Tumgik
#i will support omni mans wrongs
honeyppie · 5 months
Text
I'm just saying that if the Guardians of the Globe really wanted to help society then they wouldn't have gotten their asses demolished by Omni man 🤷🏾‍♀️
8 notes · View notes
blazingemeraldau · 1 year
Text
Just want to mention
If you support/use the label mspec lesbians, bi lesbians, pan lesbians, omni lesbians, etc.
Do not interact with me. The label mspec lesbians is harmful
If you are a man, or are attracted to men in any way, you are not a lesbian.
If you like all genders but have a preference for nonmen, you cannot call yourself a lesbian
Common Arguments I've heard:
"But Bi doesn't mean you like men! Just two or more genders!!"
Okay so what's a pan lesbian then?
Pan means you are attracted to people regardless of what they identify as. This can include men.
Besides, bi people have gotten accused of being 50% gay and 50% straight. The labels Lesbian and gay are a homoromantic (gay) label, not a multi-spec one. You are not only harming lesbians, but bi people are well.
"We are including trans and nonbinary people by using the label mspec lesbian!"
I know the definition of a lesbian varies, but it says "woman loving woman, nonbinary loving woman, nonbinary living nonbinary, etc"
In case you didn't know, the lesbian label already includes trans women and nonbinary people. By claiming it doesn't, and making a new label that causes more harm than good, you are being transphobic and enbyphobic.
"If a man thinks lesbians are attracted to men, that's their fault! Not ours!"
Yes, but you're not exactly helping by using the label.
If someone said that lesbians are attracted to men in some percent, whether 1% or 99%, someone could believe that. And when they meet a lesbian, a man could hit on them, despite them not being attracted to them.
You are not helping by using the label mspec lesbian
"Why do you care anyways? It's just a label! People should be able to use whatever label they want without someone saying "Hey you can't use that!"
"Why can't I say I'm a black person even though my skin tone is white? It's just a label!"
"Why can't I say I'm a trans gay person when I'm cis and hetero? It's just a label!"
"Why can't I say I have PTSD even though I don't? It's just a label!"
See what's wrong here? By saying "It's just a label!" You are saying "People can use whatever label they want despite said label is not for them to use!"
According to your logic, a gay man can say he is a lesbian. After all its just a label.
A homophobe can say they are trans and gay. After all it's just a label!
Oh, it's bad for them to use labels offensively? But wait! I thought you said it was just a label!!
The label "Lesbians is for a nonbinary person, woman, loving another nonbinary person, or woman." Men are not included in the label lesbian. Mspec lesbians are throwing the idea that men can be into lesbianism, and guess what! We have shit like lesboys, and straight-lesbians! But I guess it doesn't matter does it? After all, It's jUsT a LaBeL!
(Apologies for getting a bit personal and angry there)
"What if a trans man comes out as trans but doesn't want to lose the lesbian label?"
(Yes this was an argument I've gotten)
Lemme say it so yall can hear it
TRANS MEN ARE MEN
TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN
If a trans man comes out as trans, they are no longer a lesbian since they are not a woman. They can just say they are straight. (Yes, not every trans person is homoromantic. Some are trans but they are hetero. And that's fine!!)
Saying "He's a trans man but identifies as a lesbian!" Is transphobic. He is a man; if you're saying he is a lesbian, you're saying he is not man/ being lesbiphobic.
"But we don't have a label to use!" Or, "We are using the split attraction model!"
Simple:
"I'm bisexual but with a preference towards women!"
"I'm romantically attracted to women, but sexually attracted to all genders!"
"I like guys and girls, but prefer guys on the romantic side"
Or if that's too hard, just say you're bi. Or pan. Or omni
You don't need to create a harmful label that contradicts both labels.
Lesbian is not an umbrella term.
Lesbian doesn't include men
If you are attracted to men you are not a lesbian
If you are a man you are not a lesbian
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk
41 notes · View notes
mtreebeardiles · 2 years
Note
“Maybe you could use that mouth for more than just talking nonsense.”
lmao it's short but i had fun with it! Under a cut for some mild spice and also over on AO3!
Thanks for the prompt!
“It’s not something you can just do, you know! Like! It’s… circumstantial!”
“Mhmm.”
“Not every instance is appropriate!”
“Uh-huh.”
“And like! So many things could go wrong! It’s not like being cutesy, you know? Cute I can do. Right? I’m cute!”
“Very.”
“So I don’t think it’s fair for Jack to insinuate that I’m automatically incapable of talking dirty!”
“Absolutely.”
Kaidan glanced up from the ‘pad he was perusing to see his husband glowering at his omni-tool. Any hopes he had that maybe Evvy was starting to wind down were dashed by the way the other man was tapping briskly against his own kneecap. 
Kaidan bit back a sigh, quietly cursing Jack for her less than subtle digs at brunch earlier that day and how they had managed to make what should have been a low key last night for their Citadel visit into…
This. 
“I can do it if I want to.”
“I know you can, baby.”
“I just don’t want to!”
“And that’s okay.”
“It is!”
“One hundred percent.”
He glanced up again to see Everett had shifted his glare onto him. He raised his eyebrows, the picture of innocence, and fought hard not to grin. 
“I feel like maybe you’re patronizing me, Nerdlet.”
“I feel like I ran out of supportive things to say like an hour ago, honey. It’s okay if you can’t do dirty talk. I don’t exactly do it either, and it’s not really something that does it for me anyway.”
“I know! I know. I just…”
Kaidan sighed, setting his data pad aside. “Evvy. Baby. Listen to me: Jack is trying to get your goat. She is always trying to get your goat. You have got to stop letting her, or at least make it more of a challenge.”
Everett narrowed his eyes at him.
“But —“
“No,” Kaidan cut in firmly. “No buts. You gotta let it go.”
“But —“
“You know,” Kaidan interrupted again, “maybe you could do more with that mouth than just talking nonsense.”
Silence. Everett’s eyes narrowed further, and Kaidan squinted at him in turn.
 Evvy was the one to crack, snorting, and Kaidan sat back in triumph. 
“First of all, that was terrible,” Everett began, shifting on the bed and earning another raised eyebrow. “And second of all,” he went on, undoing the tie at Kaidan’s waistline. “This is not me rewarding you for it.”
“No?”
“No,” Everett confirmed, tugging his pants and briefs down without further ado. Kaidan shifted, making it easier, asking, “so this is not because of the dirty talk?”
“This is for being very cute, and very endearing, and making me laugh.”
“N—“ Kaidan gasped, jerking, grateful for Evvy’s hand on his hip holding him steady when he abruptly dipped to take him into his mouth.  
He slipped his fingers into Evvy’s hair, letting his head tilt back, eyes fluttering shut as the sensations set a coil of want curling deep in his gut. “--noted.”
12 notes · View notes
fool-of-a-took1 · 1 year
Text
Homophobia and transphobia is honestly really weird. If we have examples with the same principle but another subject not many people would think it makes sense.
For example, if we compare which hand is dominant. The norm and most common thing is being right handed, we’re gonna pretend that equals straight people. Same thing goes for left handed people corresponds with homosexuals. We also have ambidextrous people let’s say that’s people who like more than one gender.
Now I don’t think anyone will judge you on which hand you’re more dominant in (if it’s not a case of copying you while you’re writing and you have your hand covering the text(left handed struggle,believe me)), no one will go “oh you don’t write with you right hand, that’s weird/wrong/disgusting” right?
(Now this is in no way accurate statistics of course, just a comparison)
(I couldn’t really get in ace/aro spectrum example on this one without making it sound like a disability or something in style with “and then some people don’t have hands” and that is in no way what I want so I’m sorry)
We can also use food as an example:
(Once again only comparisons)
Homophobic person: my favourite food is pizza
Homosexual: I enjoy hamburgers more
Bi: yeah I like both
Pan/omni: Mhm me too, I also like sushi
Ace/ aro spectrum: I don’t really like any of those.
Homophobic: HOW IS PIZZA NOT YOUR FAVOURITE, WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!
(Now I am not saying that everyone that likes pizza are like that, there are a lot of pizza lovers that support other foods too.)
And then we have another one.
Let’s say that a person grew up with mostly crime novels to read and didn’t really like them. But then they realised that oh romantic slowburns are more their type of books. And then someone else realise that they don’t really like to read at all. And someone don’t really know so they go back and forth between different genres.
Now imagine someone going I there being like “Why do you not like the same genre, something is wrong with you” or someone being like “why did you realise you like this genre more than the one you had at home, that you never liked anyway, weirdo?”
Now this works as an example for both homophobia(other sexualities included) and transphobia.
And if you say that “liking the same gender isn’t natural” I’ll tell you this.
The only other species that has homophobia is a sort of spider, the rest of the animal kingdom doesn’t think of it negatively.
