#what watching every batman tv show/movie playing every batman game and reading/about every batman comic does to a mf

[vivi-scera]

hi hi! so i just found your answer to an ask about johndean, and i got immensely surprised when you mentioned about batman and robin, which i assume bruce and dick, not the other batman and robin combination, and im curious about what do you think about them! i quite recently got into comics, and im so fascinated by their mutual codependency and dick's devotion towards bruce, and how bruce sees dick as his peer/partner despite their age differences before growing into a more parental role, and i wanna hear your opinions abt them :D

hey so. come off anon so we can make out.

dick grayson, the first robin and batman's lacanian phallus. ugh many things to say and think about. i wasn't necessarily referring to just bruce and dick— i think all of the subsequent robins have their own neat fucked-up relationships with bruce, in each their own ways. more fucked-up in that they see him as more their father than dick does, like you mentioned. i like thinking about jason-robin's relationship with bruce the most but i like tim as robin best. i think i was mostly thinking bruce/jason since i was talking about johndean but since you asked about bruce/dick i'll expand on them the most.

some may think brudick is the least problematic of all the possible bruce/son pairings since dick doesn't necessarily think of bruce as his father. which is true, he already had a good relationship with his father and didn't need/want a replacement in bruce like the other robins do. but a huge part of his characterization (during his robin years at least) is his insistence on being bruce's equal. you'll see tons of canon material— tv shows, comics, games, etc.— wherein dick insists that he's batman's partner, not his sidekick. many such connotations about the word "partner" as we all know. and there are popular interpretations about the queer subtext in batman comics. guy who cannot be his true self in the public sphere and thus parades around in fetishistic costumery in secrecy. you know how it is. but not only in batman's character— there was a huge outcry about the homoerotic imagery/subtext between batman and dick-robin in the 40's and 50's (see The Seduction of the Innocent), so I'm not pulling this shit out of my ass. not that i'm saying there's canon truth/weight to these interpretations. they are just that. interpretations.

anyway. not only is dick batman's partner, he's also bruce's partner. his lighter, brighter counterpart. bruce sees himself in dick, and also wants to prevent dick from becoming him (see young justice season 1 episode 22 for THE BEST interpretation of batman/dick's relationship. or just young justice in general). no one else is bruce's partner/equal quite like dick is (jason, tim, etc. are more his sons as mentioned. and they also, unlike dick, possess the fault of actually wanting to become batman, or some version of him). just as batman is responsible for robin's creation, so does robin-dick, in turn, shape batman's character. bruce didn't make dick his/a son as much as dick-robin made bruce-batman a dad. just maybe not his own father. fucked-up of dick to be jealous of jason getting bruce's fatherly-attention but not necessarily even wanting it himself. but it's okay, he made him a father! dick himself, in being the first to create robin, might even be the father-mother of bruce's other children and therefore has a higher role as batman's literal partner. one of my favorite developments in comics EVER is dick becoming damian's pseudo-father/batman. the first quasi-son becoming a father figure to his mentor-father's biological son. canonically, dick even wanted to adopt damian. but none of this can/does make dick bruce's true equal (bruce's true equal is batman, and vice-versa). i'm going to be actively problematic and say that bruce sees dick as something less than his partner and something more than his son. i'd LOVE to see a fic that explores dick's drive to become batman's equal/partner and the proverbial wires crossing because of that drive. i think at this point i'm just gonna have to write it myself 😔.

speaking in a meta-narrative sense, dick was introduced as batman's foil. robin (not necessarily dick, just the role) must project an idealized image of that which must be protected. he is representative of the hope that batman has in not only gotham's future, but his own. there is no point in batman if he doesn't believe he can save the future. in batman managing to save robin, he succeeds in saving gotham. but i mean, does that ever really happen? does batman ever really "save" robin/gotham? if the nature of robin is that which must be protected, robin is also a representative role that must be preserved in order to allow batman to save (and fail in order to save) gotham over and over and over again. robin exists/represents a future gotham that doesn't need batman and stands as a reminder to batman what he chooses to fight for, but robin cannot occupy that future himself (since robin is a condition created by batman and can't exist without him. a perfect gotham would neither need robin or batman. the existence of robin implies that there is a gotham that needs saving and that there is a batman that needs to save gotham). so herein lies the paradoxical tragedy of dick grayson. he needs to grow up in order to be batman's equal (and/or to be his partner in the romantic sense), but batman needs robin to justify his existence. robin, the role, by definition cannot grow up in order to meet his own condition for existence— he cannot exist in the future. when the boy behind the mask is killed/grows up, he ceases to be robin and someone else fills in the role. even when dick grayson grows up and becomes batman himself, he still cannot meet bruce-batman as his equal.

there's a great btas episode "the trial" that explores the idea that batman's existence is the condition that creates the very villains he's meant to stop. whether i agree with that statement is another topic. but it's an interesting and valid idea nonetheless. if robin symbolizes all that is at risk of and must be protected from "perversity" (both in the connotative and literal meaning of the word) what does it mean when the birth of batman is representative of gotham's perversion? you can see why i have issues with the statement that batman is the real cause of all evil in gotham. while i think that it's true that batman is a perversion he is just as much a persona created to do good and does succeed in doing good. he is, very much, the john winchester of comics if you'd like to think about it that way.

anyway this totally got too meta-y, sorry. i do think each robin's relationship with bruce brings up some more interesting questions i'd love to explore (and be asked to explore!!!). can batman ever save robin/jason? can robin/tim ever save batman? as damian, son of bruce, what does it mean to be robin, son of batman? thx for the ask <3

#batman #dc comics #dick grayson #brudick #what watching every batman tv show/movie playing every batman game and reading/about every batman comic does to a mf #also i do like brudick but i VASTLY prefer jaytim if we're talking batcest in general #they are the unnamed narrator and rebecca with the maxim de winter standing between them #lolita4lolita etc. #even anakin-luke and obi-wan according to my mutuals #vivi.asks

[helix-studios117]

Batman Begin...ners Guide.

Okay, so I do talk about other things beyond sci-fi and Halo. Like my Halo Guide, this is meant to be a list of recommendations for folks who want to get into Batman, but have zero clue where to begin because it's an 85-yo franchise with decades of lore and works.

Movies & TV: Both animated and live-action, this is probably the easiest and most accessable way to get into the character and his mythos.

The Dark Knight Trilogy - Watch this first, starting from Batman Begins and ending with Rises. This is a super-distilled film saga that tells Batman's story in the most straight-forward way imaginable; I kid you not, these movies were made for non-comic fans.

The Batman - This is the second most recent film to come out, but Edward Cullen finally does what most vampires can do and transforms into a bat, man. It's a gothic, neo-noir, mystery thriller that shines a light on Batman's detective skills; so while it's not the film I'd recommend you watch first, it is still a very good start.

Mask Of The Phantasm - What else can I say that hasn't already been said? While I personally don't love this film the same way a lot of other folks do, it is the best Batman film in a more objective sense.

Merry Little Batman - This is THE most recent Batman film to come out, it's a christmas kids' film that came out the tail end of last year. It's a funny, cute and very charming flick that focuses on Batman's young son becoming a superhero for the first time while some of Batman's Rogues come to terrorize Gotham on Christmas. Lightning McQueen's brother is Batman in this movie.

Gotham - It's a charming 5 season-long show that I can only describe as "Smallville, but with Batman." It's also got some of the best versions of the fanchise's characters I've ever seen... and some of the worst. That's the beauty of the show to me, it's both 'so bad it's good' AND genuinely good. It's stupid and cheesey just like the comics it's based on and I appreciate and respect how the show embraces the wackiness of the comics that EVERY live-action film is so afraid to capture.

Batman: The Animated Series - Need I say more?

Video Games: As far as these go, there are quite a few really good options; but there's only two that stand out.

The Arkham Saga - I recommend playing through this series TWICE; start in release-date order (Arkham Asylum, City, Origins and Knight), then play the series again in chronological order (Origins, Asylum, City and Knight).

The Telltale Series - This game basically allows you to control the entire story right from the get go. Instead of it being an action-game where you beat up bad guys; it's an interactive film that allows you to customize your own version of Batman himself.

Finally...

Comics: Probably why you're here to begin with. This is where I can have the most fun, since there's so much to pick from that you can't go wrong. I won't talk about these comics, I'll just list them because I'd for you all to read these yourselves.

Batman: Earth One, Volumes 1 through 3.

The White Knight Trilogy - From Batman: White Knight to Beyond The White Knight.

Batman: Creature Of The Night.

Robin & Batman.

Batman: The Imposter.

Wayne Family Adventures.

Burnside Batgirl.

Batman: Universe.

Batman: Black & White.

Batman: Year One, Batman: Year Two, Batman: Full Circle, and finally, Batman: Son Of The Demon.

The Dark Knight Returns.

Batman: Ego.

And finally... Batman: War On Crime.

You don't have to read ALL of them, they're just places to start. This is a a set of guidelines, not mandatory homework.

#Batman

[thejokerswildcard]

i am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a “fake fan” especially of something like batman which has so many ways to enjoy it. this is something i feel very strongly about too. i don’t care if you only watch the tv shows. or the movies. or you’ve only listened to an audio drama. or maybe you’ve only played the video games. i. do. not. care. we all like batman, and isn’t that what matters?

now, then why is it that every time i walk into a comic shop my brain immediately goes “ooooh you’re a fraud. you are SUCH a fake batman fan. i mean come ON. you haven’t even read every single batman comic to ever go to print! i bet the guy at the counter thinks you’re a fake fan too. yeah i bet when he rings you up he’s going to think “wow this is a fake batman comic for fake batman fans.”” like. what????? what does that even mean. i could not tell you what “fake fan” means in this context, because i literally do not believe that term means anything. and when i’m in there i’m sweating bullets like someones going to come up to me and suddenly quiz me on batman lore. like. why am i like this. i have literally never had a negative experience in a comic book store. everyone has always been super friendly and given me comic suggestions and stuff. yet. ?????

anyways. in related news. i’m going to a comic store tomorrow💀

#j.txt #comics.txt #dc.txt #batman #comics #dc

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

just because you’re afraid it doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Titans 3.05

once more into the cold dark void of the internet with my stream-of-consciousness take on a superhero tv show...

spoilers ahead.

1. i cannot believe that among the first things i get to hear in this episode with my own two ears is the line 'eluded our overdudes'. why must you give me such pain along with so much joy, show?

1.5. scarecrow stringing jason along on this path to red-hood-dom is not something i would’ve ever expected, but does kind of make sense. 

1.55. i don’t know all the details of the original resurrection arc in the comics but i like that jason, weirdly, has a greater role to play in his own demise and rebirth? i think it makes it easier to draw a line between his past trauma, the demonstrably shitty and terrifying responsibility of being robin, the ways bruce and the titans wronged him, his responses to that, the reasons he turns to scarecrow, and his final evolution to red hood. it makes for a smoother character arc rather than a one that was interrupted for two decades before somebody went oh hey let’s resurrect that kid that the audience once voted to kill and make him an anti-hero!

1.75. what’s crane giving him? anti fear toxin? anyway, crane is a fucking creep and i’m not sure i want to see a whole lot of him on my screen.

2. oh, um, heads up: there’s a long sequence of unsteady cam + flickering lights right after the title card upto the 3:16 mark. it’s a bit headache-inducing so if you want to skip, you can go ahead and do that. 

2.45. that’s... weird... why would he dream about... donna...

ok, who am i kidding. i’m going to jump right into my theory about Why Titans Makes Sense Actually because the show itself is apparently not interested in explaining itself:

a) it makes no sense for jason to be conjuring up donna--who famously did not care much for him!--in his dreams. (he wasn’t even there when she died.) or for her to be telling him don’t go or there’s still time.

b) this leads me to think that that’s actually donna, in some sort of limbo between life and death, the kind of place where jericho used to be

c) rachel has demonstrated that she has the power to link the minds of the titans across great distances--she called jason and hank/dawn for help in 2.01, she linked up everybody later in the season, projected dick’s hallucination of his father into their brains without even realising she was doing it, and in the finale, she managed to get dick into conner’s brain. she’s in themyscira now. is this how she gets donna back to life? but reaching out to her in that non-space between life and death?

d) the next obvious question is: why isn’t donna appearing in the dreams of the other titans? she probably is, but they have better reason to be dreaming about her since they were actually close to her, unlike jason.

e) but why would she warn jason in particular? does she foresee jason entering the afterlife--however briefly? does she have an idea of what jason plans to do and what he will become?

f) anyway, more trippy mindscapes and weird psychic powers, yay!

