon that is going on in recent pop culture. Especially with superheroes. ‘Alternative Character Design’ to me is when a character (usually a superhero) looks different from the traditional standard of the type of character they represent. I can name quite a couple of alternatively dressed superheroes who get made into more traditional wear or boring wear in their live-action debut. So let’s invade the topic!

(The poor costume design recently...)

I don’t know if you have noticed but the quality of costume design and the importance of comic accuracy has lowered in demand. It seems now like live-action adaptations of a comic book character just throw whatever they can to seem “different” or “out there”. Yet it murders the costume design to begin with. Recently in “Birds of Prey”, one of my favorite DC female characters ‘Black Canary’ has had her main outfit leaked on set. And there are no fishnets to be seen or a bodysuit or anything that represents the character in the comics. I personally love Black Canary for that reason with how different she looks and how she isn’t afraid to wear leather, fishnets and reveal skin, things that could be seen as hooker-ish. She rocks and makes it look stylish and badass. Yet in Birds of Prey, it seems like they went for a more ‘preppy’ approach where nothing about her screams ‘Black Canary’ but perhaps the colors. Even then, black and yellow in DC and especially to non-comic book readers just screams Batman. Netflix recently released a show called “The Umbrella Academy” and I don’t really know much about the comics except that it was created by My Chemical Romance babe Gerard Way who I grew up listening to his music. Even after they broke up. It saddened me to see the complete difference from the comics to the actual live-action adaptation. The art is nearly killed with the inaccuracy as Allison Hargreeves doesn’t have her awesome purple-blue hair. Klaus didn't have his awesome skull shirt, ouija pendant necklace and signature bright orange hair. Diego’s long, blond hair is completely disregarded despite the lack of longer hair on dudes in superhero shows. All of this is disregarded for a more preppy, modern and “up to date” look that kills the character design that made the comics look so different in the first place. And it’s Gerard Way’s creation for crying out loud! He was part of an alternative group! They didn't look nearly as normal as the people in the show look. Even Klaus looks normal compared to how these people used to look. It’s changed for diversity and relatability to other characters but where’s my representation? Where’s my second personality’s representation? And this isn’t just on DC’s end. Marvel does this as well with my favorite X-Men character, Kurt Wagner, a.k.a Nightcrawler. Who seriously wore a Thriller jacket in X-Men Apocalypse. It was the worse outfit I have ever seen on Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler in the comics is basically Gothic. He wears dark clothes, looks kind of scary to the point where people fear him on a daily basis, and has hints of red here and there. The usage of color in Kurt’s design is usually creative and done justice. Now I could understand if they were going for a more X-Men Evolution Kurt but even then, the outfit was better and Kurt is rarely seen as blue in that outfit because when he is blue, it is shown to hardly work with being blue.The colors don’t go well with his skin. Also, his personality is a lot different to X-Men Apocalypse’s but we are talking about character design not writing. And can someone please show Legion FX how to dress punk people? Don’t say David Haller is punk when you hardly dress him as punk.

(Why is this an issue?)

So, why is this an issue? You may ask me when reading this post. They’re characters, Arry. They aren’t always going to be comic-book accurate. Why are you so upset over all of this? As an artist, to me, character design and clothing choices is just as important as personality. Appearance is the first thing you see of anyone and it can say a lot. You express yourself through your appearance more than you think. When creating a character, I always make sure that I have the character design down pack. It’s my favorite thing to do. I am not against preppier clothing or modernizing things. I understand that this is something that has to be taken into consideration when taking a character and placing them in live-action. There are some things that are too difficult to carry over. But why make a live-action adaptation of something if you are not going to use the version that everyone who reads the comics is familiar with? What’s wrong with having abnormally colored hair? I get that diversity is a hot topic right now and it’s amazing that everyone is getting representation in one way or another. But diversity goes deeper than just skin tone. I have never seen a true alternative like character outside of cartoons that was done right. And I have tons of favorite goth girls in cartoons (Gwen & Crimson from Total Drama, Sam Manson from Danny Phantom, Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Triana Orpheus from Venture Bros, Jinx & Raven from Teen Titans, The Hex Girls from Scooby Doo, Rogue from X-Men Evolution, Joan of Arc from Clone High, Marceline from Adventure Time, Marie from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.) the list goes on. These aren’t characters you see in live-action though. These aren’t female characters that are even considered in live-action or even superheroes for that matter. And comic books are incredible for the reason that you don’t have to conform to normality. You can make any character you want. That’s why we have such unique characters in comic books and even in cartoons. Justice Friends has a colorful witch named Miss Spell and Valhallen is a metalhead. This is one of the many reasons why Neil Gaiman has been picky and harsh over making his Sandman comics into live-action because Sandman features so many subgenres of styles. Goth and punk, mostly. These characters aren’t represented in live-action adaptations. They are forgotten about or normalized. Kurt Wagner is a background character and they still couldn’t dress him how he is in the comics. The Umbrella Academy normalized its characters a lot in clothing choices. And it’s sad. There are people who dress like this and should be able to see themselves in at least one superhero. Kurt Wagner teaches us that not all goths are gloomy and depressed or dangerous. He’s a goth with a pure soul and good heart. Sandman comics make Death and Dream and Delirium seem normal, like they don’t have to change to be liked or good-hearted. They are who they are. The Umbrella Academy basically showed that you could wear abnormal costumes, have colored hair, have longer hair for a dude and still be an awesome superhero. X-Men has tons of abnormally colored hair characters that rarely make it onto the big screen, they are usually brought to small screen like Blink and Polaris in The Gifted. And in Legion FX, the most evil and villainous character is a punk. David Haller is not a good person on Legion nor can he be considered an anti-hero anymore. He is a despicable being with a god complex. Punks already get the bad rep of being dangerous, angry, and mean-spirited. Do we really need a character in mainstream media to be punk while also had killed multiple people and raped his girlfriend? That’s not progressive, that’s moving backwards. Superboy doesn’t even have his leather jacket, leather gloves and black circle sunglasses anymore with his undercut. He’s just narrowed down to a tee shirt and jeans most of the time.