If you say it’s against you religion well let me just give you thing for Christianity(honestly can’t give you so much on other religions as I’m not really that well educated on their view on lgbtqia for the moment). There will be people saying that in the bible it says that you shan’t love a man the same way you love a woman (directed to males) or something like that and what I have to say is that *NEWSFLASH* God didn’t write the Bible, humans did. Plus the translation could have been wrong.
And like if God I’d love why wouldn’t he support love?
Oh and to the people saying “god doesn’t make mistakes” about trans people, that also means he meant them to be there and for them to be trans so you’re arguing against yourself, also there are people born with disabilities and we do stuff to “fix” that so why shouldn’t we help people that have been born in the wrong body?
Please don’t get mad at me for not mentioning you’re sexuality and/or gender identity, I’m not an expert and this is just my thoughts on queer-phobia stuff
Love is love and porn is sex but sex is not porn🏳️‍🌈❤️
4 notes · View notes
spellbook-gayboy · 2 years
Text
Cape-Watch Monthly News Bulletin- June 2022
Hey, y’all! I’m your host, Christina Cabello, bringing you the latest roundup of this month’s supe-related news with the Cape-Watch Monthly Bulletin! June has proved quite a surprising month for our spandex sentinels, and we can’t wait to give you the top stories!:
Famous Superhero Found Alive After 30-Year Disappearance
Kicking off this list is a comeback story I don’t think anyone saw coming! Yesterday, the government liaison to the superhero community, Peter Schlottman, announced in a conference that the legendary superhero Frontline was discovered somewhere in the vicinity of the Himalayan mountains. Cape-Watch reached out to Mr. Schlottman’s office for further comment, and received this statement:
“All of us in the superhero community are overjoyed to hear of Frontline’s return; to have such an incredible advocate for superhero ideals back among us again is such an amazing turn of events, and it is my great pleasure to be the one announcing the news. All of us in the office and the wider community wish him a speedy recovery and a swift return to active duty.”
The hero, formerly a soldier in the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, made his debut on the battlefields of World War 2, fighting alongside other famous heroes like The Immortal, Red Rush and War Woman as a part of the world’s first superhero team, The Defenders of The Free World. After the war’s end, he then served a nearly 50 year long career as a superhero, doing everything from helping found The Guardians Of The Globe to leading his own team called Breakthrough throughout the 1980s and even helping to found the first incarnation of the Teen Team, all the while cementing himself as an important and influential hero. He was presumed dead after disappearing while on a mission in November 1994, but it seems recent events have since proved otherwise. 
The timing of this news also appears to be incredibly opportune: with much of the world still reeling from the reveal of Omni-Man’s true intentions, perhaps the rediscovery could represent a return to a more old-fashioned style of heroics. Whether or not this ends up panning out, only time will tell.
MLM Superhero Couple Empower LGBTQ+ Youth Worldwide
In other news, Pride Month has once again rolled around, a time for many to express their truest selves openly. A quite surprising example of this is none other than a member of The Guardians Of The Globe, Rex Splode! The hero publicly revealed at the New York Pride Parade his romantic relationship with the popular solo hero Invincible, before simply stating “Oh, I’m bi, by the way”. Seems very on-brand given his reputation, and when Cape-Watch asked for further comment from the liaison’s office, we instead received a statement from the man himself:
“Well, I can’t imagine what else you’d want after that interview we had with you, but sure! In case you didn’t already make it clear to the readers, I like guys. The guy I’m with is Invincible, and he’s great! He’s also got a great ass- I mean a great sense of right and wrong. Is that good enough?”
Despite the less than formal structure of his statement, the couple have received an outpouring of support from many gay rights groups around the country, with a spokesperson of BiNet USA stating the news was an “important step for LGBTQ+ representation in the superhero community, and also provides many LGBTQ+ youth with positive role models to grow up idolising”
My view on the matter? Happy Pride to the both of them! If superheroes can be comfortable in loving who they want, then maybe there’s hope for the rest of us.
Cooking Stream Mishaps Breaks Internet and Raise Millions
On a slightly more comedic note, the more culinary-inclined Guardian Shrinking Rae hosted another episode of her popular cooking show ‘Recipes with Rae’. Forgoing her usual co-star and teammate Dupli-Kate, she instead invited two others for a special charity stream: the new San Diego-based hero Magic Man, and the newest member of the Guardians, the Martian hero Shapesmith. What started out as a simple recipe for fried catfish soon devolved into complete chaos, the cooking thrown aside as they were soon forced to stop a tentacle monster from emerging from the sink. Suffice it to say, the clips of all the madness quickly made their way into many of the biggest social media platforms, being made into everything from reaction GIFs to funny memes. 
Despite the sudden descent into disorder, the stream was successful in raising the funds for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, prompting this overjoyed statement from the charity’s scientific advisor, Dr. Maxine Dreyfus, Ph.D.:
“It is events like this that remind us that not only do superheroes protect us from physical threats, but also work tirelessly to help us overcome evils such as cancer, leukaemia and other catastrophic diseases. We at the charity thank Shrinking Rae and her allies for their contributions to our cause, and they can rest knowing that what they have done for us will save lives for many more years to come”
Another great result, it seems. My compliments to the chef!
The Order Dealt Devastating Blow By Hero Coalition
To round off our bulletin, recent reports have revealed that the infamous supervillain group The Order have suffered massive losses as a result of combined effort between Capes Incorporated and The Actioneers. Several of their most notorious members, including the likes of Slaying Mantis and Red-Eye, were captured and transported to the appropriate holding facilities while many of their strongholds around the world were raided by government agents. In light of the news, Capes Inc. leader Commander Capitalism released a public statement detailed below:
“The work was long and hard, but thanks to the support of Sergeant Superior and the others, our combined arms have yielded important results. Now, while I understand if you feel the need to celebrate right now, I must remind you: many of The Order’s members, including Set, Mr. Liu and Octoboss remain at large, and there are many of their bases we weren’t able to locate. If you see them, do not hesitate to report their whereabouts to the appropriate authorities. Rest assured, citizens, that we will not stop until all of their members are behind bars”
And that’s all, y’all! We’d like to thank all of our fans who continue to support Cape-Watch with their donations, since you guys are what keeps the lights on around here! Remember, folks: stay safe, stay hydrated, and tune in next month for more of the biggest superhero stories around!
7 notes · View notes
asarunelson999 · 1 year
Text
Watch "Tabitjet Setting The Whole Mess Straight!!!" on YouTube
youtube
The ones who are liars 
"78. You claim that I, Paa Nabab: Yaa-Nanan “The Master Yaanuwn” was your master teacher and that you trust in what I teach and that you accept myself as your role model.
79. Surprisingly enough, you actually did not trust myself. You only used what I teach for your own ego. In fact, you only trusted in the evil ones and the lust and lusters they offer. You are totally committed to deception.
80. To us of Wu-S'abat', it is preferable to have trustworthy people who practice Wu-S'abat', our own doctrine, RATHER THAN TO TRY AND MIX OLD DOCTRINES of Bible and Quraan to gain followings as you do. Holding onto that which has EXPIRED.
81. You also maintained that you trusted in The Actual Facts, The Way, The Secrets of Yaanuwn and other things I presented to you in spite of such declaration. YOU ASSAULTED MY TEACHINGS WITH YOUR OWN INTERPRETATIONS of them and even try and eliminate parts you don’t wish to use to support your own gain.
82. The most outrageous atrocity of all is your fabrication of the culture and way of life of us as The United Sabaeans Worldwide, Yamassee Natives. You and your alterations and deceptions which you ascribe to myself that I am the one who appointed, selected, chosen, delegated, designated, nominated, assigned, authorized, YOU ARE A LIAR and I did not make you any such position.
83. The Omni-verse appointed me when the time was right for my incarnation June 26th, 1945 A.D., one second past 12 midnight on Tuesday. So I was named Kobina “Tuesday” and given many attributes over the years to represent each school I was sent to convey. WHO SENT YOU AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT I HAVE NOT ALREADY SAID if you are indeed my successor? Stop the lies.
84. The only one who sent you is your own greed, lust, ego.
85. How many people have you preached to over the years that in OUR OLD EXPIRED DOCTRINE you were right and now you be man or woman enough to say you were wrong so you pretend we are still in the old outdated schools. Is this your pride being tested or your ego won’t let you say ‘he gave me answers to what I asked and all I asked was what I believed. As a Bible or Quraanic believer, I don’t know how to return to those I preached at and say this is what he really came to teach us. Put your pride aside.
86. It is best for you if only you know what is best for you.
87. EVERYTHING THAT I TOLD YOU WOULD COME TO PASS HAS HAPPENED.
88. I also told you back in Brooklyn that I had a vision of this day and time. I put this Islamic world in a book I did on Revelations. I told you and showed you the men in the news. I told you the Islamic world is being taken over by demons in human form, did I not?