2.5. my heart clenched when bruce comforted jason post-nightmare: clearly i’ve been reading way too much batfam fic. this is a side of bruce we haven’t really been told to expect by all the characters on the show calling him a ‘psychopath’ (*cough*unreliablenarrators*cough*) and him getting jason to speak to a professional speaks volumes about the kind of self-reflection he’s done post dick’s departure, and maybe some of the regrets he has with regards to how he dealt with dick’s traumas.

i mean, just look at him when jason dismisses his concerns! BRUCE IS TRYING JASON

anyway, i have a whole lot more i want to say about this, but i’ll save it for later. 

also: LESLIE THOMPKINS!!!!

3. i really like molly--and i love that she’s a friend from before jason got taken in by bruce, the implication that they meet up regularly and that she’s a grounding influence on him (tho clearly not grounding enough to not go along with his dumbass idea about confronting a child trafficker alone). 

3.5. aw, jason. robin was his armour against everything in the world that would throw him down and chew him to bits, but san francisco proved that even robin wasn’t enough to protect him. it’s really interesting how ‘disillusionment with the idea of robin’ is so integral to the traumas of both dick and jason but in such different ways. 

4. LESLIE!!!!!!! i even forgive her office being so goddamn blue because leslie! 

4.5. it makes so much sense for titans!verse leslie to be a therapist, because this show is so inward looking anyway, and therapist sessions are a useful tool to showcase this character work in a story. besides, at least in fanfic, leslie often seems to double up as a counsellor anyway. 

4.6. oh man. i’m not terribly convinced by walters’ red hood (tho i think that may be the point--argh. i’ll come back to this thought later. have to stop getting distracted!) but he plays the asshole kid that’s trying not to let any real emotion seep through really well.

“you’d like me to punch you, wouldn’t you”

5. not sure what to think of batman’s little trophy case other than the show winking unsubtly at us and going look look - catwoman! the riddler! two face! you excited yet?! it’s like the scene from the end of amazing spiderman 2 when they were trying to drum up excitement for a sinister six spinoff by having harry osborne walk by a bunch of display cases with stuff from iconic villains in them.

... but then again, bruce does like to display a lot of shit in his batcave, including his dead robin’s bloodstained costume, so.

5.5. bruce is so soft with jason it’s killing me. beyond just trying to learn from his mistakes with dick, it speaks to his own genuine desire to balance his dedication to gotham with doing the best by his sons, although he’s often not successful with that. 

i love that titans is really playing the long game with bruce wayne, with each season and character-perspective sliding in fresh pieces of a bigger puzzle. titans’ bruce has always been a phantom of other peoples’ making, but now we’re getting the idea that he’s a whole lot more complicated than other people make it seem.

5.75. it really recontextualises some of his actions from previous seasons: the fact that he locked dick out of his security systems in 1.06 is likely his way of respecting dick’s independence and his desire not to be associated with batman/gotham anymore. jason knowing about bruce’s tracker while dick doesn’t is probably bruce trying to be more honest and upfront with his charges. bruce sending jason packing off to sanfran to spend time with the titans is probably not him passing on a big responsibility to dick (as i first uncharitably thought) but him trying to get jason out of the toxic influence of gotham for a while and a sign of his trust in dick as a leader and a mentor,

5.8. i mean, bruce is a prick, but he’s also human.

6. i think leslie is doing some good work with jason here, though she may have overstepped the line with her line about robin as a construct being projected by a man with BPD. her speculations about bruce’s diagnosis have no place in her session with jason, and if bruce confides in her, an egregious violation of patient-therapist confidentiality. 

(about the diagnosis itself... i don’t know. i can’t really confirm or refute this without a whole lot more information, and i’m not sure if the writer of this episode means BPD in the same way an actual professional might.)

6.5. i think a huge thing that gets missed out in a lot of recent comics as well as movies/shows is that bruce didn’t create the robin persona out of whole cloth. dick did. he’s the starting point of that legacy and to call it entirely bruce’s creation is blatant erasure of that. in fact, i’m surprised that dick doesn’t feature more in the conversations they’re having about the pressures of being robin. after all, the guy had been robin--bruce’s partner--for such a long time before jason. 

6.8. (and here’s the primal part of me that resonates the deepest with dick grayson--the Eldest Daughter part--that’s sort of resentful: that jason gets the therapy and softness and the learning from mistakes when it took years and years for bruce to reach out in any meaningful way to dick.)

7. oooh that was a great scene!

it’s fun to do these stream-of-consciousness live reactions, because the moment you step down from your soapbox, the episode goes right into tackling what you were just complaining about. bruce means well, he’s learning, but he goes about exactly the wrong way to help jason: taking away robin now can’t be read by jason as anything but a devastating judgment call from bruce. and iain glen really sells the moment that bruce realises this--too late--and his helplessness in trying to get jason to see that it isn’t jason’s fault that he’s trying to do this. he loves jason enough that jason is enough. 

7.5. aaaah so jason brings up the elephant in the room at last. dick got everything makes sense from his perspective, where getting to put on a costume and fight crime means approval, means being something stronger and better than you are. dick got to be robin, then nightwing, and a leader of a whole team of other costume-clad heroes. 

8. ... how did jason just walk into arkham????? this is ridiculous.

8.3. i mean, clearly jason’s not thinking straight, but betraying batman like this puts his possibilities of being robin again even further away. 

8.5. watching that chemistry experiment montage was strangely funny. this guy is looking for an antidote to fear? well, constantly mixing up and inhaling gases concocted by a mad-scientist supervillain is something only the very fearless--reckless to the point of foolishness!--would do. what’s to say crane’s not given you a formula for a drug that will keep you tethered to his every will and whim? hmmmm?

8.7. so he sought out the joker to... test the formula??? 

9. wow the “loud and clear... boss” hits different after a whole episode of them referring to each other as father and son.

9.3. waitwaitwait HOLD UP. wait a DANG MINUTE. you’re telling me that scarecrow had enough resources that he could not only have folks on the outside steal jason away and dunk him in a lazarus pit (i TOLD you that this show would bring up and dismiss ra’s al ghul in a ten second aside! I TOLD YOU) but also have his own little chemistry lab in the basement, AND have enough resources for jason to build his red hood persona???????? all of this in barely twenty four hours?

well there goes my ‘jason orchestrated his death’ theory. it was nice while it lasted. *cups hands to the sky* fly away, my baby.

9.6. a part of me is gleeful at the rushed nature of such an iconic transformation though, especially when compared to all the character work that went before it. we’re so used to getting the opposite that it’s fucking delightful to have a show that’s more interested in exploring its characters’ minds rather than battle scenes or recreating transformations from the comics. that’s taken such bold and exciting steps to fully convey all the nuances of its most recognisable character, bruce wayne, from casting an older actor to play him to unflinchingly showing just how damaging the vigilante lifestyle has been to him and the people he loves. BRILLIANT

*sporfle*

10. again, heads up: a whole lot of flashing lights between 40:28 and 42:00. 

10.3. i guess it’s the super-compressed timeline that’s really throwing me off. where did he have the time to get/develop the mind control thing from? or is it something that he got from the cabal of villains that he intimidated at the beginning of 3.02? very messy.

10.5. i love molly, i hope she shows up again this season.

11. aaaand that’s it! that was a solid episode as flashback episodes go, but now i can’t wait to return to the present.

#titans #titans spoilers #meta #jason todd #bruce wayne #leslie thompkins #a tragic jalebi #robin #red hood

[laurenhufflepuff2]

A list of fandoms I'm in (in no particular order, will probably be updated regularly. Some fandoms are more intense and some are more casual. Depending on the fandom, I could go on and on about fandom topics for HOURS. Let's get into it!)

Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, DC comics, Miraculous Ladybug, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, Star Wars, Literature, Winx Club, Nintendo, Minecraft, Little Witch Academia, Voltron, Coraline

Details:

Harry Potter- I got into Harry Potter in 7th grade and now I am the resident expert in my family and in my friend group. I read all the books, watched all the movies (notably the British version), and I've seen the Fantastic Beasts films as well. I've also read Tales of Beedle the Bard (the Warlock's Hairy Heart was traumatizing) along with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook (plus an updated edition). I also read The Cursed Child script and while I mean no hate to anyone that liked it, I hated what it did to the canon. I am in Hufflepuff with some Ravenclaw tendencies (I took the Pottermore quiz 3 times, 2 out of 3 I got Hufflepuff, the other time was Ravenclaw). I had a pottermore account and I was so upset when it got converted to the Wizarding World page. I cosplayed Hermione in 7th grade complete with British accent and even monologued as her for a talent show (classmates and teachers would recognize me as the Hermione girl all the way through high school). I was obsessed and I still love it even if J.K. Rowling has gone off the deep end on Twitter... yeah... my favorite character is Hermione but I also relate to Luna

Disney- there's so much that goes into the Disney part of my fandom list. I'm excluding Marvel and Star Wars from this part as they were originally separate entities before Disney got the rights to them. I have seen almost every animated Disney film ever and often use random movie quotes in conversation. My favorite villain is Maleficent, my favorite princess is Ariel (followed by Belle, Rapunzel, and Anna). I relate to so many of the characters. I'm not sure who my favorite Pixar character is though (I love Violet, Sadness, Dory, and Piper (from the short)). My favorite Disney fairy is Fawn. My favorite characters overall are Ariel and Stitch. Disney is definitely on the list as one of my biggest obsessions. My favorite movies are Lilo and Stitch, the Little Mermaid, Inside Out, Alice in Wonderland (original), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Marvel- I mostly get my Marvel exposure through the MCU, other movies, and animated TV shows. I have difficulty reading graphic novels so most of my comic book knowledge comes from friends, posts, or wikis. My favorite characters are Spider-Man, Captain America, Peggy Carter, and Scarlet Witch. I also like Gwenpool, Deadpool, Spider-Gwen/ Ghost-Spider, Venom, Squirrel Girl, Daredevil, Mantis, Gamora, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Black Panther, and most MCU characters. Out of the X-men I really like Professor X, Wolverine, Mystique, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver (either version- MCU or Fox).

DC- this was the franchise I was more familiar with growing up but again, graphic novels aren't easy for me to read so most of my knowledge comes from information pages about the comics or from tv/movies. My earliest experience with DC came from the 60s Batman series, with Catwoman and Robin being my favorites. I also watched the Wonder Woman series from the 70s and a handful of CW shows, my favorite of which being the Flash and Arrow. I also managed to watch all 5 seasons of the Teen Titans Cartoon Network series from 2003. With that being said, my favorite characters are Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Flash, Batman, Nightwing/Robin (Dick Grayson), Green Arrow, Starfire, Raven, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Alfred. I also like most of the bat family, and when it comes to CW I LOVE Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost and Cisco.

Miraculous- this is one of my guilty fandoms but since this is Tumblr I'm not too worried about it. I love Marinette and I relate to her on an astoundingly deep level (minus the stalking and obsession with potential lovers, that's creepy). If I had a miraculous, I'd probably want the Ladybug one, but the Cat miraculous, fox miraculous, and snake miraculous are good too. My favorite character is Marinette/Ladybug.

Atla/Tlok- I jumped on the avatar bandwagon just when it was starting to get popular, so I managed to get through the series before the memes took over everything. Same with Tlok, although i couldn't completely avoid the spoilers for that when i started it. I've been wanting to get into the comics because of the short story comics I've read, they seem easier to read than superhero comics. My favorite characters are Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Iroh, Korra, Jinora, Asami, Suki, Appa, Momo, Naga, and Pabu. I also like Sokka, Mai, Zuko, Lin, Kuvira, Varrick, Zhu Lee, and Azula. I feel really sorry for her and while I understand that a redemption arc would undermine the importance of her corruption arc, I still wish she could have one. I would love to be a waterbender or an airbender... maybe a waterbender raised in the air nation? Obviously, being the avatar itself would be awesome. The show has taught me a lot of great lessons and put a lot of stuff into perspective for me.