(How can we change this issue?)

I am not exactly sure. I know it seems kind of lame to like… bring up an issue and then not offer a solution. I feel like the best way to fix this problem is to hopefully notify costume designers that the world is in need of different styles. Their designs are not “out there” or “different”, as the comic book characters designs were already out there and they completely changed them. I am a huge judge when it comes to costume and character designs in live-action adaptations and I may make a post on why that is. I feel like we need to open our eyes to newer looks. To give some representation to those who dress differently from others. The issues that I brought up are already done and over with. Bad representation for punks as evil and villainous. The Umbrella Academy normalized every character, even Klaus. And hopefully Marvel can give us the Nightcrawler that we deserve as Fox no longer has the rights. All we can do is hope that this comic inaccuracy is a pasting phase and that creators will soon give the outcasts a voice and a chance for better representation. To stop being the villains or bad guys.

This was a short rant that I felt had to be done and I had to explain some issues. I hope you enjoyed my post and agree with some points that I made. If you have any questions on the matter, feel free to message me. If you like this post and want to see more like this, feel free to follow our Tumblr! And if you liked the post, feel free to reblog and like. I post every Wednesday and Saturday! I will see you on Wednesday. Peace out!

#character design #characters #cartoon characters #dc comics #marvel comics #x-men #rant #the umbrella academy #birds of prey #black canary #superboy #nightcrawler #kurt wagner #alternative #alternative fashion #post #my opinion #my post

20 notes · View notes

animesavior · 5 years

Photo

"What the hell am I doing? I’ll tell you. I'm here, and in the moment I've lived for."

- Joe, Megalo Box (ep. 13)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 23-24, 2019. Megalobox ends its run with a bang as Joe and Yuri have their highly anticipated rematch at the Megalonia finals. Meanwhile, the League of Villains begin their surprise assault at the UA’s hidden campsite, Asuna learns about the Soul Translator and the Underworld as Kirito recovers from his injuries, and Meruem wishes to spend his last moments with Komugi, among other great moments.

On Twitter, Boruto and every show from Sword Art Online to Shippuden on the schedule would successfully trend in the US. #MyHeroAcademia and #SwordArtOnlineAlicization would also trend alongside these shows, but not outright.

Several character trends were also spotted from JoJo’s, Black Clover, and Hunter x Hunter, with Josuke and Rohan (As Josuke somehow cheats his way into winning a dice game), Asta (as Ladros gets back up and proceeds to pummel everyone, forcing Asta to unlock a hidden power), and Meruem (as he spends his last moments with Komugi before both succumbing to the radiation).

On Tumblr, #Toonami would trend alongside #BNHA and #Hunter x Hunter. The full list including statistics and tweet counts from the twitter app and Amr Rahmy’s Fan Screening analytics app can be seen below.

This week's feature was an inspirational speech promo titled "Stay True To Yourself". You can check it out below.

youtube

Following the success of My Hero Academia: The Two Heroes in theaters, Studio Bones and Toho Animation have announced that a second film of the hit franchise is in the works, scheduled to premiere sometime in Winter 2020. Funimation has yet to reveal plans for a theatrical release this side of the Pacific at this time.

Netflix has announced that they will be putting up the original Evangelion series up on their streaming service on June 21. Unfortunately, it has been revealed that Netflix will be doing a completely new re-dub with a new cast as Amanda Win-Lee, the show’s original ADR Director and voice of Rei, has revealed that she and the original crew will not be invited back by Netflix to reprise their roles.

Toonami creators Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin recently talked with our friend and media partner Joshua Mathieu (@jmb70056) from Toonami Squad, including how Toonami will remain competitive in this golden age of streaming, its new partnership with Crunchyroll, and the 30th anniversary of DBZ, among other things. Check it out by clicking here.

Sports anime has historically been a tough sell for the Western anime fandom. During the mid-2000’s, Toonami saw IGPX and the Prince of Tennis stumbling and Slam Dunk and Eyeshield 21 ended up pretty much DOA. While the sports genre of anime has seen a resurgence this decade thanks to the likes of Free, Yuri on Ice, and Haikyu, due to the previously mentioned shows’ focusing more on the slice of life aspects rather than the action, it perhaps came as no surprise that Toonami wasn’t really interested, and thus a sports anime joining the better cartoon show in the modern era remained elusive. That was, until Megalo Box came.

A show created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ashita no Joe, this futuristic reinvisioning of the classic manga and anime in Megalo Box was a notable hit and fan favorite among Crunchyroll viewers during the spring 2018 season with its acclaimed music, animation, and story among other things. The series would become one of the most requested anime to eventually air on Toonami, especially when Viz announced that they had licensed and were producing a dub at Anime Expo, and I think it’s safe to say the requests were heard loud and clear by Toonami and Viz. During New York Comic Con, Viz had announced that Megalo Box would make its debut on the better cartoon show on December 8, and the rest is history.

13 weeks of Joe’s quest to reach the top, and Megalo Box’s run is in the books. During the show’s run, the show successfully trended on Twitter in the US every single Saturday it had aired during its 13 week run, and included a character trend in Mikio during week 9. The show also showed up in the top 30 Amr Rahmy’s Fan Screening app during all 13 weeks.