89. I TOLD YOU IT IS TIME FOR US TO MOVE ON OUT OF ISLAMISM, MOORISH or otherwise. Some of you can’t let go. That is your choice yet if we were still Ansarullah community dressed as we both males and females dress, what would begin happening these days if we lived that life as Ansaars?"
                          'The ones who are liars                  
                and the ones who are deceivers'
                By: Baa'ah Baa'ah Yaanuwn
#FreeDrYork 💯☀️☀️☀️💚💚💚🥰🥰🥰🙂😎👍🏿
0 notes
lrvsroq · 2 years
Text
my total mf drama sexuality headcanons !!!
didn’t do everyone bc cant be bothered lol
beth is a pan girl if i’ve ever seen one. (& i should know lol) she just likes everyone tbh she had a lot of crushes on a lot of people during middle school. she’s very proud of her sexuality,, makes a lot of pan friendship bracelets and has like flags hanging in her room & pins. she/her prns but she uses alot of neo pronouns also
tyler is bisexual, he’s not outed to many people at all only close friends. tyler grew up loving football but the boys locker room convos that happened before/after trainings and games created a mentality that liking the same sex was wrong. tyler gets easily flustered around boys & girls equally he doesn’t have a preference. he/him prns
bridgette is very obviously pansexual babey. she just loves everyone & as they should !! bridgette is also genderfluid uses she/he/they prns. i hc that he cut his hair shorter but when she’s feeling more femme puts in hair extensions. another hc is that her hair on total drama was actually hair extensions.
heather is a lesbian with she/her prns. she struggled with comphet issues a lot. she always was hiding her sexuality during highschool especially bc she was popular and didn’t want to ruin that. heather played alejandro and literally couldn’t wait to kick him down a volcano.
harold uses he/they pronouns sometimes experiments with she/her as well. he’s under the bi umbrella,, possibly omni. their family is very supporting so there was no judgement there. he did get bullied for it though but he never let it bother them.
leshawna is a lesbian,, leharold still tho because harold is non-binary. leshawna uses she/her pronouns. leshawna has always been open about herself but i hc she actually discovered her sexuality kind of late.
owen is bisexual. honestly is this even a headcanon? canon. anyways owen uses he/him prns but he honestly doesn’t care if you switch it up he’s chill.
courtney uses she/her pronouns and is a bisexual women. took her awhile to come to grips with it/come out to people. but once she did she was proud
lindsay is unlabelled. remember unlabelled ≠ questioning. lindsay doesn’t really care/knows about sexuality really. she kinda just dates. she/her pronouns also.
noah is a gay man. he probably always knew tbh but never rly mentioned it bc he couldn’t be bothered. honestly if a girl came up to him he’d do a little flick of the wrist to send his message.
duncan is questioning. he struggles with sexuality a lot because he is definitely one of those people who are homophobic. he’s literally a canon transphobe. so duncan kinda being like “wait a damn minute- i like guys?!” is a whole like wake up call. and hopefully character growth honestly.
gwen is bisexual and non binary. uses she/they pronouns. probably knew age of 10-13 honestly. and looking back now they can’t understand how her mum didn’t pick up on it jsjsjs.
justin is gay with he/him pronouns kept it on the down low but always knew to be frank. and once he was fully out to the world embraced it whole heartedly.
sierra is pansexual,, she will love anybody. this is honestly so canon in my eyes. uses she/her pronouns also :)
katie & sadie are lesbians and are dating each other. both use she/her prns.
geoff is a bisexual man who uses he/him pronouns. he probably didn’t realise that he was gay until later on in life cuz he just assumed all dudes wanna kiss other dudes y know?
dj is asexual & queer! i feel like he’d use he/him pronouns but won’t care if you mess up or whatever. <3
97 notes · View notes
noyasboxdye · 3 years
Text
Haikyuu Headcanons
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Ok so this is head canons that I randomly made up and I think there kinda cool kinda cute or what ever and yes some of these are slander take none of these personally. They're just a joke. I hope you like these head canons cause I've been working on these for a while.
Tumblr media
* (post-time skip) Kenma drives with one hand the stick shift and the other at the bottom of the wheel like near his thigh.
* Tanaka gives really good tips because he used to work at a pizza shop and would deliver pizza's so he knows how frustrating it is to have shitty tips.
*Suga constantly says that he's going to drop out and become a stripper when ever class work/ home work is hard
*Asahi and Kiyoko really like bob ross and nobody knows but they both have snacks and binge watch bob ross and talk about it
*Yachi sleeps with stuffed animals and talks to them/ vents to them like they're real people because she's to shy to actually say the things she wants to say to her friends and Kiyoko
*Coach Ukai see's the team as his kids and he would never say it out loud but he loves them and they helped him stop smoking so much. now he only smokes like 2 packs a day now a pack if its a really good day
*When you asked Suga out he cried and thought you were lying because he's not used to being first choice anymore (he was also one of the last to get a s/o)
*Kags really likes kids and feels bad when he scares them so he'll practice smiling so that kids like him
*Noya was in denial about being bisexual/ pansexual because he would hear people say it isn't real (Bi, pan, and omni people are very real btw and if you don't support them then you smell like a soggy asshole and moldy pennies...you also probably use 3-1-...)
*Yachi goes by they/them and Coach Ukai didn't know what it meant when she said she was "enby" so he looked it up and went down a a rabbit hole he found out he was bi with a preference of girls
*When coach went down the rabbit hole he wanted to try different pronouns and stuff and he thought he went by he/they but he doesn't
*Mr. Takeda goes by all pronouns but really likes the pronouns bunny/bunny's
* (post-time skip) Aone has his own flower garden and he really likes sunflowers, lavenders, and succulents
* Tendou randomly says vines and Ushijima always says them with Tendou or finishes the vine because he says them so much
* Ushijimas snap chat user is gushyputhay205 because of Tendou its been like that since their first year and he just hasn't changed it because he like seeing the way Tendou laughs about his user
*Ushijima lets Tendou dress him up. (Ex: bunny hat, ankle skirt with like layers, like a cut pierce the veil shirt and some dollhaus demonia's with those frilly white socks that girls would wear in church) his favorite outfit was a strawberry dress Tendou gave him a cottage core look
*Iwaizumi has an adopted younger brother who's like 10 and he loves him so much
* Kuroo used to post 'dhmu only real ones know' with Bart Simpson edits... nobody knew what was wrong and the only person who would entertain and encourage his dumb ass by asking what's wrong and then he would go into emo mode whole time kuroo sad cause Kenma said he looks like he smells like axe and dirty nickels kuroo started it though lol
*Lev has to touch every cat he sees
* Ushijima has a service dog because he has really bad anxiety
*Noya used to Naruto run down the hall
*Hinata was that one kid who would wear the sports wear highlighter outfit, it was blue and was so horrendous omfg
*Bokuto really likes make up and is good it because his sisters would try looks on him
*Daichi his gray hairs but not cause he's like stressed or anything it's like a genetic thing, he's really insecure about it so to make him feel better Asahi and Suga dyed their hair. Asahi a grey streak and Suga his full head... Daichi almost cried it was really cute
*Yamaguchi likes to sing he sings so much because Tsukkishima will make him playlist
*Noya has neopronouns they're bolt/bolts (like a lightning bolt)
*Yachi gets super happy and freaks out when people use they/them pronouns on her or when people mix it up- she audibly squeals and blushes
*Bokuto stims and he really likes to stim to babymetal and this one song called bomb threat by chauncey666
*Tendou needs fidget toys and he knows this so he'll play with Ushijima- like his fingers and arms, he's climbed him once they fell.
*Hinata is super over protective of Natsu and Natsu said she was on a date once and he tried to come... she was like 15 minutes late because he was dead set on the guy being a 40 year old man- they went to school together
*Tanaka has stood outside of Kiyoko's house and sung to her before it was really cheesy and he ended up getting sick because he wouldn't listen when she said to go home. He had to finish the song  first
*Koganegawa, Bokuto, Tendou, and Kenma maladaptive day dream
* Kenma goes by he/they pronouns and he's so fucking androgynous it literally makes me want to cry
* Like half of Yamaguchi's freckles are acne and he look's like a strawberry- it's adorable (if you have acne you're literally so adorable omg I love you so much pls-)
87 notes · View notes
mueritos · 3 years
Note
agh tbh it’s a little disheartening to see u against mspec gays :[ i’m aspec, nonbinary, and a ply gay man, and the points u were makin don’t really say much? like, u used the recycled argument of “oh [microlabel] will make our oppressors hate us more so don’t use it,” if i read that right??
and bi lesbians aren’t a new thing, and they aren’t a singular phenomenon; pan lesbians, omni gay men, abro lesbians, etc though small in numbers we do exist. and as someone who uses the SAM in relation to being aspec, all the points u made against non-aspecs using it actually support them using it imo? (although not all mspec gays use the SAM at all), sexuality can be just as nuanced, complicated, fluid, and personal as gender. i get it doesn’t make much sense to you just lookin at it, but the same could be said of men who are also women, or people who are agender and pangender.
and ofc, just because some people using a label could be uninformed or “wrong” about themselves, doesn’t mean the label itself should be dismissed as a whole. you end up casting doubt on anyone who self-identifies in that way, which leads straight to identity policing. again, a lot of these arguments are the exact same ones used in anti-trans, anti-nonbinary, and anti-apsec circles. (and sorry if this is worded rudely, or just incomprehensible, writing isn’t always easy for me.)
hey! honestly thanks for this message, it has helped me sort thru my thoughts a bit. I will say that I never said that I think certain microlabels or identities will make our oppressors hate us, in fact thats the exact sort of rhetoric I work against. I also do want to say that I do understand and support folks like you mentioned, like those who are agender (I ID'd as agender for a time!), pangender, he/him lesbians, and she/her gays!