Star Wars- oh boy, talking about this one is dangerous. I've seen firsthand the horrors of the Star Wars fandom but then again no one will probably see this anyway so... I've seen all the movies and I remember watching the clone wars series with my brother when I was younger but we fell wayyy behind and it's taking us forever to get back into it. I've also seen the Mandalorian and quite enjoyed it. I like the prequels unironically, in fact, the prequels are some of my favorite movies. I especially like how they switched from lightsabers being heavy weapons to light weapons that can be used for all kinds of tricks that make for epic battles like the ones we see in Revenge of the Sith. The sequels were fun to watch but when I would analyze them along side their predecessors, I came to the conclusion that, for me, they were good to watch but did not do anything good for the rest of the franchise. My favorite characters are prequels/clone wars Obi Wan and Anakin, Padme, Ashoka, Leia, R2D2, BB-8, R4-P17, the Mandalorian (Din Djarin), and Grogu. If I had a lightsaber I'd want it to be blue, but when I was little I got a purple one like Mace Windu because it was closer to pink and I was into pink at the time. I still have that lightsaber and none of my friends have a purple one so it's one of my flexes. I feel like I wouldn't make a good jedi because of attachments being forbidden, so I'd probably become a grey jedi.

Literature- this is a broad term I use to cover all the random books and stories I liked reading and have studied. So we have Shakespeare (Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet), The Great Gatsby (bored while reading, loved to analyze), Grendel (HATED reading, loved to analyze, Grendel really needed a hug and a friend), The Crucible, Fahrenheit 451, Dark Life (+ the sequel Riptide, both are by Kat Falls good reads, sci-fi and kind of dystopian), The Once and Future King

Winx Club- I think the show is trashy but I still love watching it. I haven't been able to get through season 6 though and I hated what they did with season 8 and Fate: the Winx Saga. My favorite character is Bloom along with Stella and Flora. I prefer rai to nick. My favorite transformations are magic winx, enchantix, and harmonix. My favorite member of the Trix is Icy followed by Darcy. My favorite Pixies are Chatta and Lockette.

Nintendo- mainly Pokémon above all else, followed by Animal Crossing. I have also played (mostly as player 2 or just never beat or watched my brother play) mario games, legend of zelda, pikmin, and kirby. Games I haven't played but I just liked the characters/the lore and probably learned about through Super Smash Bros. are Fire Emblem (Lucina mostly), Metroid (Samus and baby metroid), and Kid Icarus. Pokémon is where I'm most knowledgeable but you'll most likely beat me in battle. I am however great at MarioKart and I always destroy my friends at it. Terrible at fighting games though.

Minecraft- I like playing this casually. Sure, I'll play for hours and hours on end for months, but I prefer to stay exclusively in peaceful when playing Survival mode and I don't make anything too ambitious in Creative mode. I like to write, so sometimes I'll make a rough layout of the settings of my stories in different worlds. I prefer interior design and decorating when building, and when in survival mode I focus more on mining and gathering while my brother works on ambitious building projects. I just bring him the raw materials and furnish the interior when he finishes the outside.

Little Witch Academia- this takes up a smaller portion of my fandom list because there were only 2 seasons and a couple movies and I watched the whole series years ago, but I still enjoy it. At one point I wanted to cosplay Akko, and I loved the nod at Twilight through the Nightfall series. And I especially liked the twist that Shiny Chariot was Ursula, which I suspected for some time. The blend between magic and technology was fun to see, but I was so sad that the series ended RIGHT when Akko finally showed signs of magic proficiency. Also, Shiny Chariot being the reason Akko couldn't do magic was heartbreaking.

Voltron- this takes up a much smaller portion of my fandom list mainly because I haven't even finished it. I know hardly anything about Transformers aside from the Bumblebee movie so to me I just watch it for fun. It reminds me of power rangers, star wars, and star trek, and then there's just a transformer insert. But I don't know anything about Transformers so maybe the show is more rooted in canon than I think.

Coraline- I am in a love-hate relationship with Coraline. I have watched the movie several times, I've read the book, I've watched hours of theories and analyses on youtube, I've watched behind the scenes videos by Laika, and I even wrote a script for a fan film parody. I am amazed at how original the story is and how impressive the stop motion animation is but I also have recurring nightmares from it and it scares me/creeps me out to the max. If anyone asks what my scariness limit is, it's definitely Coraline.

#fandoms #about me #harry potter #disney #dc #marvel #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #star wars #miraculous ladybug #literature #winx club #nintendo #minecraft #pokémon #little witch academia #voltron #coraline

[britesparc]

David's Best of Everything: 2010s

Hello and welcome to the very-nearly-now. My journey through space and time continues apace, as we enter the last decade. Y’know, the one that just happened. The 2010s. This is leading to a little bit of “didn’t this just happen?”, especially as this was probably the most significant decade for me personally.

I think we can see increasingly the importance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to my personal cultural psyche, with three of their films being my favourites of those particular years, as well as the MCU-adjacent Spider-Verse. Spielberg remains represented, with the simultaneously excellent and also underrated Lincoln. As for games, I’d say we’re fully in the Xbox era now, starting with the 360 and charting the entire Xbox One generation. There are a few PC outliers – most significantly Civ VI, which is probably my most-played game of any of these this decade – and a couple of Switch games, including the pandemic-defining Animal Crossing.

Ah yes, the pandemic; that’s probably worth mentioning briefly. It only effects one year here, but its impact will be felt in the next decade (yes, I know there’s only one year, but I’m doing one for the 2020s so far). I only saw a couple of films at the cinema before everything shut in 2020, so my favourite film ended up being a streaming TV movie of a 2016 stage show.

Speaking of streaming, we can see how that defined my TV-watching, going from prestige BBC stuff at the decade’s start, to almost exclusively Netflix programmes for the remainder (and Mando popping up to remind us of Disney’s dominance right there at the end).

I don’t think my eclectic musical taste really can account for anything other than I don’t pay attention to what’s new or popular and I tend to stumble across things ad-hoc. There are artists I like that I return to repeatedly, and sometimes I gravitate to a band or singer and then seek out their back catalogue. That actually happened late this decade as I sort of rediscovered Springsteen. And as for books, we can clearly see that I’m reading a lot of comics; this was a funny decade for me, as I stopped catching the bus so much and got a smartphone, and the two things combined meant I just didn’t sit and read a novel quite as much as I used to. I still read a lot, but other things; and the books I did read tended not to be new. However, I was going to the Travelling Man in Manchester every week, and devouring these amazing long-form serials by writers such as Grant Morrison and James Roberts. These stories utterly defined this decade for me, and have been a huge and long-ranging influence. Seriously, check out Morrison’s Batman and Roberts’ Transformers; two of the best stories I’ve ever read!

Now, of course, the big thing about this decade is how I became very time-poor. There are huge films or games or whatever that are missing, not necessarily because I didn’t care for them, but because I’ve simply never experienced them. Because this is the decade I had kids, and that utterly blew the knees out from under my social life. I went from seeing about 30-40 films at the cinema every year to seeing about six or so. I had no time for games, very little time to sit and read. We maybe managed to grab an episode of a show on an evening (there was quite a brief, fun period where we’d have tea watching Star Trek while our baby daughter would sit giggling in her little bouncy chair). Very, very gradually my life is returning to a place where I can experience more culture outside of whatever the kids put on YouTube; but it’s a slow process.

That’s probably all I have to say about this decade. It was a weird one, full of great highs and lows; probably the biggest of my life, from euphoric fatherhood, career highlights, career lowlights, and then a bloody great pandemic. But it was a decade that gave us my two favourite comic books, the best films of the MCU, and Lego Marvel Super Heroes. That’s gotta count for something, right?

#best of everything #2010s #best of 2010s

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Count Dracula

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

So, in all my time doing Psycho Analysis, there have been a few villainous characters that, while extremely obvious, have such large and daunting scopes that it seems a bit scary to think I could accurately analyze them. Characters like Disney’s Pete or Bowser come to mind. Both are obvious 11s, but where to even begin with them? And that is a similar problem I faced with the villain who is arguably the single most important foe to ever grace fiction: Count Dracula.

How on Earth is one supposed to talk about a character who has spanned so much media and has remained an enduring fixture of pop culture for over a century? The guy has been in movies, comics, books, video games, plays, cartoons, musicals, songs… and he hasn’t even been a villain in all of them! How does one talk about such a villain with such a broad, all-encompassing scope?

The obvious answer is, of course, to talk about him in a broad sense and how he has affected culture, of course! This one’s going to be a little different than usual since I’m focusing more on the concept of Dracula than one single version, so there’s a lot of Dracula’s to go over here:

Performance: Throughout the years, Dracula has had many actors take a shot at him, though I think the finest takes are courtesy of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. The former is basically what cemented Dracula as a sexy, Gothic horror icon, changing the far less attractive man from the book into a seductive monster that would color numerous adaptations after. Lee’s take brings the sexy, but is also far more violent and monstrous, mostly because Hammer horror films were all about that bright red blood, so gotta have someone spill it all!

If you’re looking for more flamboyant, hammy Draculas, Richard Roxbourg of Van Helsing and Duncan Regehr of The Monster Squad have you covered, playing Dracula at his most deliciously, monstrously evil. However, the hammiest (and thus most amazing) Dracula was Michael Guinn’s take in Symphony of the Night, with the entire opening exchange between him and Richter Belmont being a testament to the joys of chewing the scenery.

More comedic takes on Dracula have popped up over the years, with the most notable ones being Adam Sandler’s lovable, fatherly take on the character in the Hotel Transylvania films and Phil LaMarr’s performance on Billy and Mandy, where he plays a ridiculous, possibly senile version of Dracula who is abrasive and hilarious in equal measure.

Basically, when it comes to Dracula, you can easily find any sort of performance to suit your needs and give you what you’re looking for.

Best Scene: Over the years, Dracula has had a great many fantastic moments under his belt, so many fantastic scenes and boss battles… but for my money, the single greatest moment Dracula has ever been in is the opening battle of Symphony of the Night. Just watch this cheesy melodrama unfold and try and disagree with me:

Though, of course, his death in the animated series sure is a contender:

Best Quote: From the above scene, we have “What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!” among moany other meme-worthy bits of dialogue from Dracula. 

On the subject of Castlevania, from the TV show we have Dracula at his most tragic and pitiable, especially when he delivers these fantastically tragic lines like “ It's your room... My boy... I'm- I'm killing my boy... Lisa... I'm killing our boy. We painted this room. We... made these toys. It's our boy, Lisa... your greatest gift to me... and I'm killing him. I must already be dead.” and “Your greatest gift to me... and I'm killing him." as he does battle with his son, Alucard.

Then of course, we have the legendary moment from The Monster Squad where Dracula drops any pretense and starts strangling a little girl, screaming in her face "Give me the amulet, you bitch!" It’s so deliciously, horrendously evil!

Final Thoughts & Score: It’s very strange to think of how much all of fiction owes Dracula. The original book invented a lot of traits (the lack of reflection being one) and popularized others (such as shapeshifting and weakness to garlic), but at the same time also predates a lot of things modern vampire fiction takes for granted. The Dracula of the book has no weakness to sunlight and gets younger as he drinks blood, starting as an old man; in fact, Dracula in the book is entirely lacking in the Gothic sex appeal that almost every adaptation of the character after would give him. He was also not very seductive, instead outright attacking women if he wasn’t hypnotizing them. Hell, he wasn’t even explicitly Vlad the Impaler in the books!

More than any other villain I’ve covered so far, Dracula is truly deserving of an 11/10. Even Count Orlok owes him a debt, seeing as Nosferatu was just a blatant ripoff. Hell, aside from villains from old mythology, I don’t think any villain can lay claim to the sort of scope Dracula has, having forever altered vampire fiction even as certain elements of him become lost in translation.