Whether we will see more of Joe’s story in the future is hard to say, but overall Megalo Box overall was an enjoyable ride and it was great to see Toonami commemorate the golden anniversary of this historic franchise. Thanks for the memories.

Due to the glitch that preempted SAO last week, and with the next acquisition apparently not ready to go just yet, SAO will premiere both Episodes 7 and 8 from 12:30 to 1:30am ET. In addition, we’ll also see the conclusion of Hunter x Hunter’s Chimera Ant arc, while Boruto begins the School Trip arc, and Naruto begins The Taming of Nine-Tails and Fateful Encounters arc, among other moments. Until then, see you again next week as always.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#5]

#Boruto [#15]

#MyHeroAcademia [Trended alongside #Toonami and #MegaloBox]

#SwordArtOnline [#9]

#SwordArtOnlineAlicization [Trended alongside #SwordArtOnline]

#MegaloBox [#6]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#6]

Josuke (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [#19]

Rohan (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [#14]

#BlackClover [#5]

Asta (From Black Clover) [#17]

#HunterXHunter [#2]

Meruem (From Hunter x Hunter) [Trended alongside #HunterXHunter]

#Shippuden [#9]

Tweet Counts:

#Toonami [6,115 tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [3,202 tweets]

#Boruto [3,823 tweets]

#SwordArtOnline [2,325 tweets]

#MegaloBox [2,212 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [3,908 tweets]

Josuke (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [2,720 tweets]

Rohan (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) [3,792 tweets]

#BlackClover [1,438 tweets]

Asta (From Black Clover) [5,159 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,885 tweets]

Fan Screening Counts:

#DragonBallSuper [#7 with 2803 tweets]

#Boruto [#5 with 4910 tweets]

#MyHeroAcademia [#7 with 2851 tweets]

#SwordArtOnline [#10 with 1836 tweets]

#MegaloBox [#11 with 2386 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#7 with 2931 tweets]

#BlackClover [#21 with 1134 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [#9 with 3018 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#Toonami

#BNHA

#Hunter X Hunter

Notes and Other Statistics:

#swordartonlinealicization: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#MegaloBox: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @KaijiTang started the trend in the US.

#BlackClover: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @shonenjump started the trend in the US.

#AttackOnTitan: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @GoodSmile_US started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @blanco-journey, @coreymbarnes , @sdurso5 and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Goodnight. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

4 notes · View notes

knifeonmars · 4 years

Text

Capsule Reviews - Secret Wars Edition

Comixology recently had a sale on items related to their Secret Wars event from a few years back, and I decided to revisit some of the miniseries. I have to admit to a general fondness for Secret Wars and its various tie-ins, because they gave us a lot of series and ideas which just wouldn't have a place in the perpetual here and now of Marvel's normal line-up. Here's what I thought of some of them.

Armor Wars

It's a latter day James Robinson book, so for me, there's kind of a cap on how good it could possibly be, but it manages to be at least that good. The premise of the mini sees an entire city dominated by brothers Tony and Arno Stark, who create the suits of armor keeping the city's plague-afflicted citizens alive. James Rhodes, here the local Thor, because in Battleworld Thors are basically the Green Lantern Corps, but working for a godlike Doctor Doom, is investigating a conspiracy which has resulted in the death of Spyder-Man, the local version of Spider-Man. The story's twists and turns play out pretty much exactly how you might guess, and the story's greatest sin is that it just never manages to get beyond a pretty potboiler "mystery" story. There's also a kind of inexplicable decision to focus on the two least interesting characters in the book, and of the characters in the series, they're the only two with more than a page's worth of characterization who don't die by the end. The art and designs by Marcio Takara are great, and he's a perfect choice for the series, but ultimately, Armor Wars is mostly an art showcase.

Ghost Racers

I love Robbie Reyes. Great design, neat gimmick differentiating him from previous Ghost Riders. Here's the thing about Robbie Reyes though; he's a thin character. Or at least, he was under the pen of creator Felipe Smith. Ghost Racers suffers from the same problems that Robbie Reyes debut series did, which is that art and designs are unparalleled (indeed seeing Felipe Smith and Juan Gedeon run wild with new looks for the classic Ghost Riders is the best part of the series) but the story is painfully stilted and chained to a hero with basically no personality. Robbie Reyes is nice and loves his brother Gabe, who is ambiguously disabled in a way that always feels like it’s just on the very of becoming outright ableist and who inevitably gets taken hostage. The writing is bad, unambiguously. It's weirdly dated, no one aside from the hero receives any real characterization (and what he receives is again, painfully thin), the potentially interesting mythology of the series isn't explored, and it ends with a meaningless call for rebellion or further adventure. A lot of the Battleworld books do this and I understand the impulse, but given that almost none of them had any bearing on the main Secret Wars series, it feels weirdly meaningless.

E is for Extinction

An odd duck, essentially a divergent take on Grant Morrison's X-Men circa just before his final couple of arcs. It, understandably, doesn't quite live up to the standard set by Grant Morrison's own writing but it is very fun. The ending is a tiny bit underwhelming but the art and the mood, while not for everyone, is quite charming, and the way it loops in the Battleworld conceit is great. I don't think it's one of the more provocative or interesting minis, but for anyone who enjoyed Morrison's X-Men or, say, X-Statix, they might find something to like here.

Runaways

Easily mini I was mostly looking forward to reading here. Here's a question: This is a 2015 miniseries written by Noelle Stevenson, now an acclaimed showrunner for her work on the Netflix She-Ra series, written right when she was exploding and becoming a breakout talent after years cultivating a style and audience on Tumblr and through her webcomic Nimona. How the hell did Marvel Comics not lock her down as a writer after this? It's insane that a talent like that slipped through their fingers. Anyway, the actual series is solid. Sanford Greene's art is great, Stevenson's writing is great and embraces the often implicit queerness that the mainstream Marvel Universe never really lets thrive. The story isn't exactly surprising as a standard YA dystopian yarn, but the character beats all work, and it's easy to get swept up in. It's kind of a shame that this, like many of the better Battleworld minis, is essentially forgotten, because this could easily have had a second life for non-traditional comic book readers in bookstores.