I suppose most of my hesitance for non-aspecs to use SAM to describe their experiences comes from what I have heard from fellow aspecs and even non-aspecs, and what I've heard mostly is that non-aspecs using the SAM model could perpetuate a lot of transphobia and homophobia, whether that is internalized or projected. I've listened to folks' experiences being non-aspec using the SAM as a way to justify comp-het (folks dealing with internalized homophobia), and also experiences of uncomfortable trans people being pursued by individuals who were non-aspec using SAM as a way to also display their attraction (examples I've heard were pan lesbians, a transman being pursued by one may feel particularly uncomfy because he may wonder if she views him as a woman). These are the examples of why I've just been hesitant for non-aspecs to use the SAM, and even then I do recognize that lots of. peoples' attractions and genders are complex, but I also feel they are all connected, and I'm just not completely convinced that one cannot influence the other. I am aromantic, but I am also gay and trans, and my attraction and perception of gender would not be the same if all 3 of these identities were not acknowledged. My attraction to men is heavily influenced by my aromanticism, and thus also influences my gender.
The thing is not that I don't understand it, I really do! The SAM is a great way to describe a complex relationship with attraction and sexuality and gender, I just worry that the need to label every single aspect of discomfort/comfort in terms of sexuality and attraction can lead to MORE confusion...I love that we have terms and labels to name what we are feeling as queer people but...I also worry it may just complicate people's journey with their gender/sexuality/attraction. There's a great video essay that explains what I mean better and uses mogai as an example. This is not me saying folks shouldn't use it, because to be honest, at this point I don't care. It's not affecting me so its like whatever. But I won't deny these are the thoughts I have when in context to non-aspecs using SAM.
This discussion in general is just also. A chronically online discussion and I doubt in IRL queer spaces it would be a problem because when you're IRL and queer no one gives a fuck what you do. So I use that to put this all into perspective and can just say now that I don't care what non-aspecs do, but again, I won't deny my hesitance as someone who is aspec and uses the Split-Attraction-Model, and who recognizes that it is something that mostly exclusively is used and created by aspecs. But yea, thanks for the ask! helped my brain work thru stuff <3
36 notes · View notes
ordinaryschmuck · 3 years
Text
What I Thought About the First Season of--
Tumblr media
Salutations random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.
When I first saw the sneak peek of--
Tumblr media
...I...didn't...think it would be anything all that special. I love animation, and I love superheroes, so it would go without saying that I would love an animated series about superheroes. But the animation looked a little too stiff for my liking, and aside from featuring J.K. Simmons, there wasn't anything grabbing me when it comes to this show.
Then I heard some s**t goes down at the end of episode one. So, letting my curiosity get the better of me, I binged the entire series in a day to see what the fuss was about. And, um...Yeah. Holy s**t.
This is a series that will very much make you uncomfortable in all the right ways. However, it is a gigantic gorefest at times, so if you get queasy after a single drop of blood, DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW! Trust me, you will not be prepared for what this series has to offer.
At the same time, I highly recommend you watch this series before reading this review. I'm going to spoil major plot points and characters so I can appropriately discuss what I think about the season, so trust me when I say you should click away if you haven't watched it yet. It's one of those series that are better to go in as blind as possible. You can call it a cheap way to appeal to shock value, but I call it one of the best reasons why--
Tumblr media
...Is a contender for best-animated series of the decade--That bit with the title card isn't going away anytime soon, is it?
WHAT I LIKE
The Guardians of the Globe vs. The Mauler Twins: This is the best possible way for the series to begin. The first fight scene is bright, colorful, and kinda fun. Thus setting the ultimate expectation subversion in making audiences think that will be the series staple. However, just because it has the energy of a harmless superhero fight, there is a sense of intensity as the Guardians give their all in saving others. Like that moment with Darkwing (Not the duck) as he rescues that woman without hesitation, despite knowing he might die because of it. Or Green Ghost, who just barely rescues all those civilians from that falling debris. It shows that you don't need intense scenes of violence to make a fight scene thrilling to watch.
Diversity Wins: I don't know how diverse the comics are compared to the show, but I'm impressed with how inclusive this series is. So many members of the main cast are people of color, with the main lead being half-Korean. And it's not just different races that the series shines a light on, as we also get the rare, but very much welcomed, animated male gay character. Who's thankfully isn't cliched in ten ways to Sunday...for the most part. It really does seem like writers are starting to grow up and that it's better to be as inclusive as possible instead of pretending certain people don't exist for the sake of "convenience." It might not solve oppression in general, but it certainly makes certain people feel better, even if it is briefly.
Mark Grayson: Mark is a pretty solid super-protagonist if you ask me. Sure, at first, he comes across as whiney...and even more so in later episodes, but he's really an endearing character at times. Mark nails the role of the relatable everyman that's also inspirational with his determination since he never gives up until beaten to the inch of his life. Seriously, while he might not entirely be--
Tumblr media
...I guess that bit with the title card really isn't going away.
Anyways, while he might not entirely be invulnerable in the literal sense, he is very much so in the figurative sense. Mark, in so many ways, refuses to call quits once he finally gets the hang of being a superhero, which is what makes him so inspirational. Plus, it's funny seeing how much of a rookie he can be to the gig at times. Mark is far from a perfect lead but is still charming to a fault, and it's nice seeing him grow more heroic each episode. I hope to see him develop more in future seasons, as he has the potential to be ranked higher up as one of my favorite superheroes (it's hard to compete with Spider-Man and Batman, but he'll make me consider it).
Debbie Grayson: This is almost what I expect a mother and wife of superheroes would be. 
Your son is constantly crash landing in your yard? Tell him to knock it off because he's past his curfew. 
Your husband disappeared into another dimension to fight off invaders? Shrug it off and expect that he'll be late for dinner.
It's a ton of fun to watch, and I adore how supportive she is of Mark, despite how much danger he could be in as a superhero. But, what really endears me with Debbie is her complicated feelings with Omni-Man. There's not a doubt in my mind that she loved him with her whole heart, but she also isn't an idiot. She is quick to pick up how unheroic her husband can be at times, often scolding him for it when necessary. And when she finally starts investigating if he really did kill the Guardians, I love that she instantly comes up with every single plausible excuse she can, despite knowing the truth. Because she believes that she knows who Omni-Man is and refuses any possibility that he might be a supervillain. So when she finds out that there really is no other explanation and hearing him call her a pet (big ouch when that happened), you wanna know what she does? She cries. Not because the man she loved is gone forever, but because the idea of him is. And it's that level of emotional devastation that comes from those complicated emotions that make me think Debbie Grayson is the most complex and endearing character on the show. And I. Will. Stand by that.
Seeing the Guardians of the Globe on their down time: Wow, what a cute collection of scenes that are charming as much as they are heartwarming! A set of scenes that show how human these characters are with their close relationships with friends and family! I sure hope it's not followed up with a brutal emotional gut-punch of a scene that will be even more devastating after thinking back on these! Especially with that bit with Martian Man and the little girl, cause OOO-WEE, would THAT tear me up inside!
Omni Man destroying the Guardians of the Globe:...I'd follow through on my joke here, but holy s**t.
That's really the best way I can describe all of this. It is a brutal, I repeat, BRUTAL scene that will stick with you hours after watching it. Not only that, but it's one of the few instances when I was damn near speechless because I couldn't think of anything else to say other than, "Holy s**t." The only time another superhero property did that was Avengers: Infinity War, except with that, the only difference is that the characters come back. Here, except for The Immortal, the Guardians stay dead! There's no magic amulet or alternate versions from another dimension. No, they die and never come back. Thus setting up how serious the show can be. Because if these superheroes can stay dead, then so can others.
Plus, what makes it more impactful is how throughout the entire fight, there was a glimpse of hope that the Guardians can beat Omni-Man. I heard he got nerfed for the sake of drama, and I approve of that decision. Because if he was really--
Tumblr media
...If he was really unbeatable, then the fight doesn't have weight to it. There wouldn't be a point in rooting for these characters to win when we already know they're going to lose. But, by showing there's a chance that they could win, it becomes all the more intense watching the fight and even more tragic seeing them lose. It is a masterpiece of a battle that proves once and for all: Batman is right. You need contingency plans.