But what of some of his other incarnations over the years? How do they fare in terms of score? Well, I’m certainly not going to be incredibly thorough and list every Dracula ever, but here are a few I’ve encountered:

Obviously it’s unfair to give the Bela Lugosi incarnation anything less than an 11/10, mainly because this is the Dracula who pretty much inspired most other interpretations of Dracula after him. He’s suave, Gothic, attractive in that dark and mysterious way… it’s no wonder Lugosi’s Dracula became such an iconic fixture of cinema. Then we have the other classic Dracula, Christopher Lee’s take. I think he’s only a 10/10 because I feel like Lee’s tenure is a bit more overlooked and Lugosi tends to supplant him in terms of iconic status.

Castlevania as a franchise is specifically built qround defeating Dracula as the heroic Belmont clan or some adjacent vampire hunter. So you’d better hope that the big bad and master of the magical castle the game takes place in is impressive, right? Well he most certainly is; while he’s not completely fleshed out in every appearance he has some, like his iconic portrayal in Symphony of the Night, really help sell the idea this incarnation of Dracula is a rather tragic villain, though at other times in the series he seems to revel in being a monster far more than that interpretation would allow. Notably, the Castlevania show went with the more tragic approach to great effect, with Graham McTavish delivering a fantastic performance that swings from being genuinely terrifying to hauntingly emotional (just watch the scene where he breaks down upon fighting Alucard and realizing he’s killing his own son). Both game (in a broad sense) and show Dracula get a 10/10, for different reasons.

Duncan Regehr portrayed the Dracula in The Monster Squad, and it is quite obvious he’s having a hell of a time. He’s just wonderfully hammy, and he might be one of the most evil Draculas ever seeing how he called a little girl a bitch and tried to slaughter children with dynamite. This one’s a 9/10 for sure. I honestly think he’s the best take on the character, but his movie is sadly too obscure to really give him that push to being a truly iconic portrayal. He just captures the menace and charisma of Dracula so well, it’s a shame more people don’t know about him.

Van Helsing had a Dracula, played to hammy perfection by Richard Roxburgh. Say what you will about the rest of the film, but any Dracula movie that features evil bat monster Dracula fighting fallen angel werewolf Hugh Jackman in a battle to the death over Frankenstein’s atomic heart is worth at least an 8/10. For a more minor role, we have the Dracula who appeared in the blaxploitation classic Blacula. While he only appears for a bit at the start, long enough to curse an African prince with vampirism and dub him “Blacula,” this Dracula firmly cements himself as one of the most evil Draculas ever, gleefully participating in the slave trade. I believe that’s another 8/10 right there. On a related note, Blacula serves as a chief inspiration to the Billy and Mandy incarnation of Dracula, who is a cranky old black man with a big mustache and lots of sass (in fact, he’s accidentally closer to the original book’s depiction than most other Draculas). Sadly, as a more neutral chaotic comedic figure, I can’t give him a rating, but boy is he a riot.

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf features a more comedic and zany Dracula, one who participates in some good-old-fashioned Wacky Races cheating in an attempt to keep Shaggy as a werewolf forever. He’s mostly amusing for a oneshot villain, so I’d say 7/10 is fair. Speaking of oneshot villains, Dracula also showed up in an animated straight to video movie for The Batman, where he did things such as turn Joker into a vampire and get killed by Batman. He’s probably a 7/10 as well.

And then there are all the heroic takes on Dracula, such as the version from Dracula Untold or the “overbearing but endearing father” take on the character from the Hotel Transylvania movies (though that rap Adam Sandler does at the end of the first movie is pretty heinous).

And this is not an extensive list by any means. There are so many Draculas I haven’t watched yet, so many different takes I haven’t read the adventures of. And that, I think, is what makes Dracula such a great villain. He is a character who any writer can bend and shape to fit a plot, a villain who can serve almost any purpose and who can fit in almost any fantasy story imaginable. Dracula is incredibly versatile, and whenever he shows up in a work, things almost always get better for a bit. And keep in mind, this is a character who has been around since the year 1897, and yet he is still a household name that even people who have never read the books or seen the movies can accurately describe and recognize.

Is Count Dracula the greatest villain in all of human history? It’s debatable for sure, but I don’t think there’s any denying he’s up there considering his scope and influence and how he helped mold modern vampire fiction into what it is today. If nothing else, Dracula is still wildly influential.

#Psycho Analysis #Dracula #Count Dracula #The Monster Squad #Bram Stoker #Van Helsing #Hammer #Christopher Lee #Bela Lugosi #Adam Sandler #Hotel Transylvania

[theoi-crow]

Don't worry. Take your time with me. I am a piece of work. X,D Last Saturday, my mind suddenly filled with the idea of religions and all of that stuff. I reminded when I feel the (Catholic) God touching me when we let them into us. I remember I saw my mom speaks in spirit language, I have known all of the good priests in my church. But despite all of that, I still feel nothing with my own religion. I still fill empty. I feel horrible because I can't believe what I already felt, see, and hear (1)

But when it comes to Greek Gods, I feel something. I feel warmness and happiness when think about them. I feel like I can to relate to them more than with my religion. I feel like God and Jesus in my story is really hard to relate to, and maybe that's why I can't really love my religion as I am suppose to. I still always pray to Catholic God and go to church, but that is mostly all out of habits, never because I enjoy it. (2)

But then when I think about it again, I also realized how much I really hate rituals. But now that I think of it, maybe I'm not...? But I just can't imagine myself pray to my Gods using sacrifices and scented candles. Maybe by doing that, it makes feel like there is no difference with doing catholic? I don't know myself. But I hate myself for hating the idea of rituals. My selfishness probably makes me want to see the Gods as a friend, not.. as a God..? I really don't know and it saddens me. (3)

I guess the point is... I don't think I am a  good believer. The way Im doing things is wrong, I don't like following certain rules, and I want to do things my way. I am selfish with my belief and doesnt want to follow the correct thing. Or maybe I just  dislike commimtment, which is bad... Sorry if I confuse you. I never good at saying the right things. I guess I just want to know if Im right or wrong or else. (4)

----------------------

I know this feeling too well and it's one I felt every time a religion like Catholicism or Wicca tried to dictate how I was going to be practicing.

The "proper" way to do it. No. 

I'm not someone who likes being told what to do and I'm a big fan of doing what feels good.

This is why I'm a revivalists and not a reconstructionist. And I try to avoid working with gods that are very strict about insisting you refer to them as "Lady" or "Lord." This isn't a slight against anyone who does have this kind of relationship with the gods but like you, it feels too formal. 

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do and the gods don't want you to do anything you don't want to do because that "ughhhh I don't like doing rituals but here" energy gets carried to them. This dosent mean you should learn to like doing those rituals.

Find ways to honor them on your own terms. 

Do you like video games?

Play them for the gods. They love a good story, Final Fantasy or Assassin's Creed Odyssey is what I play for them but they love anything that has a good story. 

You like movies?

The gods do too. "Kimi no nawa (Your name), Howl's moving Castle, Birds of Prey (2020) are movies I watch that the gods enjoy. 

What about music?

Yes! Any song that you like that you feel reminds you of the gods. I keep a picture of BTS on Apollo's altar. He loves them!

Comics? Manga?

Because I read Batman comics for Athena, Ares and Apollo. Hermes loves manga and so does Aphrodite so I read it to them.  

You are a great believer you just have to do things your own way. When you do these things for the gods imagine them with you. Imagine what they'd say when they watch these movies with you. 

There are so many other things you can dedicate to the gods. Just think of the things you like and think about which gods would like that and talk to them while you're doing that activity, listening to music or watching TV or shows.

Here is an example of how I honor the gods: (LINK)

Do not let others try to tell you how to worship or honor your gods that's between you and the gods.

I hope this helps! 

Make your faith yours. Look at what you already love and share them with the gods. They want to experience life with and through you. 

#greek gods #hellenic polytheism 101 #hellenic polytheism #hellenic deities #hellenic pantheon

[thedoctornumber11]

Munday post

I figured maybe this week I’d do a different type of Munday.  Most of my long time roleplay partners already know me quite a bit and I also try to introduce myself to newer partners as well, however I figured this could be a good chance for everyone to really get to know me.  I’m including everything under a read more not because long post and also because I know not everyone likes seeing this type of thing.  It’s just a bunch of random facts about me and my favorite things along with a munday pic under the cut.  I didn’t want to just throw out a munday picture like most would do.  I’ve done that plenty of times before and there’s nothing wrong with it, I just felt like doing something a bit more unique and different this time that might really give people a chance to get to know me :D

So long post under the cut.

So, first off, my name is Derek.  I’m the mun.  I just recently turned 30 and I’m from Indiana.  I work in a preschool, essentially as a glorified baby sitter.  I help the teachers get their breaks.  

I’ve been interacting on here since November of 2013 and I’ve had this exact blog with this exact URL the entire time.  I wanted something really generic and not just a quote or something like that.  I first tried TheEleventhDoctor, but obviously that was taken so this ended up being what I went with.  As for the theme, it too was made a VERY long time ago.  The TARDIS theme with the opening doors on the TARDIS actually used to be quite popular when I first started interacting on here, particularly with the Doctor Who RP fandom.  Although I’m the only one I see with it these days, if you go looking for older Doctor Who blogs that have gone inactive you are actually likely to find a few other blogs with it.  As for the background picture, I found that one myself except for the part with Matt Smith/The Eleventh Doctor edited on.  That part was done by someone I used to interact with who just surprised me with it one day and unfortunately isn’t on Tumblr anymore :(  Having been on this platform for so long I’ve obviously seen a lot of blogs come and go and I miss every single last one of them :(  However I also enjoy everyone I currently interact with and would recommend almost any of them.  Seriously, if anyone is looking for new people to interact with, let me know you are looking for people and what fandoms you enjoy and I can probably recommend a few blogs!

Outside of Tumblr RP, I enjoy video games, yugioh, reading comics, general super hero related stuff, watching movies, playing Pokemon Go (I help run the local PoGo community) general board games, watching my shows, figure collecting, and cosplay, most of which I’m sure is stuff many of you also enjoy.  My fandoms include Doctor Who (obviously), DC, Star Wars, The Legend of Korra/ATLA (I’m one of the few that likes LoK more than ATLA), Marvel, Star Trek, Firefly, Power Rangers, The Walking Dead, Yugioh, Pokemon, Sherlock, general Nintendo fandom, Digimon and Harry Potter.

Here’s a few things about me in list form.

My favorite musician is Weird Al Yankovic.  

My favorite book is Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robbison.  As someone who’s been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome myself, this book really spoke to me in my original read through and since then I’ve purchased it multiple times.  I own at least three or four different copies of this book, partially because I kept loaning it out to people.

My favorite book series is the Harry Potter series.  Don’t ask me for a favorite book in the series, I love them all about equally.  

As for comics, right now my favorite thing I’m reading is the Power Rangers series that Boom is putting out.  Some of my favorites of all time include Power Ranger Soul of the Dragon, the Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who crossover, the Power Rangers/Justice League Crossover, the original Spider-Gwen series, Poison Ivy Cycle of Life and Death, The Dark Knight Returns (I know anything Frank Miller related is a bit controversial but I enjoy it for what it is) and Batman: Hush.

Favorite movies include UHF, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captain America the First Avenger, Avengers End Game, the Justice League movie, anything and everything DC animated, anything and everything Spider-Man related (yes, I even like Spider-Man 3 although it wasn’t as good as the others), anything Star Wars related although I’d say Force Awakens is my favorite one, the 2017 Power Rangers movie, Serenity, The Lego movie and it’s sequel, Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time, Mystery Men, Galaxy Quest, all the Star Trek movies, the corny 90′s Mario movie, the Doctor Who movie, and Detective Pikachu.  Really, any of the Marvel and DC movies could probably make this list as well, I’m not super picky when it comes to movies.

Favorite TV shows is something I am a bit pickier about.  Doctor Who is obviously on the list, and I’ve watched and enjoyed most of the Marvel and DC live action stuff although I have a huge preference for the arrowverse and 70′s Wonder Woman.  Animated stuff tends to vary but a lot of the older stuff from the early and mid 90′s seems to be best for that.  Power Rangers is obviously on the list as well, along with The Walking Dead, Digimon, Avatar the Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Sherlock, Yugioh, Firefly, and off the top of my head that’s about it.  Everyone always assumes I’m huge into anime as well, but I’m not actually that into it.  Just not my thing.