Siege

Kieron Gillen's farewell to Marvel Comics, with Filipe Andrade on art, it's most of what you could ask for from the project. The ideas for a mile a minute, the Battleworld conceit is taken full advantage of to create full skewed and not-so-skewed versions of classic characters, like a legion of cloned Cylcops or a version of Magik who is explicitly rather than implicitly queer. It's about a hopeless fight, so it's not exactly an uplifting story, but its sweet and cathartic, and by the final pages it becomes obvious that the whole thing is a metaphor for Gillen's work-for-hire career. It's also got a great Thing moment and ties into the central Secret Wars series more directly than most, so it makes my shortlist of recommendations.

Weird World

Set in a segment of Battleworld which would later be integrated, if only for a sadly short time, into the Marvel U proper, Weird World has Jason Aaron at his absolute most Jason Aaron, with tough warrior men monologuing about how sad they are and also how much ass they're going to kick, cartoonishly evil villains whose lackeys really need to unionize, and Mike Del Mundo absolutely crushing it with some all-time greatest Marvel artwork. Easily worth reading for the art alone, and the deranged, schoolwork doodles take on swords and sandals action delivers on every front. Unlike many of the other Battleworld minis, Weird World actiually ties directly into its post-Secret Wars sequel which means the ending is unfortunately truncated, but it's still a very fun book.

#capsule reviews #words

1 note · View note

thecorteztwins · 6 years

Note

Beyond obscure 90s villains or heroes, which other Marvel character you'd consider RPing as?

Ooooh, I absolutely love this question! That’s why it took me a little while to answer, I wanted to think of everybody I could :)

Madelyne Pryor - Maddy originates in the 80s but was also present in the 90s and has been around in current stuff as well. She’s one of my oldest favorites too; I’ve been a fan of her since middle school because I just felt so incredibly bad for her. But she’s more than an object of pity, she’s a strong and complex character in her own right who has consistently evolved through the years (though not for the better) She would be a lot of work to write, I think, because she is so complex, and I’d have to work hard at balancing her tragedy with her villainy. That’s always a hard note to hit, and I’m very biased towards her so I’d have to watch myself a lot. Another thing I would need to do is read her pre-Inferno stuff, from before she became retconned as Jean’s clone and transformed into the Goblyn Queen. I’ve read Inferno, I’ve read most of her 90s and present stories, but the only stuff of her good guy days that I’ve read are Fall of the Mutants and the Alpha Flight special where she becomes Anodyne. And like, she spent SIX YEARS with the X-Men, so that’s a lot of stories, and I feel like knowing those stories, knowing who she was, is important to truly forming a whole picture of who she is now. Maximus “the Mad” Boltagon - The major villain of the Inhumans, and just my type! He’s cowardly, egotistical, hilarious, and frequently pretty creepy. That’s exactly my type. But he’s more sympathetic than Fabian, and more competent than Shinobi, so that will take a bit of extra work, as will balancing a sensitive non-ableist portrayal of mental illness with the fact that he *is* both evil and laughable ( I’m in luck here, because canonically he’s not evil and comedic because he’s crazy; he was actually already a dick before he went insane) The fact he never shows sexual/romantic attraction to anyone save Medusa (and that might be just because he conflates having her with having the throne) also saves me from the issue of shipping, as I’m not much of a shipper or smutter at all and that gives me difficulty with characters who are canonically very sexual (such as Shinobi) I am bad at writing interpersonal dynamics in general, a big weakness in RP, so I would likely also have a very difficult time writing his dynamics with other Inhumans RPers. Plus I would need to read so many more of his issues! But he’s still a very appealing character to me, I take a lot of delight in reading his stuff, and I believe I could write him okay (if not well) if I read enough of his issues and that I would have fun with it!Lifeguard aka Heather Cameron - She debuted and joined the X-Men in the early 2000s during Claremont’s X-treme X-Men run, but fell into total obscurity when it was canceled. Claremont clearly had big plans for her, but no other writer was ever interested in picking her up. I like her look, and since she was still with the X-Men when last heard of, I would dig bring her back and adding on to her. Plus, playing a good guy would let me interact with heroes easier! But I also don’t really have a solid idea at all of who I’d want her to be...Generation-X era Monet St. Croix aka “M” - I love snobs, I love ice queens, I love alpha bitches. Generation X Monet is my jam. I haven’t really followed where she’s been since, but I’m not a huge fan of the developments I’m aware of. Like, her being a massive snob isn’t that fun at all if it turns out it’s a front she just puts on to cover being suicidally depressed? That is NOT my jam. I want original “Miss Perfect” Monet who just knows she’s better than you. The main obstacle would be that she’s not comedic egocentrism like Fabian and Maximus, she has to be written with an elegant razor wit like Emma Frost, and I’m really bad at that. Gaea - Look, I’m crazy about mother goddess figures (a trait I gave to my version of Fabian >.>) and I’ve read roughly half of her appearances (working to read them all). I also feel she has a more human-like mindset than other Elder Gods, and that would make her easier for me to write than, say, her siblings Cthon and Set. She’s someone you could have a conversation with. But, why would she have a conversation? Why would a being of such power just turn up to talk with people? She doesn’t in the comics. Finding reasons for interactions would be hard. Then again, she’s an Elder God, so she can probably just do what she wants, amirite? On the one hand, I may already have enough mother-figure muse going on with Haven, but on the other hand Gaea is a lot more ruthless and uncaring in her own way, being a personification of nature, evolution, etc. She’s not really interested in human beings or their problems as individuals like Haven is, she’s interested in the progression of life as a whole. There are also lots of randos I sometimes think about making a multi-muse blog for or something, just whoever I’ve gotten recently obsessed with. For instance, I feel like Eques would be a good bet in terms of attracting partners? I haven’t been able to read his issue yet but I really want to because HE’S A FLYING CENTAUR and I feel like interactions would come a lot easier with him---he’s not a hero or villain, he’s just a civilian who falls on the “pretty good” side of things, and he’s an attractive male. I think people would totally gravitate towards that, and there’s lots of room to do stuff with his personality since he’s a one-issue wonder. I’d probably be a nerd and base a lot of him on actual horse behavior and traits ascribed to the Sagittarius (centaur) zodiac sign. But I think a lot of people would also want to ship with him too, and I’m just...not into that. And again, I still need to read his actual appearance and see if I like him as much as I think I will. I’ve sometimes contemplated a 616 Magneto, because I feel I know a good deal about his characterization (at least enough that I have Opinions on it) but ultimately I don’t feel I’ve read enough of his stuff even so, and...I don’t want to read any more? I just really don’t want to focus on Holocaust-related things and that’s KIND OF A MAJOR THING for writing him. Plus I’m really not that interested in his dynamic with Charles *or* with his children/family, which are like...a huge deal in Magneto RP interactions. I think he’s a character I prefer interacting with than interacting as. Plus I think my portrayal would be unpopular/I’d probably get hate over it because I remember all the really rotten he did in the comics (including stuff that wasn’t to save mutants) and Tumblr fandom takes a really lionized view of him.There’s also a lot of villains I like---such as Donald Pierce or Graydon Creed---but I feel like they’d have limited interactions and get very boring for me, especially since most people are probably just gonna want me to torture their muses with them or something.