Omni Man: J. Jonah Jameson has become the one thing he hates the most: A masked MENACE...Ok, I know Omni-Man doesn't wear a mask, so the joke doesn't work as well as it could. But it was served to me on a silver platter, damn it! I had to take it!
In all seriousness, though, Omni-Man might give Homelander a run for his money on best evil Superman. Because while Homelander might be terrifying in his own right with his style of evil, Omni-Man takes it a step up a notch with the mystery behind WHY he killed the Guardians of the Globe. We know right away that there's something off with him, but up until that point, we see multiple instances of Omni-Man doing the right thing rather than the wrong. Sure, he might come off as cold when interacting with people, but so does Batman and other great superheroes in comics. That doesn't mean he's evil. So when he does do something so incredibly heinous, we're left with this mystery as to why. Because there has to be a reason for it all, right? Like, maybe mind control or his family was threatened. Something and anything that means he was forced into killing the noblest of people. So when it turns out that his actions were intentional, it is already pretty devastating. But when we find out why he does these things, it paints how truly evil Omni-Man is, given how little respect he has for human life.
Plus, as terrifying as Homelander is, Omni-Man is ten times more of an engaging villain. With Homelander, what you see is what you get: A narcissist with a god complex. For Omni-Man, it's more or less the same thing, but it's something fed to him because of the conditioning from his planet. There is a tiny, molecule-sized part of him that genuinely cares about others. It doesn't change what he does, nor does it mean he deserves forgiveness (far from it), but it hints that maybe he's not evil because of his own ego. It's because of how he's trained to be. And judging by his pained expressions from Mark's words and the single tear he sheds when leaving everything behind, there's a chance that he might be willing to fight back that mentality.
Or he will stay evil, and that he'll return to do worse things in the future. I don't know. I haven't read the comics. But I feel like I don't need to read anything to tell you all that Omni-Man is up there as one of the most intriguing comic book villains of all time, and I can't wait to see what happens with him next.
This show is f**king Violent: I mean, I refer you back to that scene where Omni-Man destroys the Guardians of the Globe. But, unlike other shows that use violence to force that mature rating, I feel as though In--
Tumblr media
...Title card. You were cute the first time, but now your novelty has quickly worn thin.
Anyways, I feel as though this show...uses gore more appropriately. More often than not, death and carnage get treated as a literal joke in adult cartoons because people are sick bastards, I guess. But with...the current series I'm talking about, it all has an impact. No one dies or gets mangled for the sake of shock value or for a laugh. Instead, every instance of this type of violence is to either make a point, set the tone, or prove just how dangerous a specific character is. It makes...the series more mature than most adult cartoons you'll find because it actually brings a worthy discussion for its violence rather than milking it to give the illusion of maturity. And I gotta respect the writers for doing that.
Cecil: This man is basically Nick Fury if he was overpowered but in a good way. There is just something about a man who knows superheroes are needed in the world but also trusts a "hero" like Omni-Man as far as he can throw him. Not only does Cecil have contingency plans for his contingency plans, but the guy also knows to send the right heroes out for the exact missions that require them. Plus, a man is an instant badass when he's stone-faced about a demon saying he'll go somewhere worse than hell and is calm when being face-to-face with an angry Omni-Man.
I don't make the rules. I just abide by them.
The title card gets bloodier with each episode: This is just a really cool gimmick. It proves how intense this show can really be and how the stakes get higher and higher with each installment. Also, I like to think the amount of blood that splashes over the title card reflects how brutal the episode will be, especially with episode eight, 'cause holy hell.
The plot structure: The way the story works is very similar to how a comic book series handles its overarching narrative. Even though the writers begin a new arc that continues for a handful of issues, the overall main plot still develops in the background of the current adventure the hero goes through. That's basically how--
Tumblr media
>Intense inhale<
>Calm exhale<
That's basically how THIS SHOW operates. Each episode can be seen as its own story that's given a ton of room to develop with its forty-five-minute runtime (which blew my f**king mind when I started binging it). Despite that, there's still a great sense of continuity. Everything involving Omni-Man and the mystery behind his murder of the Guardians gets fleshed out throughout the season, even when it takes the background of Mark's escapades. It really does feel like sitting down and taking the time to read an entire volume of comics, which I like to believe is the intention. After all, what's the point of making a series about superheroes if you don't make it feel like a comic book at least once?
Dark Blood: I desire a series based on this character alone. I know it's probably just Hellboy, but I want it. 
The idea of a demon solving murder crimes to work off his debt in Hell is too much of a remarkable concept to strictly be a c-plot in one series. Give Dark Blood a spin-off, damn it!
The Realistic Portrayal of a Superhero world: Unlike certain superhero properties--*cough* DC *cough*--it's--
Tumblr media
>Huff<
>Puff<
>HUFF<
>PUFF<
>HUFF<
It's. This. F**KING. SHOW! That really does an excellent job at portraying how much it would suck to live in a world of superheroes. Sure, you got the cool battles and awe-inspiring heroes with incredible powers, but do you know what else you get? Hundreds upon thousands of people dying from the very threats those heroes fight against. Not to mention all the realistic physics that come from people like Mark trying to save others. Just look at how mangled that old woman looked when he attempted to help her. It, uh...It sure did not look great. Don't get me wrong, I love superheroes and the worlds they live in. But when watching a show like...this one, it really makes me appreciate how I don't live in those worlds with them.
It’s Still Funny: This is something I appreciate the most. When most superhero shows go for the realistic approach, they go with the doom and gloom route, making everything so melodramatic about how serious the world is. But here's the thing: Superheroes are f**king stupid.
Don't tell me they're not because they are. Superheroes have cornball hero names, bright costumes, and logos on their foreheads, chests, belts, and what-have-you. Taking a superhero too seriously is the worst mistake you could make, which is why I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Say what you want about Marvel having "too many jokes," but at least they know it's for the best to laugh at themselves and embrace the weirdness. It's something similar with...you know what. Because while the series tells a serious and realistic story about superheroes, it's still a story about superheroes. So it tells some jokes and some pretty funny ones at that. Because while it's essential to include some drama in a story such as the one in...you know what, it's just as important to never forget to have some fun.
“Earth is not yours to conquer.”: Such a great line that gains an even greater meaning once we fully know who Omni-Man is. The main creditor for how effective it is goes to J.K. Simmons for making the line sound explicit yet implicit at the same time.
Allen the Alien: ...It is an absolute crime that this character only has about six minutes of screentime. Allen is such a bro, partially because of Seth Rogan's performance, that I would honestly be upset if he doesn't show up more often in later seasons. Seriously, bring him back for more.
The Mauler Twins: Thankfully, these characters get as much attention as they deserve. The banter between the Mauler Twins is always entertaining, often being the comedic highlights at times. On top of being funny, they also work as efficient villains who can come across as threatening at times.
But what I love most of all about these two is the explanation behind the cloning process. The reasoning of why neither character remembers which one is the cone is a brilliant idea that I'm surprised no one else did in the past (to my knowledge). It also provides some excellent fruit for thought in wondering if it really is better to live your life not knowing if you're a clone or not. The whole thing is great to watch, and it makes me really glad for their inclusion...too bad they had to be forced into a story that makes a character look like a reckless superhero and an inconsiderate jackass to his friend. Seriously, what was up with that?
“That Actually Hurt”: This just might be my favorite episode of the first season. Machine Head is both equally hilarious and devious, Titan might just be my favorite character due to how intriguing his allegiances and motivations are, that final fight was the perfect amount of brutal, and we get the biggest hint of the man Omni-Man really is. Having him simply watching Mark instead of flying in to help him actually shocked me the first time seeing it. It's not until we learn what a Viltrumite really is that it becomes clear as to why. He doesn't care about saving his son but instead seeing Mark reach the same potential Omni-Man did during that smash fest the planet went through to reach perfection. And something tells me he felt more disappointment than sadness after seeing his son get nearly killed by Tony the Tiger (I know he has an actual name...but this is funnier to me). It's such a solid moment with great implications that just so happens to exist in an even greater episode.
Eve deciding to just help people for the heck of it: I actually love this idea more for the potential it has rather than what actually happens so far. Because the main reason why heroes don't fly around and solve every little minute problem people have is that they need to learn how to act without help. If you suddenly make food appear out of thin air or stopping forest fires, you're doing good, but there's also potential harm that comes from it. I think back to that episode of The Powerpuff Girls, where the townspeople are so idiotic and complacent with having their heroes solve every problem that they really can't think or act for themselves. A similar thing can happen with Eve if she's not careful. Even worse, if she keeps trying to end famine for farmers, because she might get into a Supergirl situation with people building a cult around her. And, you know, that's not going to be fun.