Now video games has potential to be my longest list as it’s easily my favorite medium of story telling due to the interactivity.  First off, Nintendo and Playstation are my general consoles of choice.  Nothing against Xbox, I have a lot of respect for the brand but I can’t really afford to have three consoles (even though I wish I could) and Nintendo and Sony have more offerings for me personally.  I also do dabble on PC a bit, but I don’t really have a high end PC and it’s mostly just for Sims.  That being said, my favorite games and game series include Watch_Dogs, The Sims, Mario (mostly the “main series,” 3D games and 2D platformers but I do enjoy some of the off series stuff like Mario Kart and Mario Party as well) , Pokemon, Super Smash Brothers, The Force Unleashed series, Injustice, most of the Spider-Man games, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider, most of the Batman games, Wario Ware, The Last of Us (still haven’t played the sequel yet.  Waiting to get it for cheap after seeing reviews), Days Gone, Control, Horizon Zero Dawn, No Man’s Sky, 51 Worldwide Classics for Switch, No Man’s Sky, the Tony Hawk Games (still haven’t played the new one yet), Time Splitters, The Movies, Hulk Ultimate Destruction, Zombies Ate My Neighbhors, Kirby, The Legend of Korra game (the 3d one, not the really bad one for 3DS), Donkey Kong, Street Fighter 2, Punch Out, Metal Gear Solid 5 the Phantom Pain, Sonic Heroes, and the list could go on and on.

My favorite drink is root beer or chocolate milkshakes if that counts

My favorite alcoholic drink is probably just a basic screwdriver tbh

My favorite food is Cheeseburgers, although Chicken Pot Pie is also a top contender tbh

My favorite color is green

My favorite Doctor is Eleventh obviously, but Thirteen, Two and Twelve are tied for second

Favorite companions are Amy, River (if she counts), and Donna

Favorite New Who episode is The Eleventh Hour

Favorite Classic Who story is Genesis of the Daleks

Since I’ve mentioned super heroes a lot, my favorites are Batman, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man, although Supergirl, Batgirl, Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow are also pretty high on the list.

Favorite game in the Pokemon series is X and Y

Dragonite is my favorite Pokemon

Favorite 3D Mario game is Odyssey although Sunshine would be next up on the list.

This is my only Tumblr RP blog.  I also have an ask meme blog and I used to have a personal but I haven’t logged onto it in years.

I’m on discord and I do add people from Tumblr on there, but I mostly only use it for Pokemon Go tbh

I spend every Wednesday and Sunday at the local comic book shop playing Yugioh

For anyone wondering in relation to that last fact, my current competitive deck Barrier Stun.  Some of my favorite casual decks that I play or have played in the past are Lightsworn, Blue-Eyes, E-Heroes, Greed, Sacred Beasts, Penguins and Six Samurai.

In the last decade I’ve moved about 3 times

I own pets!  I have one dog and one cat currently, but a few years back when we lived in a more country like setting, we owned 7 cats and 2 dogs at maximum.  Most of them died of old age over the last few years.

Before my current job I used to work at Walmart.  Long time followers of the blog may remember that I hated it there.

I don’t have a whole lot of writing experience outside of Tumblr tbh.  While I do enjoy writing on here, it’s the interactions itself that makes it fun for me and while I’ve tried to write a few things myself, it’s just not the same as roleplay.

Anyway, I just sort of wanted to do something different for munday besides just posting pictures of myself so I hope anyone who read this enjoyed it.  Here’s a pic of the mun to go with it.

#munday #ooc #long post #Honestly I just felt like writing this all out for some reason

[aion-rsa]

Jupiter’s Legacy: Choreographing Superheroic Stunts

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Stunt teams are some of the hardest working people in the industry. They literally put their lives on the line just to entertain us and yet there’s so little acknowledgement of their contributions. There is no Oscar for stunt work, but there should be. Netflix’s adaptation of Jupiter’s Legacy has secured one of the industry’s hottest stunt choreographers, one who is no stranger to superhero action, Philip J. Silvera. 

If you’ve read Jupiter’s Legacy already, you know Frank Quitely’s artwork leaps off the page, splattered with intense moments of sanguineous bloodshed. Quitely’s graphic style is a perfect fit for Silvera, who says he’s always been inspired by the visceral violence of films like Goodfellas and The Godfather Part II.

“My action in the past has always had a bit of a lead pipe brutality to it,” confesses Silvera with a grin. Who better to choreograph the huge superhero brawls of Jupiter’s Legacy? 

School of Hard Knocks 

Stunt work has always been Silvera’s destiny. “I always wanted to do stunts, since I was a kid.” Silvera’s father was a boxer who was just about to go pro, but his fortune took a bad turn after he broke his arm and leg. Nevertheless, Philip inherited his father’s fighting spirit. After starting his martial arts training in Karate, Silvera switched over to a Shaolin-based system of Chinese Kung Fu, which he studied for about 20 years. 

Silvera got his first break in 1997. He was competing in a martial arts tournament in New York City when he was approached to do an off-Broadway show called Voice of the Dragon: Once Upon a Time in Chinese America. It was a groundbreaking show from maverick playwright and noted jazz composer Fred Ho. Silvera describes it as “a bit of an urban Peking opera, really a martial arts ballet.” The show demanded he play a character, do martial arts, fight, fall, and flip on stage in front of a live audience. 

As Silvera got deeper into the stunt world, his training diversified to accommodate a wider variety of roles. He studied Kali stick fighting and even trained with Cecep Arif Rahman (The Raid 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum). Beyond his film work, Rahman is a genuine master of the Indonesian martial art called Pencak Silat. As a stunt coordinator, Silvera must keep pushing his training forward so he can meet the demands of his next project. “I just constantly want to keep learning different things and evolving.”

Silvera began officially working as a stuntman in movies and TV in 2005. You must work your way up to that director’s chair, and in the stunt industry, that means you’ve got to pay your dues and take a lot of hard knocks. By 2010, he got his first action and fight choreographer credit with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. That was followed by several coordinator roles on more video games like DC Universe Online, Batman: Arkham City, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. After an uncredited role assisting with the fight choreography in Iron Man 3, he received his first credited movie fight choreographer role for Thor: The Dark World.

Changing the Game

However, it was his work on Netflix’s Daredevil that caught the attention of both action and superhero fans. Silvera served as the Fight and Stunt Coordinator for the first two seasons of the series, and for action connoisseurs, he built a choreographic trademark for the show: the one-take fight scene. In Daredevil’s second episode, Silvera orchestrated a showstopping one-take hallway slugfest and every fan of fight choreography took notice. That scene propelled action in streaming TV to the cinematic level of big screen fight choreography. “I think most people would be surprised to hear that we designed that one-shot sequence in Daredevil in a day and a half,” Silvera says. 

Silvera followed up that hallway fight with a one-take stairwell scrap in season two (an episode directed by Marc Jobst, who also directed two episodes of Jupiter’s Legacy). Hallway and stairwell fights comprise two of the three most common settings for extended fight scenes (the third being warehouse fights – there’s an innumerable amount of these in actioners because it’s just easy and cheap to find warehouse locations). Hallways serve as a device to narrow the playing field when one person must take on several opponents. The width of the hallway restricts how many adversaries can come at the hero at a time. Silvera’s Daredevil hallway fight is held in the same esteem as the epic hallway fight in Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy and is considered by many to be the greatest TV fight scene to date. 

Stairway fights showcase technical expertise. The footwork must be precise because one misstep can result in a devastating ankle twist for any stunt person. Additionally, falling down stairwells isn’t easy. It requires top notch stunt people to stage safely. 

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Jupiter’s Legacy: From Page to Screen

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For Silvera to deliver such high-level fight choreography for the small screen was groundbreaking. Until the rise of streaming, most TV shows were more reserved with their action because it is a longer haul. A feature-length movie might contain half a dozen fight scenes, at best. An action TV series might stage that many fights in just two or three episodes, with plenty more over the course of the season. This takes an incredible toll on the stunt team, which is why many martial arts-themed TV series gas out before the season finale. This is what made Silvera’s work on Daredevil so revolutionary at the time. Now, a half decade later, many TV shows have upped their action game, but they owe a great debt to Silvera and his team. “I really enjoyed bringing Daredevil to life. Charlie Cox was amazing. That was a pleasure working with Steve DeKnight on that show.” 

Since then, Silvera has tackled several super powered action icons for the silver screen, like Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate, and the Jaegers in Pacific Rim: Uprising. Silvera has fond memories of sitting down with director Tim Miller while working on Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate and setting the parameters of superpowers in combat. “It’s always that they’re really good at this, but what’s their weakness?” The audience will accept superpowers if the film stays consistent within its constructs. For Silvera, it’s about finding a new challenge in every sequence. “What I try and do is always make it super relative to the characters and then make it so that the audience can feel something when they watch it.”

Super Fights

Spanning eight episodes in Season 1, Jupiter’s Legacy allows Silvera the space to stretch his choreographic legs. “I believe the action on our show pushes the story and the characters forward, as much as it does on any of the other shows I’ve worked on in the past,” Silvera says. “And I’m super excited to see what fans think of the storytelling, the nonverbal storytelling, that happens within our action sequences.” 

Non-verbal storytelling lies at the very heart of every action choreographer. The fight scenes are the climax of the story and that unspoken dialogue of conflict must rise to that or else an actioner will fail. “Nonverbal communication,” stresses Silvera, “like The Empire Strikes Back, the scene that happens between Luke and Vader.” His passion for the Star Wars franchise led him to direct “Star Wars: Scene 38 ReImagined.” It was a reworking of the first lightsaber battle we ever saw – Obi-Wan Kenobi versus Darth Vader. Silvera spliced together footage from Star Wars: A New Hope with new fight footage. Doubling for Obi-Wan was Dan Brown (Black Panther, Spider-Man: Far from Home). Vader was Richard Cetrone, who was Ben Affleck’s stunt double in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. “Both are seasoned stuntmen in this business and have been around for a while,” adds Silvera.

“Scene 38 ReImagined” was a huge success with over 33.5 million views on YouTube. “That was a bit of a test for myself, as a second unit director and a first unit director,” says Silvera. “I wanted to see if I could add the emotional content into a sequence, that you know the character’s full story from beginning to end.”

From Comics Panels to Movie Frames

Choreographing superheroes has its own unique rules. A still comic panel is one thing. Setting that action into motion is another thing altogether. While comics are akin to storyboarding, when it comes to fights, a few panels describe that action. It then becomes Silvera’s job to unravel that into a fight with a dozen or more beats. 

One of his favorite examples for Jupiter’s Legacy is the “Hilltop” sequence. In the original comic, it’s a ferocious battle told over only four panels. Silvera saw that raw brutality and constantly built on that mindset with his choreography. 

“Those four panels really set the tone of our show and you’ll see that in the first episode.” He’s especially proud of this Hilltop sequence, as well as many other favorites. Two more sequences that he mentions with special pride he dubs “Tokyo Alley” and “The Vault,” but Silvera won’t elaborate on those cryptic titles just yet. “I don’t want to give away too much.” Fans who’ve already read the comic can probably guess what he’s talking about. “It starts off big and it stays that way up to the very end.” 

And for those fans familiar with Frank Quitely’s spectacular art, Silvera adds “We do our best to match those panels and the emotion that he puts into them. He really set the bar for us. And I think we met it.”

Superhero Boot Camp

As with many casts, most of the Jupiter’s Legacy actors have minimal background in martial arts or stunts. However, Silvera prefers it that way. “You get to figure out their characters and their movement in a different way.” He’d have ideas for them and then see something natural come out of their body language, which he would cultivate into something new and exciting. 

The cast was put through vigorous training where Silvera says they all worked extremely hard. “Literally a month of bootcamp with the lead actors training every day with our fight team and fight coordinator.” The cast would come in and work on basic movements and fight drills. “And then they would ride the wire for hours because there’s a lot of flying in the show.” 