#Anonymous

1 note · View note

misadventuresoftem · 7 years

Text

(Ruby the Mun AGAIN...)

AAAAAAAAAAAA OK, I am in a creative (??_??) mood tonight.

Tagged by @typhcccn! RULES: TAG 9 PEOPLE TO KNOW THEM BETTER. And holy fuck am I slow! Is it over a month old? FML. Also, no pics for this meme because derp.

relationship status: Single. Not ready for a relationship due to self consciousness issues...

favorite color: Royal purple, blue, green, black

lipstick or chap stick: I'd love to get on the regimen for both because dry, chapped lips really sucks

last song I listened to: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Defy the Legends Remix 2 by Kamex

last movie I watched: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

top 3 fictional characters: .....WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. WAY PAST UNACCEPTABLE! I HAVE MORE THAN THREE HIGH FAVOURITE CHARACTERS. AND IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER [ofuck, it's long!]...

Emperor Mateus of Palamecia - Final Fantasy II (fan of him since 2009, few months before DFF. I LOVE the Castle Pandemonium music while playing FFII on the GBA. And, well... curiosity happens more on DFF. ^^;; ) S-E, I understand that Sephiroth's the most popular (AANNNNND the one who's continuity is being absolutely FUBAR'd throughout the years) FF villain, but JFC (whether it be "Jesus Fucking Christ", or "Jenova Fucking Cetra") MAKE SOME DECENT MERCH FOR THE EMPEROR! FUCK!!!

Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII (fan of him since 2005. Was watching FFVII:AC -subbed- in an anime club. I was really curious. And I am still learning about him because of the continuity barfs.) Whoops, speak of the one 'Chosen by the Planet'. He is my first villain character choice to play as in the first Dissidia game on the PSP. The Emperor's my second [LUL!]. Ironically, I main Emperor Mateus more than Sephiroth. X'D (maaaaan, both men are GORGEOUS!!!)

Sonic the Hedgehog (fan of him since childhood!) This dude's too damn cool for words. He's my favourite video game hero of all time! And I swear that his game series is like the Phoenix. When a time the series is about to go south, it revives itself into crazy awesomeness. Cannot wait to get Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces! I am hoping that either of those two returns HYPER SONIC!

Cecil Harvey - Final Fantasy IV (fan of him since ~late 1990s) Favourite FF protagonist. I almost always tear up when he becomes Paladin at Mt. Ordeals. I just love that he overcomes a lot of stuff in FFIV. I HAVE NOT PLAYED FFIV: The After Years. I read that it's... a disaster? o.O halp(also, I am mad that in Mobius Final Fantasy that the game stuck his DFF card as a 3*+ Warrior card. Of fucking course that Cloud is the 5* Warrior Card. Uncool.)

Mewtwo - Pokémon (fan of him since 1999) When I was a teen, I was into a phase that cute stuff fuckin' sucks and Pokémon of the Pokémon designs are UGGGGGH... . Then, I watched a trailer of the first Pokémon film. When I saw Mewtwo attacking Mew [and other things], I thought "That's one badass motherfucker!". And thankfully that got me into Pokémon for me to own one. xP

Giratina - Pokémon (fan of them [I imagine Giratina of any of both sexes] since 2009.) The moment I saw the pre-order of Pokémon Platinum, I WANTED that Giratina Origin Forme figure. Despite my age being in the 20s at that time, I bugged my mom to pre-order it because I was broke. ^^; [she got herself and bro one as well. Win-win. I got her a Black a few years later :P] I was amazed at the Torn World [I know in Engliish it is Distortion World, but I prefer the JP name better]. The music, the environment, the crazy directions you go to... I was in awe. Sailor Jupiter - Sailor Moon (fan of her since the mid-1990s)

She is just so KICKASS! But sweet at the same time. Lita (Makoto) is like a big sister, eh? Her transformation music and attacks are adrenaline-pumping! The only media of Sailor Moon I am like NOOOO is Crystal. I tried to like it, but after Sailor Jupiter's debut episode I have a bad feeling... the fact that Nephl(r)ite NOT being OHKO'd by Sailor Jupiter like in the manga [which SMC claimed initially to be closer to the manga. . .] and the little reunion tease of the two makes me want to root for the two. But OFC... the four Shitennou have to die to protect their Prince. :| And I read that most of the time that the Inner Senshi are being useless. Cheque, please!