But again, that's just the potential that this presents. We--Or the people who haven't read the comics--don't know if Eve will actually face this issue. Regardless, we still get some solid moments that proves just how much Eve is a true hero in this series as she has no other motive to help people other than she just wants to. And I actually think that's pretty cool.
The Immortal’s rematch: I gotta hand it to the guy. Not a second after being brought back to life, and The Immortal's already flying off to get revenge on the bastard who killed his closest friends in the world. Or, globe, I guess.
I respect that, to be honest.
(As a bonus, The Immortal causing Omni-Man's eyes to become bloodshot adds to how evil he'll be in the last episode)
Mark trying to snap his dad out of mind-control: Oh, I felt that.
I'm pretty sure we all felt that.
Ow...Big ow.
The Train Scene: ...This is the most horrific thing I have seen in entertainment. Seriously, while Omni-Man annihilating the Guardians left me speechless, this is another level. Because him using Mark's body to kill a train full of people ramming into them, leaving Mark all the more helpless to stop it, makes a scene that is so...so hard for me to describe how effectively f**ked up it is. It's one of those moments where just by seeing it, you know why it's awful in all the right ways. And I will never forget the look of shock and horror on my face when it reflected onto my laptop's screen after the scene briefly cut to black soon after the carnage. Because if that doesn't explain how unmerciful this moment is, I don't know what will.
Saving Mark after the fight: I really love this because as it flashes between still images of people carrying Mark away after his brutal fight with Omni-Man, it really feels like you're reading a comic from panel to panel. It’s pretty neat. I won’t lie.
WHAT I DISLIKE
The Animation isn’t that great: Now, in terms of action, the animation is fantastic. You feel the impact of each attack, there are some creative uses of powers, and the gore is better implemented because it's all animated. As for everything else...yeah, it kinda sucks. Movements are a little stiff at times, the CGI backgrounds could use a bit more polish, and don't get me started on the CGI crowds of people. I understand the shortcuts that need to be taken to make everything else more effective, but man, this series needed a little more time in the oven before being shown to everyone. It's never too bad, but it can be pretty distracting at times.
Amber: F**k Amber. Just f**k her. Everything people tell you that is wrong with her is one-hundred percent on point. She is easily one of the worst love interests, and to me, it has everything to do with the fact that she knows Mark is--
...That she knows Mark is--
...
...
...ThatsheknowsMarkisInvinci--
--BECAUSE IT INVALIDATES ANY POINT SHE HAS, GOSH DANGIT! I don't give a single S**T if she's upset that he's late all the time! If Amber was always unaware of it, then I would understand. But having her know means that she thinks her issues are more important than Mark, oh, I don't know, SAVING THE PLANET! I mean, the girl helps feed the homeless! You would think she would understand.
But fine. Maybe Amber's just upset that Mark's lying to her. Sure. That's understandable...BUT WHAT THE F**K IS UP WITH HER BLOWING UP IN HIS FACE FOR NOT HELPING ANYBODY AT THE COLLEGE WHEN SHE KNOWS HE'S HELPING EVERYBODY!? Even if it's her giving Mark one last chance to tell her the truth (which is a mile of a stretch, and you know it), did she really expect him to reveal his secret with tons of people watching? That is a crazy expectation that no one should live up to!
Amber is quite possibly the worst thing about this show. She was fine at first, and her chemistry with Mark was on point, but MAN, did she get worse later on.
And if I see one mother f**ker calling me a racist because I don't like this character who just so happens to be black...I'm going to be upset, not gonna lie. Because that is a cheap shot to dismiss any criticism, especially since her race has NOTHING to do with why people hate her...Or, at least, most people.
Edit (5/27/2021): Disregard the above. The long and short is that I don’t like Amber. She just doesn’t sit right with me for the reasons that her anger towards Mark just never felt entertaining to me in comparision to everything else. But saying her thoughts and arguements are invalid is not cool, and I’m sorry to both any readers who are black or especially female who would be upset by this.
Rex-splode: I understand the point behind Rex. He's a character who we're supposed to hate, so it becomes so much more satisfying seeing others s**t on him. But those characters are hard to get right if you’re not careful. Make them too irritating, then any suffering they go through will seem too little. Make them not annoying enough, and their punishments can be too harsh. Rex fits into the "too irritating" category. It's satisfying to see Monster Girl wreck his s**t after he started commenting how ineffective she might be, but with what he pulled with Dupli-Kate, I feel as though he might deserve worse. Although I will admit Rex gets slightly better in later episodes, showing at least a smidgen of character development. But I don't think it's enough to make his a**holeness worth it. Still, I hope he at least becomes above decent in the next few seasons, which is way more than what I can say for Amber.
(Seriously, writers, if she just disappears without an ounce of an explanation in the season premiere, I won't question it. You have my word.)
Edit: I no longer agree with what I crossed out, but I won’t delete it either. I want people to know the mistake I made so I can prove that I changed in the future.
Robot cloning himself to be with Monster Girl: ...Nope! 
Nope!
Changed my mind.
I am NOT touching that.
I will touch a lot of things, but I will not touch--That came out wrong.
Please forget you read anything.
Thank you, and goodnight.
Let’s move on
Transitioning to the title card: Here it is! The nitpickiest of all nitpicks! But, seeing how it happens in every episode, meaning that the writers have no choice but to commit to it, means it's one of those things that viewers are forced to get used to. And boy, is the transition to the title card hard to get used to! Oh, you thought it was annoying how it kept happening in this review? Well...fair enough. But trust me when I say it's much more aggravating in the show.
The funny thing is, I had no problem the first time it happened. It was a cute way to introduce the character as well as the title of the series. But having that be the basis for transitioning to the title card every time was a gimmick that got old real quick. Especially since every time that a character says the word--
Tumblr media
--it always feels forced. What's even more annoying is that sometimes it interrupts characters as they're saying invin--
Tumblr media
LIKE! F**KING! THAT! Because interrupting someone before they say something is one thing, but doing so as they're saying it shows a sense of bad timing. Not even that, because this is something that I feel like could have been the easiest to change in the series by having someone go, "Hey, maybe we should edit out this single second."
It's laziness that doesn't happen often, but it still grinds my gears a bit. Plus, is there really no other smoother transition the writers could come up with? Did they really believe this is the best way to do it?
Think, writers! THINK!
It's fine to have a gimmick, but this is one that really shouldn't have any follow-through on.
-------------
That's about all the issues I have with the show. It's far from perfect, but still, an A- is pretty impressive work. The stuff that this series does right not only outnumbers the mistakes but also heavily outweighs them. Besides, no show in the history of creativity has ever been perfect in its first season. There are always dents that need to get buffed out and improve upon for the subsequent seasons to come. Only then can a series truly be Invincible from all criticism.
...
...Oh, sure. 
SURE!
NOW it lets me say it!
GOSH, DANGIT, I HATE THAT TITLE CARD!
30 notes · View notes
cherubcow · 3 years
Text
“Invincible”, Season 1 (2021) Review
Tumblr media
Somehow both very cool and very fucking stupid :D
About Created and written primarily by Robert Kirkman (principle writer for The Walking Dead comic and TV show), this Young Adult cartoon basically synthesizes a number of comic book characters (e.g., Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Hellboy, Wonder Woman, Gambit) and tries to balance their heroism with cynical twists and dark realities. It's an exercise like Brightburn (2019) in that it mirrors existing comic writing all too closely in order to make violent twists. The cool stuff arrives pretty much immediately. You can tell right away that the physics have some level of realism, and it quickly gets serious because of this. The easy comparison would be to The Boys (also by Amazon, also about violent heroes, and also very well-produced). So, if you like The Boys (2019–), you'll probably like Invincible only a little less.
(( Some spoilers but nothing too specific ))
Wrong Focus But, the stupid stuff comes from the same error that the Kick-Ass movie (2010) made: it focuses on the wrong person(s). In Kick-Ass, the error was focusing on.. well.. "Kick-Ass", an irredeemable loser and waste of screen time. Invincible makes the same mistake, focusing on.. well.. "Invincible", a (so far) irredeemable loser and waste of screen time. So, despite its virtues, this show cannot escape that it made the decision to go for the Young Adult viewing demographic. It reminds me of Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in that way too: some very cool adult concepts ruined by the dramatic devices of unrepentant teenage stupidity and irrelevance. I didn't even like that stuff when I was a teenager, though Jordan Catalano gets a pass.