As Supervising Stunt Coordinator, Silvera is quick to credit his fight and stunt rigging team. Micah Karns is the fight coordinator and Jayson Dumenigo is the 2nd Unit Stunt Coordinator and Key Rigger, a critical role for a flying superhero show. The threesome has worked together since Daredevil and teamed up again for several successive projects including Deadpool, Terminator, Pacific Rim, and Love, Death & Robots. 

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“We have such a tight workflow at this point, from the years of us working together, that we know how to expedite things,” Silvera says. “We know how to keep up the pace. And we’re definitely doing seven days a week on this show.” The stunt team worked hand-in-hand with the cast for months to achieve the action that they wanted. “I’m super excited to see them and what they did come together on screen.”

The post Jupiter’s Legacy: Choreographing Superheroic Stunts appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[vole-mon-amour]

OTP tag game.

Tagged by @captainjowl. You know for sure than I'm struggling to pick only 10 & fit them in here. But hell, that’s fun, thank you <3

Rules: Choose 10 OTPs BEFORE reading the questions, and then get to answering

1) Harry James Potter & Sirius Orion Black

2) Daniel Le Domas & Grace (Ready or Not 2019)

3) Samuel & Nathan Drake (Uncharted 4)

4) Corvo Attano & The Outsider (+probably Emily Kaldwin; Dishonored series)

5) Steve Grant Rogers & Bucky Buchanan Barnes (Marvel)

6) Tony Edward Stark & Peter Benjamin Parker (Marvel)

7) Handsome Jack & Rhys (Borderlands video game series)

8) Damon Salvatore & Elena Gilbert (TVD Books & a tv show)

9) Batman & Joker (in every universe, really)

10) Adam Jensen x Francis Pritchard (Deus Ex video game series)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

I believe it didn't hit me before Spider-Man: Homecoming. Civil War was about Steve & Bucky for me, but when I saw that growing up Peter with Tony, their dynamic, chemistry. Tom & Robert are really just like that.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Lmao. I've read like 50% of the tag on AO3, I wrote my own & started a few wips on them. They are amazing. Plus, with that shitty canon? We didn't get enough of them & they deserved better, so it's only logical to save yourself with fanfiction.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

I was living with The Outsider icon on my twitter & tumblr. That one is still my Google profile picture I believe. Don't remember about having an icon with the two of them. Also had The Outsider as my lockscreen on my smartphone for a while.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Funny how it fits canon, lmao. Rhys literally tried to erase Jack's AI in TFTBL, so I guess another day on Pandora, nothing new. They torture each other, they kiss each other, they kill other people in the process. It'll be fiiine.

5. Why is 1 so important?

I love them since the first time I met them, which was much more than 10 years ago, I don't even remember when. At some point they were the reason I was waking up & forcing myself to eat just to read more fanfiction & feel something. Even if I was drowning in pain (I was extremely depressed), it was still something. I read every fic I could find at that time. The depression that Harry went through, all these feelings, his love for Sirius. I was living through it, I could relate.

I'm currently drowning in these two again, though in a much healthier & happier state. I see their flaws & I know as much as I can. I see them differently as an adult. They saved me, they keep being my number one, I still consider making a tattoo of Padfoot/Sirius or of both Harry & Sirius together. I have many headcanons, ideas, I write fics about them. They are everything, you see? They were my choice when there was nothing, no one. They are HOME.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Both. There goes the dynamic of Jack & Rhys: torture, fighting, flirting, a lot of trauma. I'd definitely say that they are wild and comical sometimes, but they are definitely serious. With the Asylum, the mental health issues. There is so much more to it, the complexity of their relationship. The struggle of loving who you probably shouldn't (but hey, when does it work like that?) Thinking about Tettlate's Batman, about Batman: Europa & how Joker was: "You must be crazy, putting me in charge of the plan, letting me decide. Okay, well..."

Nah, they are entertaining, but this is a serious ship.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Are you kidding me? They are all the definition of CHEMISTRY. I'd say 5, but then go 2, 6, 7, 8. Come on. I'm not choosing. Most of they are WILD.

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

The fandom itself? Idk. I found one of my favourite artists through this fandom. If it's about the characters themselves, I played the first game with the DLC from start to beginning, looking around every corner. Spent more than 60 hours in there. Watched a second game (my laptop can't run the game) and the DLC (obviously), since Francis is in the DLC & not in the main game. I have a tag for them on tumblr, I read fanfiction, I tried to write my own. I still follow Elias & want a third game. Elias liked my tweets about Adam and Jensen being an actual couple a few times. I'd say I interacted with all of this a lot? Still do, actually.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

5. Best friends since childhood, fought & died for each other, still found their way back to each other. "It would break your Captain's heart, to see what they did to you." That only the MENTION of Steve can pull Bucky out of this brain washing(ed?) state, distract him in the middle of a fight. When Steve died in the comics because of Sharon & Tony sent Natasha to take Steve's shield from Bucky because even Tony knew how much Steve means to Bucky. And Bucky was like: "Oh, I see what he did. Not happening!" Fought Natasha (that is his ex in the comics) & kept going for Steve's sake.

Well, you see the point, I can go on and on.

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They're not actually canon so none? They had a few fights: In Civil war (the comics), in Homecoming (the movie).  That only means that they’ve got history & love each other.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

As fierce Grace is, they wouldn't stand a chance against Damon & Elena. Those two had to deal with worst thing than brainless stupid zombies. On the other hand, if there were no alive humans to drink their blood... It's either an animal diet that Damon hates so much or I don't know? Still, they're faster & more powerful. Their bodies have advantage of healing the wounds as well.

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

From some people, yeah. Don't tell Athena, don't tell Vaughn, don't tell Fiona. Though Rhys wasn't very subtle about it & Jack just doesn't give a fuck. You will probably end up dead if you disagree or bore him, or if you're useless.

"I can take you to the top, but you gotta know where the top is" & Rhys doesn't tell anybody until Jack makes him the President for like whole 20 minutes lol.

Fiona & Sasha: "This can't be happening." Sure it can, darling.

14. Is 4 still together?

I have a headcanon about The Outsider finding Emily & Corvo after Billie frees him from the Void. He doesn't have anybody & they are his only friends aside from a potential friendship with Billie. And if we don't consider TOTO dlc, they definitely are! The Outsider visits them both when they sleep & takes them to the void sometimes. How could he not?

15. Is 10 canon?

Not really but also sort of? Let's say that they really care about each other in canon, despite Adam pushing Francis away because of his trauma & fear that Megan caused him. :/

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Can you imagine wizards fighting extremely powerful vampires? Superheroes with venom in their bodies that make them super strong with people that made a deal with the Devil himself (hi Le Bail)? 5000 y.o. God and his lover that share his powers and an augmented human protecting his tired IT guy? Combine mental health issues to that, Jack and Rhys with Batman and Joker. Corvo & The Outsider would probably slay them all as Corvo and Emily did in both games with entire islands, though it will still be a slaughter anyway.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

All the fucking time, lmaooo. I’m not even talking about it.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

I feel like I already did with Steve & Bucky after many Marvel movies (we're not even mentioning Endg*me, I fucking died & was dead for full 4-5 months).

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

I used to do that a few years back, but not anymore. There is not much content since the trilogy is finished.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

1 already went through it & fandom lives, so I'd say maybe 7? Rhys will find a way to bring Jack back & they are both so wild. It’s what happened in canon anyway. Jack kidnapped Lilith & forced her to do Angel's job, so I'd like to see that witch try at first. Jack is an immortal bastard. <3

Now that I think about it, Corvo would also deal with her in seconds as she waits to curse them.

As a conclusion: no one breaks up forever, we're killing the witch.

I tag: @ianmillkovichgallagher​ & @aledbr​

Whoever else wants to join the game, please do.

#otp #me #tumblr #harry x sirius #delena #corvosider #rhack #tony x peter #batjokes #jensard #steve x bucky #ready or not #drakecest

[djsaxby16]

Top Ten Favorite Portrayals of Superman

You know, with all the talk about about Crisis on Infinite Earths and all the actors coming back to play Superman, it really dawned on me just how many there really are. Given the fact that Superman is my all time favorite superhero, I thought I’d give a tribute to the man of steel himself. This is my top ten favorite portrayals of my favorite superhero, Superman.

10. Kirk Alyn

Many actors have dawned the cape and crest, but Kirk Alyn was the first. With two movie serials, Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman, Kirk was the first man to bring the man of steel to the big screen and to live action form, a legacy that should always be remembered.

9. Brandon Routh

Now I’ll be honest, I was not a big fan of Superman Returns. It’s definitely not the worst superhero film ever made, but it could have been better. However, I will give the film this, I really did enjoy Routh’s portrayal of Superman. He definitely nailed the persona of both Clark Kent and Superman and if he had had a better script, I definitely think more movies would have been made. Though I am beyond relived that he’s getting another chance to be the man of steel one more time, and as the Kingdom Come version no less!

8. George Newbern

While most people recognize George Newbern for the animated Justice League series, that’s not the reason he’s on this list. Oh no, I’m putting him on here for his amazing and chilling performance in Injustice. Just the idea of a fascist Superman is completely terrifying, and Newbern pulled it off amazingly. He was easily one of the best video game villains I’ve ever seen.

7. George Reeves

After talking about the man who first brought Superman to the big screen, we can’t forget the man who first brought him to the small one. The Adventures of Superman is just pure 50s fun. It has the action, the comedy, and the enjoyment that a Superman show from that era can bring. And George Reeves’ classic take on the man who could “bend steel in his bare hands” is such a fun take. His smile, his confidence, and his positive energy was just contagious. He was perfect for the first tv Superman.

6. Tim Daly

Let’s face it, Superman: The Animated Series had a lot to live up to after the impact that Batman: The Animated Series had. But the driving force behind that show in my opinion was Tim Daly as Superman. When I read a comic book, he is always the voice in my head for Superman. To this day, no other animated incarnation of Superman has been as memorable to me as he has. If Kevin Conroy is Batman, then Tim Daly is Superman.

5. Tyler Hoechlin

While the most recent live action adaptation of this character may still feel new, he has left his mark as one that will be remembered. I admit, I had my doubts about Derek from Teen Wolf becoming Superman. But let me tell you, his few episodes in Supergirl were easily some of the best ones, and I remember feeling incredibly bummed when he left as I wanted more of him. He was charismatic, tough, kind, and just an all around good guy. There are rumors he might get his own spin off and I hope to God that it’s true. He was definitely the right pick to bring the man of steel back to tv.

4. Dean Cain

When I was a little kid, I would always remember waking up and watching Lois & Clark every morning before school started. This show has stuck with me for a long time not only for its entertainment value, but as a different take on Superman. That take being how Clark is his true personality while Superman is the disguise. Plus the romantic comedy aspect just made a very entertaining adaptation of Superman. Sure it may not have been as grand or as big budgeted as other adaptations, but the pure nostalgia value and the fun reinvention of the character made for one heck of a fun show.

3. Henry Cavill

Now I know some of you may hate the DCEU and make fun of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. And if you feel that way, tough luck, I love both of those movies and Justice League. But most of all, I loved Henry Cavill as Superman. He is a Superman that is perfect for our current present time. He’s a very complex and intriguing character. He also feels very relatable, he isn’t just all knowing or perfect. He seeks others for help, he’ll call his Mom in the middle of the night when he’s upset, he’ll happily seek emotional support from his girlfriend and others, and he shined brighter than ever when he stood with the Justice League. This version of Superman was perfect to bring back to the big screen for this day and age. It’s complex, it’s challenging, and it makes you think. Just the fact that people STILL debate about him shows what an impact he had. What more could you ask for?

2. Tom Welling

What was great about Smallville was honestly it’s run time. Ten years, we got to see a boy from Kansas become the greatest hero ever. Ten years we watched how Clark matured and honed his power and accepted his legacy. Ten years, we saw friends become enemies, rivals become lovers, trials, adventures, and one of the greatest journeys ever put on tv. Tom has played the character longer than any other live action adaptation and he executed it brilliantly. From the shy farm kid, to the awkward teenager, to the hard working journalist, and to the amazing hero. Smallville was great because in those ten years, we saw the boy become Superman.