Kane - WW[F]E (fan of him since 1998? 1999?) My favourite Superstar! When I was a teen, I... I had a huge crush on him. >///< His muscles, his hair, his mystique, the times he seemlessly go back and forth between being an evil demonic character and being an adorable goof! Maaaan, I miss the fan club Kane Fanatics. I was probably the YOUNGEST member there. I got a memento from the club, too. A Kane hat I won at its FINAL contest. Anyway, there was one night that broke me into tears that is Kane related. June 23rd, 2003. The night that Kane lost his mask vs. title match against HHH. I cried myself to sleep.

Flowey - Undertale (fan of him since 2015) I love this guy. He's so expressive for one with no SOUL. I'd love to do a full, proper cosplay of him one day. I did cosplay as him last year, but the costume was so impromptu it hurts. xD

Finally for now....

Temmie - Undertale (fan of her since around 2016) I love her adorable looks and her sense of derp. She also gives me an excuse to type dumb.

Of course, I RP as a VERY canon-divergent variant of her. Time-and-space hopping one, even. Simply she found a tear in time in space from too many resets/deaths/false rebirths. I understand that some RPers here in Tumblr may WTF me, but on the flip side, I'm SHY AS HELL TO RP WITH SOME OF YOU! [simply because a derpy mewpupper travelling to potentially dangerous worlds seems absurd. But hey, life happens.]

top 3 ships: Sepheus (Sephiroth x Emperor Mateus), Sailor Jupiter (Lita[or Makoto) x Nephlite, and... oh... ummm... ooops. I am not much of a shipper! X'D

books I’m reading: @typhcccn said it best. The whole internet's a book!

And that's all?

TAGGING! @imperialmight (*YOU'RE* the one who I am shy to RP with. Here. I confessed.) @ask-captain-faris @dancing-dagger @jenovaiisim @mateusdemonemperor @artemisxbow @ablackwing @adventson AND OTHER HAM-AND-EGGERS WHO WANTS TO DO THIS.

#meme #long post #enjoy?#I guess

3 notes · View notes

flapsfilmfiles · 6 years

Photo

SPOILER FREE* All 9 Star Wars Films Ranked Worst to Best

Star Wars is one of the most popular franchises in modern cinema. Thanks to George Lucas and the original trilogy, fans have gotten multiple movies, video games, and books that revolve around the three original films. With The Last Jedi now in theatres, it’s time to take a look at where it stacks up with the rest of the saga.

9. Attack of the Clones

The prequels were very poorly received by Star Wars fans and critics alike. The worst of the three prequels, and of the entire Star Wars Saga, has to be Attack of the Clones. Everything about this movie was lacking. The CGI in all three of the prequels looked horrible, but it was super distracting in Episode II. There were very little practical effects used and when they used CGI it was painfully obvious. This was also the first time a CGI Yoda was used which turned out looking worse than just using a puppet. Even Christopher Lee wasn’t able to save this movie. With as much talent as Lee has, the villain should have been the highlight of the film, but his character fell short of expectations much like the rest of the movie.

8. The Phantom Menace

Released sixteen years after Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace comes in at number eight on our list. Fans were disappointed with the newest film from a galaxy far far away for a number of reasons. One reason would be the completely different tone and atmosphere that the movie sets up. The story is more about politics than a grand space adventure. This movie attempts to show the origin story for Darth Vader, but Jake Lloyd’s performance as a young Anakin Skywalker left much to be desired. Unlike Attack of the Clones, The Phantom Menace did have some redeeming characteristics, or should I say characters. This movie may have been an extreme disappointment to Star Wars fans, but Lucas did introduce some awesome new characters. Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jin, and Darth Maul are probably the best three characters introduced in the prequels. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of the young Obi-Wan Kenobi was also well received for the most part. Adding these characters and an epic lightsaber sequence near the end surely helped the movie, but these elements were pretty much drowned out by all of the other problems this movie faced.

7. Revenge of the Sith

2005 marked the end of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Did this movie win audiences over and regain people’s trust in George Lucas? Yes and no… but mainly no. The movie did cater to fans by showing the climax of the Anakin/Obi-Wan conflict and the rise of Darth Vader, but it still faces many problems and backlashes. While it may be the best of the prequels, the dialogue and acting were sometimes laughable. Hayden Christiansen gets a lot of criticism for his role as Anakin, and it is well deserved. In short, his acting brought down the overall quality of the film. Even though it wasn’t great, the film did still manage to tie into A New Hope smoothly and show an intense lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Revenge of the Sith delivered in a lot of ways, but still fell flat of the original trilogy’s magic.

6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

With the record breaking opening of The Force Awakens, it was only a matter of time before Disney decided to make more Star Wars movies that didn’t have to do with the main characters of the new trilogy. The first of these “Star Wars Stories” came Rogue One which was about the rebellion’s journey to destroying the Death Star. With this being the first Star Wars spin-off, it was smart for them to focus on a story that takes place right before A New Hope. This allowed for the return of many famous Star Wars characters including, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, General Tarkin, and many others. It was fun seeing these characters on screen again, but the same can’t be said for the new characters. The new characters lacked a lot of character development. The only character to be somewhat developed was Jyn, and even that just barely scraped the surface. Rogue One is far superior to the prequel trilogy, but then again, that isn’t hard to accomplish.