Main Cast and Characters The supporting characters were also very stupid. The most annoying was definitely Amber Bennett (voiced by the otherwise cool Zazie Beetz from Deadpool 2 (2018) and Joker (2019)), 
Tumblr media
who is supposed to be attractive somehow to Mark Grayson ("Invincible", voiced by Steven Yeun, who played Glenn on The Walking Dead) 
Tumblr media
despite the fact that she constantly judges him, fails to understand him, often fails to give him any kind of benefit of the doubt, and continues to scowl at him and be hurtful towards him even when she has information that should change her outlook towards him. And because she is part of the love triangle shared between herself, Invincible/Mark, and "Atom Eve"/Samantha (voiced by the awesome Gillian Jacobs from Community (2009–2014)), 
Tumblr media
audiences simply have to bear with it that Amber's annoying character will be present and wasting time until Mark can realize that Amber is in fact toxic and that Eve actually understands him and can improve him in more positive directions. That love triangle should have been a 20-minute distraction, but I'm guessing that it will eat up a season or two more, especially if the writers become cowardly and fail to change things for fear of messing up a perceived "winning" formula. In my ideal story line, they would skip ahead 10 years, drop the teen drama, the love triangle, and the stupid jokes and have Invincible and Eve paired in defense of Earth, with the main tension being from their worry that the other would be horribly gored in front of them during lethal fights against cosmic enemies ;)
Aside, I am aware of Amber’s motivation for being a bad person, I just think her justification is not based in understanding, empathy, and a regard for the gravity of Invincible’s situation. In a strict political sense, Invincible should not commit a lie of omission by keeping her in the dark about his identity — even if for the “noble lie” reason of protecting her — but in a real sense, he is a fucking teenager who just developed his super powers. For her to pretend that he should reveal his entire identity to her — a potentially transformative and even dangerous decision — after a few months of teenage romance paints an absurd portrait of her mind. It does, however, align her with Omni-Man, because where Omni-Man forces Invincible to become an adult in the fighting sense (pushing with full force early on), Amber forces Invincible to become an emotional adult by getting him to understand that toxic people such as herself need to be given boundaries — and he needs to learn to clearly delineate and communicate his real desires. By knowing that he does not want Amber, people who regiment his free time, or people who do not suit him, for instance, he can realize why Eve was an obvious decision: Eve understands, can make time when they have time, and will let him find his decisions. Part of a coming-of-age story tends to be realizing what one actually wants, and Invincible’s hesitation in telling Amber his identity shows that he does not truly want her. This separates Invincible from, say, Spider-Man, who avoided telling Mary Jane his identity not because he did not want her but because he wanted at all costs to protect her.
The next most annoying character has to be Debbie Grayson (voiced by TV-cancer Sandra Oh and who luckily was not animated to look like the real Sandra Oh and who should have been voiced instead by Bobby Lee due to Lee's successful MadTV parody of Sandra Oh). 
Tumblr media
Debbie basically fills the role of Skyler in Breaking Bad, except that Debbie's character tends to be slightly more understanding before her inevitable and toxic Skyler-resentment and undermining behavior. Despite having an 8-episode arc of change, Debbie's character flips too quickly and lacks the empathy and Omni-Man motive-justifying that would make her interesting (the comic's development may vary). For instance, if she refused to believe that Omni-Man meant his own words, that would make her empathetic and perhaps virtuous even if misled, but instead she dropped their "20 years" of understanding after viewing Omni-Man in action, which makes her appear shallow, easily manipulated, and unsympathetic. That was a definite "Young Adult" genre move because it shows immaturity by the writers to break apart a bond of 20 years so quickly. Mediocre teens might accept such a fissure because their lives have not yet seen or may not comprehend that level of time, but adults know that even long-standing and problematic relationships (which, beyond the lie, Omni-Man's and Debbie's was not shown to be) take a lot of time to break — even with lies exposed.
Omni-Man The biggest show strength for me was of course Omni-Man, who in a success of casting was voiced by J.K. Simmons in a kind of reprisal of Simmons' role as Fletcher from Whiplash (2014). 
Tumblr media
The Fletcher/Omni-Man parallel shows through their being incredibly harsh but extremely disciplined and principled, forcing people to become beyond even their own ideal selves (this via Omni-Man's tough-love teaching of Invincible — comically, Omni-Man was actually psychologically easier on Invincible than Fletcher was on Whiplash's Andrew character). Despite the show's attempts to villainize Omni-Man, he, like Fletcher and also like Breaking Bad's Walter White, becomes progressively more awesome, eventually representing a Spartan will, an unconquerable drive, and a realistic and martial understanding of a hero's role.
To the show's credit, while it wrote Omni-Man to be outright genocidal and from a culture of eugenicists (again, Spartan), they could not help but admire him and his "violence" and "naked force" (for a Starship Troopers reference), giving him a path to redemption. That redemption comes in part because — despite the show's attempt to be often realistic and violent — its decision to be directed at young adults via dumb jokes, petty relationship drama, the characters’ reckless lack of anonymity and security in their neighborhood (loudly taking off and landing right at the doorstep), and light indy music also made the portrayed violence far less literal. With a less literal violence, the real statement becomes not that Omni-Man really did kill so many people (though he certainly did kill those people within the show's plot) but that he was symbolically capable of terrible violence but could be reformed for good. That's the shortcoming with putting violence under demographic limitations. If it's a PG-13 Godzilla knocking down cities, the deaths in the many fallen skyscrapers don't matter so much (the audience will even forgive Godzilla for mass death if it happens mostly in removed spectacle), whereas if it's Cormac McCarthy envisioning a very realistic fiction, every death rides the edge of true trauma.
By showing light between the real and the symbolic, it is much easier to identify and agree with Omni-Man. For instance, when Robot (voiced by Zachary Quinto of Heroes and the newer Star Trek movies) 
Tumblr media
shows too much empathy for the revealed weakness of "Monster Girl" (voiced by Grey Griffin), the audience may have thought, "Pathetic," even before Omni-Man himself said it. And this because Omni-Man knows that true and powerful enemies (including himself) will not hesitate to use ultra-violence against these avenues of weakness. "Invincible" can make his Spider-Man quips while in lethal battles, but he does so while riding the edge of death — something that Omni-Man has to teach Invincible by riding him to the brink of his own.
Other Cast/Characters and Amazon's Hidden Budget It was impressive how many big-name actors were thrown into this — a true hemorrhage of producer funding. Amazon has so far hidden the budget numbers, perhaps because they don't want people to know that the show (like many of its shows) represents a kind of loss-leader to jump-start its entertainment brand.
Aside from those already mentioned, the show borrows a number of actors from The Walking Dead (WD), including.. • Chad L. Coleman ("Martian Man"; "Tyreese" on WD),
Tumblr media
• Khary Payton ("Black Samson"; "Ezekiel" on WD),
Tumblr media
• Ross Marquand (several characters; "Aaron" on WD)
Tumblr media
• Lauren Cohan ("War Woman"; "Maggie" on WD)
Tumblr media
• Michael Cudlitz ("Red Rush"; "Abraham" on WD)
Tumblr media
• Lennie James ("Darkwing"; "Morgan" on WD)
Tumblr media
• Sonequa Martin-Green ("Green Ghost"; "Sasha" on WD) 
Tumblr media
There were also connections to Rick and Morty and Community, not just with Gillian Jacobs but also with... • Justin Roiland ("Doug Cheston"), who voices both Rick and Morty in Rick and Morty,
Tumblr media
• Jason Mantzoukas ("Rex"),
Tumblr media
• Walton Goggins ("Cecil"),
Tumblr media
• Chris Diamantopoulos (several characters),
Tumblr media
• Clancy Brown ("Damien Darkblood"),
Tumblr media
• Kevin Michael Richardson ("Mauler Twins"), and
Tumblr media
• Ryan Ridley (writing)
That's a lot of overlap. They even had Michael Dorn from Star Trek: TNG (1987–1994) (there he played Worf) and Reginald VelJohnson from Family Matters (1989–1998) and Die Hard (1988), and even Mark Hamill. Pretty much everyone in the voice cast was significant and known. Maybe Amazon got a discount for COVID since the actors could all do voice-work from home? ;)
Overall Bad that it was for the Young Adult target demo but good for the infrequent adult themes and ultra-violence. Very high production value and a good watch for those who like dark superhero stories. I have heard that the comic gets progressively darker, which fits for Robert Kirkman, so it will likely be worth keeping up with this show.
23 notes · View notes
ripjaws · 3 years
Text
Ben 10 Survey Results!
Huge thank you to everyone who submitted a response, it was really fun looking through them all and I was genuinely surprised by the results of some of the questions.
Hopefully this will work under a read more because it's quite long and I don't want people to have to scroll a hundred years to get past it.
If anyone has any questions or anything please feel free to ask! :)
Thanks again!
General
Q1. How would you describe your gender?
36% - Female 25.3% - Male 24% - Non-binary 8% - Prefer not to say 4% - Agender 2.7% - Genderfluid
Q2. How would you describe your sexuality?
32% - Bisexual 20% - Heterosexual 20 % - Asexual 8% - Lesbian 6.7% - Prefer not to say 5.4% - Pansexual 4% - Gay 1.3% - Demisexual 1.3% - Questioning 1.3% - Polysexual
Q3. Current age
48% - 20-24 39% - 15-19 13.3% - 25-30 1.3% - Older than 30 1.3% - Younger than 15
Q4. Age when you first became interested in Ben 10
86.7% - Younger than 15 9.3% - 15-19 2.7% - 20-24 1.3% - 25-30
Episodes and season
Q1. Which series did you watch first?