1. Christopher Reeve

I mean what else can you say? This man IS Superman. He will always be Superman. It doesn’t matter who else takes up the role in the future, Christopher Reeve will always be the perfect embodiment of Superman. He had absolutely everything, he had kindness, he had charm, he had comedy, he had drama, he had anger, he had sadness, he had bravery, he had love, he had compassion, he was just the absolute perfect Superman. It’s literally pointless to even try to compare him to anyone, no one will top Chris and it’s just a fact. Christopher Reeve is and always will be the one true Superman.

#superman #dc comics #dceu #smallville #supergirl #christopher reeve #tom welling #tyler hoechlin

[humanwritesviolations]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to head into the vault, to dig up some shit from years in the past.

Lemme just grab my shovel and...just a little...no no I got it it's fine...man, this is heavy with opinions, I bet it's a beaut!

...hmm, ranting about white folks. Well, whatever sticks to the wall, I guess. Roll 'em.

Representation

Dated: 3 years ago

Source: Dropbox

As a white man, I'm tired of listening to white men's stories.

Every time I watch TV or a movie, I'm subjected to and bombarded with story after story of Rich White Man, Scrappy White Man, Underdog White Man, Clever White Man, Brilliant White Man, Genius Scientist White Man, Unruly Doctor White Man, Tough Cop White Man, Strong Capable White Man.

White man, white man, white man, white man, white man.

If I wanted to hear a story about a white man, I would talk to most of the people I interact with at work, or in my social group, or on the internet, or literally anywhere in my life. I have four brothers and dozens of cousins, a bunch of friends and a lot of coworkers. The sum total percentage of white men in my life is probably around 80.

So why do I also need Christian Bale's Batman, Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, Finn Jones's Iron Fist, Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange and Sherlock, Hugh Laurie's House M.D., Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones, Henry Cavill as Superman, Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire as Spider-Man and about a thousand others I could name? Yes, I get that most of these characters are iconic and timeless and are being brought to life on the big screen, some for the first time and others for the fiftieth, but why are these stories so interesting that they need to be told and retold? What makes these characters so compelling while others are left to the side?

The Avengers are full of almost as many white men as Congress. Where is my Black Widow movie? When do we get to explore Falcon's story? Is Nick Fury (thank you to Avengers Ultimate, by the way, for going a different route with him in the first place) ever going to have some light shine on his background?

And don't get me started on "people don't want non-white male superheroes." Jessica Jones was heavily lauded by critics and views alike, and sits at 93%/90% on Rotten Tomatoes for critic/viewer response, respectively. When Luke Cage was released, it broke Netflix. BROKE. NETFLIX. It's at 96% Fresh.

And what about non-superhero stories? Well, Luther is 90% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and Idris Elba is about 150% Fresh in real life.

Even if you say that the protagonist doesn't matter, that it's the writers or the producers or the actors that make it good and not whether the star is white or black or male or female, I would agree with you - and say that if it doesn't matter, stop stacking the deck with white guys. Nick Fury was a J. Jonah Jameson lookalike in the original comics, minus the Hitler-stache, and now he's Samuel L. Jackson. You don't get cooler than that, and we're talking about a guy whose actual name is FURY. To be fair, who better to play him?

But if it doesn't matter in one direction, it doesn't matter in every direction - get us some representation.

"Sure," you might say, "but what about video games?"

Alright, let's compare apples to apples. Let's take a game that was well regarded and compare it to its sequel - I'm talking, of course, about Watch Dogs. Mainly because it's a good example, but also because I've played both of them.

Watch Dogs, starring the absolutely wooden Aiden Pearce doing his best impersonation of Christian Bale's Batman minus the charisma, clocks in at 80% on Metacritic. That's a pretty good score - I've paid full AAA price for games that rated lower than that. Its sequel stars Marcus Halloway, a young black hacker aspiring to follow in similar footsteps as our aforementioned hacker vigilante, who starts off his story by exhibiting personality traits such as humor, emotion and the ability to talk to other people without outward brooding. I've read a lot of user reviews that claim tokenism, calling out the game as a "cuck-liberal fantasy" that "drinks the Kool-Aid" to "wash down the blue pill" and other such terms intended to write off a thing as being too inclusive.

It scored 82%.

Now, you could make the argument that every aspect of the game was improved, and that you don't care about the characters or their backgrounds/races/nationalities. You could argue that it's a better game because of the gadgets, or the missions, or the story, or the UI or anything else. You'd have a good point - but you would be missing mine.

I'm not saying a black protagonist made for a better game. I'm saying that a game with a black protagonist WAS a better game. I'm saying that representation does not automatically turn off the audience. I'm saying that you can make a thing starring a not-white/male character and have it work.

But yes, I'm also saying that Marcus Halloway is a three-dimensional character while Aiden Pearce is a lifeless stawman. "Brooding white guy" is not cool anymore. It's boring. It's samey. I didn't care about Aiden, I didn't care about his strained relationship with his sister, I didn't care about his guilt over his niece.

I cared more about the drunken did-they-didn't-they one-night stand Marcus had prior to the opening credits of the sequel than I did about Adrian's entire story in the original.

I don't need another white guy hero. I don't want to see the trials of a rich white guy, or a scrappy white guy. Show me the struggles of a Chinese man. Show me how a black woman deals with life in her neighborhood. Show me what it's like to live a day in the life of a Mexican teenager. What's going on with the woman in Sub-Saharan Africa whose cousin was just arrested for a crime they didn't commit? How does a slice of Syrian life look in 1987? Afghanistan in 1998? Egypt in the 1960's? Zimbabwe at the turn of the century? Give me something interesting. Give me something original. Give me something new.

Give me something I haven't seen before.

And maybe give someone else a hero for a change.

[greencrusader13]

Tag! Get to know me!

Tag game! I’m asked questions, I provide answers. Since, as @dingoat​ already mentioned, the previous question #17 was a rather sudden question regarding a controversial topic, I’ve changed it as to keep things fun and friendly here!

Tagging: @melissagt​ @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond​ @anchanted-one​ @chubbyooo​ @made-of-starr-dust​ @captainderyn​ @glorfinniell​ @elaphaemourra​ @sheyshen​ @a-muirehen​ @tamariasykes​ @verbose-vespertine​ @swtorpadawan​ @commander-ralyle​

Rules: Always post the rules. Tag 11 new people you’d like to know better! 

1. Dogs or Cats? 

*Glances over at Raz, Terasas, Rysha, Mynai, Cirak, Tyar, and my various Elder Scrolls OCs...*

2. YouTube celebrities or normal celebrities? 

I don’t really get all that wrapped up in celebrity stuff. As long as someone has a kind heart and means well then I’ll root for them.

3. If you could live anywhere where would that be? 

I’m torn between living on some kind of waterfront (beach, lake, whatever) or somewhere out in the hills with a beautiful view.

4. Disney or DreamWorks? 

Disney, but both have great works. Megamind is one of my favorite animated films period, but I think Disney has a wider range of high-quality films.

5. Favorite childhood TV show? 

Gosh I gotta wrack my brain about what shows I watched as a kid. I’d probably have to say Avatar: The Last Airbender. My sister and I would wake up early to watch it on weekends.

6. The movie you’re looking forward to most in 2020?

Although there’s next to no information out about it at the moment, I have to say Tenet, which is being directed by Christopher Nolan, who happens to be my favorite director.

7. Favorite book you read in 2019?

I have read painfully few books this year, but I’d have to say Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft.

8. Marvel or DC?

Marvel, although Batman is my favorite superhero. 

9. If you choose Marvel favorite member of the X-Men? If you choose DC favorite Justice League member?

Close call between Nightcrawler and Jean Grey. The Dark Phoenix saga was one of the first comic books I’d read when I was a little kid.

10. Night or Day?

Day.

11. Favorite Pokemon? 

It’s been ages since I last played any Pokemon games, but I’d have to say Espeon. Good kitty.

12. Top 5 bands/artists:

Hozier

Of Monsters and Men

Florence + the Machine

Lifehouse

Snow Patrol

13. Top 10 books.

(screaming internally at the daunting list of books I’ve read)

The Codex Alera series

The Name of the Wind

The Lord of the Rings

A Clash of Kings

The Drawing of the Three

The Way of Kings

The Warded Man

Dracula

Black Sun Rising

Dune

14. Top 4 movies

FOUR?! I SEE WAY TOO MANY MOVIES TO BOIL IT DOWN TO JUST FOUR!!!

...but I’ll try.

Inception

Memento

Return of the King

Guardians of the Galaxy

15. America or Europe? 

I’m from the United States, but I’m gonna have to say Europe. They seem to have a much better grasp on how to handle healthcare compared to the backwards-ass system we have across the Atlantic.

16. Tumblr or Twitter? 

Tumblr, but only because I don’t use Twitter all that much.

17. Favorite vacation destination? 

When I was a kid we once went to Sun Valley in Idaho to go skiing. I just have these very fond memories of being out in the snow and wandering around the area near where we’d rented a condo for our stay. It was just a wonderful experience.

18. Favorite YouTuber?

At the moment it’s Alpharad, but I’ve held a few favorites over the years, such as Markiplier, Game Grumps, and so forth.

19. Favorite author ?

Brandon Sanderson. He has such a pleasant and engaging writing style, and tells stories that make me feel glued to the page.

20. Tea or Coffee?

Tea, by process of elimination. Coffee just tastes blech.

21. OTP? 

If we’re talking my own ships, then Raz/Rysha by a country mile. They are my sweethearts, and their relationship just makes me happy.

If we’re not, then Rick/Michonne from The Walking Dead television series. They are the epitome of how to develop a couple naturally and over time during a series’ run.

22. Do you play an instrument/sing ? 

I used to take choir in high school, but that was awhile ago and my vocal quality has declined severely as a result. I used to sing baritone back then, sometimes bass if there was nothing baritone-specific for the song. Every now and then I could hit the tenor range if the notes were low enough, but that was rare.

#tag meme #all about me

[justgotham]

Mod Note: This article was originally written in French and has been translated by a web-translation tool.

After five long years, the Gotham series will soon reach its conclusion. Filming is already over, actors Robin Lord Taylor and Cory Michael Smith , respective interpreters of the Penguin and Riddler TV version, have ventured into our capital on the occasion of the 27th Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show . An opportunity for us to meet them and discuss their work, as well as their feelings on the conclusion of this adventure, which will have shown all the colors to the characters - at the moment of diffusion, we are have not seen everything yet. Good reading !

Hello to both of you. Gotham ends this year with the fifth season. Did your way of working change anything knowing that it was the end?

Robin Lord Taylor (RLT): It has not changed much. The most important thing was this feeling of intensity, as we were getting each of the scripts, we had this desire to finish the arches of these characters that had been built for several years. Each script arrived and it became more and more intense. We also realized the time we spent, with all the people on the sets, writers, production ...

Cory Michael Smith (CMS): The most important thing was really trying to do the best possible way to complete the transformation of these characters.

Your two characters have evolved a lot in the meantime: friends, enemies, potential lovers? How has your relationship evolved?

CMS  : you can imagine that after five years it brought us closer together (laughs)! I owe a lot to Robin who helped me and who taught me a lot about the game, how to be on the set, and over the seasons I think we can say that it became one of my closest friends.

RLT  : your working relationship is changing along the way!

Gotham started in a down-to-earth way, and moved farther and farther from these flowerbeds. How did you feel in your work?

CMS  : the tone has changed a lot over the seasons. At the beginning, it was a series that talked about taking power, and as the city became more and more damaged, the turns became more and more violent, dark, it turned into a story of survival.

There are sometimes so many things that happen in one episode, you never had trouble following? You watched the series at the same time?

CMS  : it's true that it has become difficult. And even more, moving forward in the seasons, remembering everything. In my head it became a real mush. I would have a lot more facilities to make you the debrief of what happened to my character during the first three seasons than in the last two, honestly.

RLT  : There's something pretty fantastic about it, when you're moving around conventions, like here, and meeting your fans, talking to you about this or that moment of the show - even if it's sometimes hard remember everything! As for watching the series, I did it at the beginning, I had to follow the first two seasons. Then I had less time, I was busy and I had to stop.