5. The Last Jedi

The Last Jedi is that sequel that just can’t beat its predecessor. The Last Jedi was a fun film that gave both Luke and Leia bigger roles than they previously had in The Force Awakens. While it was cool to see these characters interact with the new generation of characters, the film had some glaring problems. One of these problems pertained to the lead villain which is a huge problem for a film as big as Star Wars. The second big problem was the unanswered questions that weren’t answered from The Force Awakens. The special effects on the other hand were top notch. The light saber battles and X-Wing battles were some of the examples of how great special effects and CGI can really be. The Last Jedi was quite the ride, but it just couldn’t top The Force Awakens or the original trilogy.

4. The Force Awakens

Creating a new Star Wars movie when the original trilogy is so popular can be tough, as George Lucas found out in 1999. This could explain why J.J Abrams made The Force Awakens so similar to A New Hope. Even though some consider this a remake of A New Hope, it was still a solid beginning to the sequel trilogy. It succeeded at introducing new hero’s including Rey and Finn, and the villain Kylo Ren. All of these characters became immensely popular after the release which is one reason why the film did so well. The other reason the film did well was because the filmmakers catered to the original trilogy. Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca all return for The Force Awakens. Mixing the old characters with the New was a nice way of keeping the movie fresh and still keeping original fans happy. Even though it doesn’t beat any of the original trilogy, it was still a mile ahead of the prequels.

3. Return of the Jedi

Even though it’s considered the weakest entry of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi still beats out all three of the prequel movies and the two sequel films. The main complaint people have with this third film are the Ewoks since it made the tone so much lighter than Empire Strikes Back. While this film was a disappointment compared to Empire, it still had an original story with a lot of unique scenes. We finally get to see the Emperor in his full glory as well as Vader without his helmet. Luke and Leia’s family dynamic was also revealed in this film which was as fascinating as it was gross. Even though Return of Jedi was the weakest entry to the original trilogy, it was still a satisfying end to an era.

2. A New Hope

The Star Wars that started it all comes in at our number two spot. Episode IV: A New Hope, originally just titled Star Wars introduces fans to one of cinema’s most iconic trio; Han, Luke, and Leia. While none of them had an elaborate back story, they were all introduced in a smooth way that made the characters instantly likable. Star Wars had the perfect amount of action, comedy, and drama that ended up becoming an international phenomenon. George Lucas also invented what is arguably the greatest movie villain ever made. Star Wars was the beginning of an entire new universe of unique weapons, vehicles, and wardrobes that are still one of a kind. It’s also worth mentioning that this film received six Oscars and was nominated for another four in 1978. Star Wars stands as one of the best fantasy films ever made, but there is still one that beats the original.

1. The Empire Strikes Back

Hands down, The Empire Strikes Back wins the number one spot. Not very often do you get a sequel that surpasses its predecessor, but just that happened in 1980. The Empire Strikes Back has everything you could ever want in a Star Wars film. It’s got epic lightsaber fights, a romance between Han and Leia, and another legendary score composed by John Williams. Not only do the original cast return, but we also get introduced to a range of new characters as well. Yoda, Lando Calrissian, and Boba Fett all make their debuts in the Empire Strikes Back and they have become just as popular as the original cast. This sequel was a little darker than the original, but that’s one of the many reasons why this film stands out above the others in the Star Wars franchise.

So that’s my ranking of the films, but what’s yours? Sound off in the comments about what your order is and if you agree with my number one spot! Don’t forget to hit that like button and may the force be with you.

Flap’s Film Files- Tumblr Blog and Facebook Page

Source: Lucasfilm and Disney

0 notes

aion-rsa · 6 years

Text

What George R. R. Martin's Letters to Marvel Tell Us About His Writing

https://ift.tt/2NViTFd

George R. R. Martin's musings on the Fantastic Four say a lot about his own writing.

facebook

twitter

google+

tumblr

Feature

John Saavedra

George R.R. Martin

Sep 19, 2018

Marvel

Game of Thrones

While the young Fantastic Four were preparing to challenge the mighty Molecule Man in 1963, a teenage George R. R. Martin was busy writing a letter to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the book's creative team. Martin, who was destined to become the scribe of many great works of genre fiction, was just a boy from Bayonne, NJ who had fallen in love with Marvel superheroes -- the boldness of their stories, their relatable origins, and the audaciousness of their colorful get-ups, courtesy of geniuses like artists Kirby and Steve Ditko. And like many other youngsters growing up in the '60s, Martin had strong opinions about these characters.

His letter to Lee and Kirby, published in Fantastic Four #20 (1963), demonstrates a precocious and loquaicious eloquence that might even be a bit on the sarcastic side. You can decide. Either way, it's quite a piece of work for his first published piece.

Here's Martin talking about the letters himself:

Video of Superheroes Decoded: The Thing | History

The letter concerns Fantastic Four #17 (1963), in which the team defeats their archnemesis for what seems like the final time. Doctor Doom falls to his death, which must've been a shocking conclusion for readers of the time. Of course, Lee and Ditko would reveal two months later, in Amazing Spider-Man #5 that Doctor Doom had survived the fall from his airship via a secret jetpack.

If the letter is sincere, Martin expresses his admiration for the issue and the book in general as "the world's best mag!!!" Or if it's a gripe about the ridiculousness of Lee and Kirby's creations, it at least showcases his early mastery of sarcasm and his talent for being sardonic, even back then. For more examples of Martin's strong opinions, visit his LiveJournal.

Here's the letter, courtesy of the Marvel archives:

Martin talked to writer John Hodgman in public radio's The Sound of Young America about what made Lee and Kirby's characters unique and huge influences on his later work:

The Marvel comics that I was writing letters to were really revolutionary for the time. Stan Lee was doing some amazing work. Up until then, the dominant comic book had been the DC comics, which at that time were always very circular: Superman or Batman would have an adventure, and at the end of the adventure they would wind up exactly where they were, and then the next issue would follow the same pattern. Nothing ever changed for the DC characters.

The Marvel characters were constantly changing. Important things were happening. The lineup of the Avengers was constantly changing. People would quit and they would have fights and all of that, as opposed to DC, where everybody got along and it was all very nice, and of course all the heroes liked each other. None of this was happening. So really, Stan Lee introduced the whole concept of characterization [chuckles] to comic books, and conflict, and maybe even a touch of gray in some of the characters. And boy, looking back at it now, I can see that it probably was a bigger influence on my own work than I would have dreamed.

Looking back at the Fantastic Four's earliest adventures (and the stories of many of Lee and Kirby's other stellar creations, such as X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk), you can see the tales that influenced Martin's work. The strange worlds of Martin's early science fiction short stories (take a look at his stellar debut collection, A Song for Lya), his focus on the exotic scenery and supernatural threats, undoubtedly stem from the interdimensional adventures of the Fantastic Four. A good first sign of Martin's White Walkers beyond the Wall can be found in his short story "With Morning Comes Mistfall," (published in Analog in 1973) in which tourists eye a misty valley full of killer wraiths from the safety of a castle. You can already imagine the Night's Watch.

Buy all of your Game of Thrones boxsets, books, and swag here!

Lee and Kirby's preoccupation with underdogs who are destined to reach their full potential, honorable men and heinous villains with human desires, made it into Martin's pages as well. Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and Ramsay Bolton, for example, must all rise to the occasion of destiny. The men of very different beginnings journey to find their place in the world, much like the "freaks and mutants" that inhabited '60s Marvel comics.

At the forefront of Lee and Kirby's work is the family dynamic of books like Fantastic Four and The Avengers, stories in which we watch the world's greatest superheroes unite, fight, struggle, forgive, mourn, and grow together. Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm, and Ben Grimm were constantly in flux, teaming up to save the world, but also facing their own personal struggles. They're a highly dysfunctional team, petty at times, holding deeper grudges than others, and going through the stages of insult, anger, and forgiveness. But the constant was that they ultimately loved each other.

Family dominates Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, as the Seven Kingdoms are separated into houses. Even if we might consider the Starks heroes and the Lannisters villains, we feel for them on a family level. There's little more tragic than Cersei's love for her ill-fated children or Jon Snow's quest to live up to the name he was never given. This dynamic continues with the villainous Greyjoys and Boltons. And don't forget the Night's Watch, which might be most powerful example of family in the entire series: lost, cowardly, bad, and honorable men from all over the land coming together to protect the world from a common threat. If that doesn't scream Avengers to you, then I don't know what.

further reading - Game of Thrones Season 8 - Everything We Know

Perhaps more overtly, Martin learned from the work of Lee and Kirby that heroes, no matter how great, could fall. This is a lesson that the writer definitely hasn't forgotten while working on A Song of Ice and Fire.

Several "by gumbos" later, Martin wrote another letter, this time published in the pages of The Avengers in 1965. The second letter concerned The Avengers #9 and Fantastic Four #32, issues he hoped to "have mounted in bronze and set on a pedestal in the center of his living room."

Avengers #9 introduced a new member of the team: Wonder Man. The story, "The Coming of the...Wonder Man," was framed around the introduction of this strange man, who'd been tricked by the evil Baron Zemo into becoming a superhuman in exchange for his services in his plot to defeat the Avengers. In order to ensure Wonder Man's obedience, Zemo also altered his metabolism in such a way that he could die within a week unless treated regularly with an antidote (silly). But when the Avengers help Wonder Man find a cure, he turns on Zemo and sacrifices himself to save the team. The newest Avenger, gone in the same issue he arrived.

(I also have to quickly note that Wonder Man is from Paterson, NJ!)

In his interview for public radio, Martin described his deep appreciation for Wonder Man and his fate:

I liked Wonder Man. And you know why? [Laughs] Now it’s coming back to me vividly! Wonder Man dies in that story. He’s a brand new character, he’s introduced, and he dies. It was very heartwrenching. I liked the character — it was a tragic, doomed character. I guess I’ve responded to tragic, doomed characters ever since I was a high-school kid.

Of course, being comic books, Wonder Man didn’t stay dead for long. He came back a year or two later and had a long run for many, many decades. But the fact that he was introduced and joined the Avengers and died all in that one issue had a great impact on me when I was a high-school kid.

We've seen no shortage of "tragic, doomed characters" in Martin's work, and even one or two that have returned in posthumous form -- no doubt a little nod to comic book deaths. Fortunately for his countless powerful scenes, that has not been usually the case.

These letters allowed Martin to enjoy a sort of celebrity among comic book fandom. Other fans wrote him letters in reply, and he eventually began writing critical essays for comic fanzines, such as YMiR, Batwing, and Countdown. Martin later went on to write some stories for Star Studded Comics, a fanzine that published original fiction. One fan even offered to buy Martin a car at one point...

youtube

It's odd to think about your idols (and he has become one of mine) as fans themselves, but that's who Martin was and is still today, reaching the epitome of fandom by speaking to the comic book gods he worshipped and eventually putting what he'd learned to work to become a god himself. That might be the world's greatest story of all.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.

from Books https://ift.tt/2Dlnm0a

#aion-rsa #Books

0 notes