But one thing that I'm really happy about, and that I think contributed to the quality of the series, is that before turning every episode, the whole team would get together to read the script around 'a table. And each actor who was available made a point of honor to come to these meetings, because that's where you are what happens to Bruce, to Selina, to those characters with whom you do not play scenes. It helped me a lot.

Did you read Batman comics before taking on the roles of Riddler and Penguin?

CMS: I was not a connoisseur of comics before the casting. I had watched a few before the audition. But once the role had, I read more, and I started to pinball realizing that I had a responsibility to contribute to a whole mythology and what had not been before. Reading the comics, I saw how the character had changed over the decades, and I found it reassuring.

It had to distill the main features of the character, which are consistent with age, and I could then make my version of the character, as long as it is respectful of his DNA. There are winks to history, and to spectacular moments that have happened in the course of history. I had a lot of discussion with the showrunners and story writers I had loved, asking if they could be included in the series.

RLT  : Like Cory, I was not a connoisseur, I had read some comics being younger. When I had the role, as DC was involved in the production, I met Geoff Johns, who was DC's head at the time, and he selected some of the Penguin stories that he had sent to me. it helped me a lot. This is where many elements of the character's past come from.

And these are things that, unless you're a big Batman player, you can not know because they have not been shown in movies, or previous iterations of the Penguin. Things we do not talk about. I found them in the comics, and I was able to bring them back in Gotham, which made the character much more three-dimensional.

Yet Gotham does not hesitate to take big liberties with the comics. There is no limit to what an adaptation can do vis-à-vis the original material?

CMS: All decisions that have been made for the series have been approved by DC Comics . All sorts of freedom that Gotham was able to take with cannon are a reflection of DC's willingness to explore stories and sub-intrigues, but also to reinvent them, to reimagine. It was a kind of modeling clay that we had, and that's how it has survived for decades, and people continue to be excited about it all. It's a bit of a call, in some ways, to the creative spirit that writers and producers brought to the show. To challenge old tropes and as a way of saying "this is our version". DC Comics gave us our support, and told us to do what we wanted.

You had nothing to complain about in writing your characters or your scenes?

CMS  : it was a collaborative process. There were a few moments when I manifested myself on the story, when I wanted to be heard. I thought something would be a stronger choice, or that other directions would be more conducive. But I only spoke when I really wanted to. The rest of the time I was excited to see what they would make me do, I was glad they surprised me and see where they were going to take me.

RLT  : when we started the series, Bruno Heller , the showrunner and executive producer, told all the actors "you are the guardians of these characters, you will know them much more deeply than any screenwriter, so collaborate with them. He opened the door. This is a real gift for an actor, especially with these characters who have been there for 80 years, to protect them, to work with the writers room , and see the changes. On the course, new writers arrived, and it was necessary to see with them for modifications that had been made before their arrival.

If you could go back in time and change only one thing, what would you choose?

CMS  : Give. Me. A. Cane! (laughs) I wanted so much a cane, to hit people with it, to make it spin. In the end we only see it for two seconds. That's all I wanted. A cane !

RLT  : For my part, I think other umbrella gadgets would have been welcome. But OK !

What's aesthetic then?

(In chorus): Yes!

Thank you so much !

#Edward Nygma #Cory Michael Smith #Oswald Cobblepot #Robin Lord Taylor

[killjoytrait]

🌸   :  meet the simblr

i came across @hurtsim‘s post of this and he indirectly tagged everyone reading, so: here! (i also thought it would make a good first post) rules are to share your simself, traits, aspiration, anything you want to!

i tag everyone reading that wants to do it (+ also @simending because he just followed me and i’m nothing if not excitable)

i also answered the same 125 questions that you can find below the cut

happy simming! i look forward to my new life of attempting to be a simblr

1. what is your full name? dana marie [redacted]. 2. what are your nicknames? dani, red. just call me dani. 3. birthday? july 22nd. 4. what is your favorite book series? probably the percy jackson series. it was a big part of my younger years. 5. do you believe in aliens or ghosts? both. 6. who is your favorite author? rick riordan i guess? or rainbow rowell. 7. what is your favorite radio station? i don’t really listen to the radio often enough to have one. 8. what is your favorite flavor of anything? in general i like almost chocolate anything. fruit-flavored wise my favorite is blue raspberry or strawberry. 9. what word would you often use to describe something great or wonderful? in a meme context or a more serious one? bc i’ll say that something is ‘lit af’ but i’ll also say it’s fantastic or wonderful, etc. 10. what is your current favorite song? i can’t narrow it down to one, so a few are “play it cool” by monsta x, “the eve” by exo, “killing me” by ikon, “bellyache” by billie eilish, “youngblood” by 5sos, and “high hopes” by p!atd. 11. what is your favorite word? to be honest, probably ‘fuck.’ 12. what was the last song you listened to? "promise” by ateez. 13. what tv show would you recommend for everyone to watch? avatar: the last airbender or steven universe. 14. what is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? spirited away. or coco. 15. do you play video games? not as often as i would like to, but heck yeah. 16. what is your biggest fear? being alone/forgotten. oh and holes. 17. what is your best quality, in your opinion? i can be funny sometimes. and my eyes are a nice color? 18. what is your worst quality, in your opinion? i can be really moody. also i’m anxious and sad like 25/7 so that’s not fun. 19. do you like cats or dogs better? cats. 20. what’s your favorite season? fall. spring would be alright, but it’s too rainy and also allergies. 21. are you in a relationship? i am, yes. 22. what is something you miss from your childhood? not having responsibilities. 23. who is your best friend? one of my first friends i made in my short college stint. (and also my ex-girlfriend) 24. what is your eye color? green. 25. what is your hair color? strawberry-blonde, ginger, whatever you call it. 26. who is someone you love? i love my handful of close friends. 27. who is someone you trust? my girlfriend. 28. who is someone you think about often? like forty different korean boys, i don’t even know. also my girlfriend. 29. are you currently excited about/for something? a convention i’m going to next month. 30. what is your biggest obsession? i don’t even know. it’s a tie between kpop and sour gummi worms. 31. what was your favorite tv show as a child? arthur! living that pbs kid life. 32. who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? no one. 33. are you superstitious? i can be, yeah. 34. do you have any unusual phobias? i’m trypophobic which is kind of unusual? i probably have others that i can’t think of though. 35. do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? i take 99% selfies, so both. 36. what is your favorite hobby? spending hours downloading cc and constantly remaking sims instead of actually playing my game. 37. what was the last book you read? i have no idea. i haven’t been able to finish a book since high school. 38. what was the last movie you watched? i really don’t know, yikes. 39. what musical instruments do you play, if any? i can play the opening of ‘welcome to the black parade’ and that’s about it. 40. what is your favorite animal? sloths. i love sloths. 41. what are your top 5 tumblr blogs that you follow? they’re all amazing so i dunno. 42. what superpower do you wish you had? shapeshifting. 43. when and where do you feel most at peace? probably asleep. or just lowkey chilling with my friends. 44. what makes you smile? tons of things; the moon, stuffed animals, my friends, a comfy hoodie. i might be a sad bitch but i’m a smiley sad bitch. 45. what sports do you play, if any? i don’t. 46. what is your favorite drink? i only really drink water, sprite, or lemonade. 47. when was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? like two years ago? 48. are you afraid of heights? i’m afraid of falling. 49. what is your biggest pet peeve? customers being rude to people in the service industry. 50. have you ever been to a concert? mhm. 51. are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian. 52. when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? an artist, a pop star, or an actress. 53. what fictional world would you like to live in? ugh probably the harry potter universe but only under the conditions that i am magical and get to attend hogwarts. (based on my location i would be at ilvermorny but no thanks) 54. what is something you worry about? everything. 55. are you scared of the dark? absolutely. 56. do you like to sing? constantly. 57. have you ever skipped school? of course. 58. what is your favorite place on the planet? i’d say my room but i currently hate where i’m living so i dunno. 59. where would you like to live? a bigger city. not sure where exactly. 60. do you have any pets? i have three fish. 61. are you more of an early bird or night owl? night owl. 62. do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunrise, even though I rarely see them. 63. do you know how to drive? not really. 64. do you prefer earbuds or headphones? earbuds. 65. have you ever had braces? no. i need them though. 66. what is your favorite genre of music? kpop isn’t technically a genre, but that. along with pop punk and alternative. 67. who is your hero? i don’t really have one that i can think of. batman? 68. do you read comic books? i used to. 69. what makes you the most angry? injustice? tons of things make me angry and that’s not a list i’m about to get into. but also terfs. 70. do you prefer to read on an electronic device or a real book? it depends on how long the book is or where i’m reading. 71. what is your favorite subject in school? it was history. i’d go become a history teacher if i wasn’t so bad at college. 72. do you have any siblings? yes. 73. what was the last thing you bought? a nasa hoodie. 74. how tall are you? 5′10 or about 177cm. 75. can you cook? vaguely. 76. what are three things that you love? the sound of rain when i don’t have to be outside, being asleep, and lgbtq+ rights. 77. what are three things that you hate? going to sleep, screaming children, and biphobia. 78. do you have more female friends or male friends? female. 79. what is your sexual orientation? bisexual. 80. where do you currently live? the usa. 81. who was the last person you texted? my best fren. 82. when was the last night you cried? last night. 83. who is your favorite youtuber? probably lavendertowne. 84. do you like to take selfies? yeah. 85. what is your favorite app? probably youtube? or spotify. 86. what is your relationship with your parent(s) like? my relationship with my dad is pretty good, and i don’t really have a relationship with my mom, nor do i want one. 87. what is your favorite foreign accent? um, southern brit? i also just enjoy listening to other languages even when i can’t understand them. 88. what is a place that you’ve never been to, but want to visit? literally anywhere outside of the usa. i’ve never left the country. but especially rome. 89. what is your favorite number? 4, 7, and 35. 90. can you juggle? absolutely not. 91. are you religious? not really? 92. do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? space. 93. do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really, no. 94. are you allergic to anything? i’m lactose intolerant and i get seasonal allergies. 95. can you curl your tongue? nope. 96. can you wiggle your ears? nah. 97. how often do you admit that you were wrong about something? i’ll admit it when it’s a friend or when the person hasn’t made me mad. 98. do you prefer the forest or beach? the forest. i can’t stand sand. 99. what is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? “just, you do you, and fuck everyone else.” from my dad 100. are you a good liar? yeah. 101. what is your hogwarts house? ravenclaw. 102. do you talk to yourself? constantly. 103. are you an introvert or extrovert? ambivert, but closer to the introverted end. 104. do you keep a journal/diary? no, i’ve tried and i can never keep up with them for more than a week. 105. do you believe in second chances? depends on what they’ve done, but usually no.   106. if you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? turn it in. keeping it would cause me too much stress. 107. do you believe people are capable of change? once again, it depends on what they’ve done. 108. are you ticklish? sometimes? 109. have you ever been on a plane? not one that was off the ground. 110. do you have any piercings? yes, seven.  111. what fictional character do you wish was real? steve rogers. 112. do you have any tattoos? not yet, sadly. 113. what is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? staying alive. 114. do you believe in karma? yes. 115. do you wear glasses/contacts? yeah, my eyesight is awful. 116. do you want children? no. 117. who is the smartest person you know? i really don’t know, 118. what is your most embarrassing memory? every moment of middle school. 119. have you ever pulled an all-nighter? so many times. 120. what color are most of your clothes? black. 121. do you like adventures? i love them. 122. have you ever been on tv? i don’t think so? maybe in the background of my local news or something? 123. how old are you? twenty. 124. what is your favorite quote? “sometimes i can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives i am not living.” from extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer. 125. do you prefer sweet or savory foods? sweet!

if you actually read this far, thank you for being interested or at least bored enough to read!

TLDR: i’m a disaster bi.

(credit for the lovely traits overlay goes to @/cupidjuicecc)

#meet the simblr #that's not a tag but it is now #about me #depression tw #anxiety mention #only lightly passed by #but i want to be safe #ts4 #simblr #ts4 simblr #*mine