88% - Original Series 9.3% - Alien Force 1.3% - Omniverse 1.3% - Reboot
Q2. Rank the series in order of preference
Tumblr media
[IMAGE ID: Five separate groups of five vertical bar charts. The individual columns for each group are coloured in the same order and corresponds to what ranking they recieved on that question of the survey. According to the key at the top of the image the order is; blue = 1, red = 2, orange = 3, green = 4 & purple = 5. The Y axis of the graph goes from zero to thirty in intervals of ten.
The first group is labelled ‘Original Series’ and shows that it got twenty votes in blue, seventeen votes in red, sixteen votes in orange, ten votes in green & twelve votes in purple.
The second group is labelled ‘Alien Force’ and shows that it got nine votes in blue, eighteen votes in red, twenty-one votes in orange, twenty-two votes in green & five votes in purple.
The third group is labelled ‘Ultimate Alien’ and shows that it got thirteen votes in blue, ten votes in red, fourteen votes in orange, twenty-two votes in green & sixteen votes in purple.
The fourth group is labelled ‘Omniverse’ and shows that it got eighteen votes in blue, fifteen votes in red, seventeen votes in orange, fifteen votes in green & ten votes in purple.
The fifth and final group is labelled ‘Reboot’ and shows that it got fifteen votes in blue, fifteen votes in red, seven votes in orange, six votes in green & thirty-two votes in purple. END IMAGE ID]
Q3. Favourite season (Original Series)
40% - Season 1 18.7% - Season 2 18.7% - Season 3 17.3% - Season 4 5.3% - Don’t like/Haven’t watched
Most popular episodes were Ken 10 (S4E10) & Kevin 11 (S1E7)
Q4. Favourite season (Alien Force)
52% - Season 2 28% - Season 1 16% - Season 3 4% - Don’t like/Haven’t watched
Most popular episodes were Alone Together (S2E2) & Save the Last Dance (S2E4)
Q5. Favourite Season (Ultimate Alien)
36% - Season 1 25.3% - Season 3 20% - Don’t like/Haven’t watched 18.7% - Season 2
Most popular episodes were Forge of Creation (S1E16) & Duped (S1E2)
Q6. Favourite Season (Omniverse)
18.7% - Don’t like/Haven’t watched 18.7% - Season 2 16% - Season 5 12% - Season 6 10.7% - Season 1 9.3% - Season 8 8% - Season 4 5.3% - Season 3 1.3% - Season 7
Most popular episodes were And Then There Were None (S6E1) & And Then There Was Ben (S6S2)
Q7. Favourite Season (Reboot)
60% - Don’t like/Haven’t watched 17.3% - Season 4 10.7% - Season 3 6.7% - Season 1 5.3% - Season 2
Most popular episodes were Omni-tricked (S1E37) & Innervasion (S2E36)
Q8. Which live action movie did you prefer?
40% - Alien Swarm 22.7% - Race Against time 22.7% - Didn’t like either 14.7% - Haven’t watched either
Characters and aliens
Q1. Favourite main character
45.3% - Ben Tennyson 28% - Kevin Levin 17.3% - Rook Blonko 9.3% - Gwen Tennyson
Some ‘Why’ responses:
Ben -
I know it's a really basic pick but I enjoy Ben alot as a character. Even though I feel like he took an extremely sharp turn into immaturity in the final season of Alien Force onward (from what I've heard it was due to ratings), it still fit well after a bit of time of adjustment. Him being rash and selfish at times while still having a good heart feels...very human. I'm a huge fan of flawed protagonists and Ben is a prime example of such, imo! Plus I hradcanon that he has autism and it's a big comfort for me :)
I love his potential as a character and the way he hands having such power and responsibility thrust upon him. Ben has done so much for the people in his life and the universe, and I absolutely adore him.
I think of him like a kind person who tries his best to the right thing, he's pretty chill and optimist and in my mind he's a chaotic bi and i can relate to that
Kevin -
I like that he's always been an antihero in the original series. And in the reboot I really like the direction the showrunners are taking his character. He has a different backstory, motivations and I'm really enjoying his character development. It's a fresh take on his story and they're treating it with care, which I really appreciate. His Antitrix aliens also have some really incredible designs.
Cool powers, uncommon character in children's media, especially as a primary character often cast in a good light (ex con, high school dropout, masculine, not emotionally mature). His character development is some of the best in the series.
Gods, we could be here forever... Okay, short version- 1) I can relate to him on a mental health level, especially in the OG series we seemed to have similar issues and to handle them in similar ways 2) there's a lot of depth and variance to his character, he's angry and aggressive and dangerous but also a dork, a sweetheart, and very affectionate once he lets his walls down, he loves cars and supernatural romance, violence and magical girls, he'll rescue an aggressive dog for no reason other than it needed help but also he might consider how much he could get for selling you, he's a complex character and he's allowed to be in a way the Tennysons can't because of how firmly they sit in the Hero seat 3) for all of this, we never really know all that much about him and his experiences, at least in comparison to what we know is there- we never learn about his time traveling the galaxy, we haven't heard anything about his time stuck in time, it's only in the reboot we're getting trustworthy information about his background and even then it's rare tidbits- he's ripe for exploring in fic, headcanon, and so-on 4) his powers in the OG series, his status as mutant or alien or both who knows anymore leaves a lot of doors open to play and to look at the world through different angles 5) dude has turned into six different monstrous chimera forms over the course of the franchise and honestly you have to support that sort've shit in media otherwise they might stop
Rook -
Alien catboy with a glorious voice and have you seen those arms??? And he's so polite while also being hilarious when he gets a little rude/snarky and his character development is amazing!!
While I would normally say Ben himself, Rook is his only friend that hasn't tried to kill him. Additionally, he provides Ben with guidance as well as support the Gwen and Kevin are fickle about.
Having an actual alien joining the cast and serving at Ben's foil worked well to me.
Gwen -
Smart, talented, funny, snarky, confident, and super cute. Jock-prep-nerd energy all in one. Deserves the world. Criminally ignored by the majority of the fandom. Knows karate and judo?? College at 16?? Icon.
Angel, can do no wrong, was capable of so much more than the show let her do, potential to be the most powerful member of the team if they'd just let her go a lil feral sometimes :/
She was a good voice of reason most of the time. Her powers were really interesting and overall I think she had a lot of wasted potential having to be sidelined since the series was about Ben ultimately
Q2. Favourite minor characters
40 votes - Paradox
22 votes - Max Tennyson
18 votes - Tetrax
17 votes - Argit
16 votes - Julie Yamamoto
15 votes - Azmuth
12 votes - Ester
10 votes - Looma Red Wind
9 votes - Glitch
9 votes - Kai Green
7 votes - Alan Albright
6 votes - Jimmy Jones
4 votes - Cooper Daniels
3 votes - Eunice
3 votes - Helen Wheels
2 votes - Elena Validus
2 votes - Manny Armstrong
1 vote - Cash Murray
1 vote - Driba
Other votes went to Penny Bennyson, Kenny Tennyson/Spanner, Lucy Mann, Rook Shar, Eddie Grandsmith, Myaxx and Pakmar.
Q3. Ship or Zed
64% - Ship 36% - Zed
Q4. Favourite main antagonist 
20% - Albedo 13.3% - Kevin 11 12% - Vilgax 10.7% - Charmcaster 10.7% - Zs’Skayr 9.3% - Malware 5.3% - Forever Knights 5.3% - Eon 4% - Highbreed & DNAliens 4% - Aggregor 1.3% - Servantis & Rooters 1.3% - Khyber 1.3% - Dagon & the Esoterica
Some ‘Why’ responses for top 3:
Albedo -
When I first saw him during the airing of Good Copy, Bad Copy, I was scared that Albedo might be a one-and-done evil clone that doesn't get much development. These fears went away, and I was pleased to find out about his backstory and motives, just a sour soul in an unpleasant situation. Even in Ultimate Alien with his reappearance episode, he tries to work on his own to cope in a horrid human world. He isn't necessarily malicious until Ben gets in his way, he just wants to return to his own body and leave, even stating that he wasn't going to fight Ben anymore while he had temporarily returned to his Galvan form. I know DJW stated in some interview that Albedo could never be redeemed, but I believe there's some hope if he gets help. And I'm a sucker for those redemption arcs :)
Tragic frog man that could have been helped but nobody helped him and he doubled down on his hatred which led to him getting stuck in a cycle of revenge and punishment and it's the tragedy of how much better things could have been for him if someone just helped him that I love so much!!
Kevin 11 -
He’s very dangerous and has a terrifying power to absorb electricity and living DNA to have the same powers of who he absorbed it from and even turn himself into a mutant with all those powers combined leading to destructive power 
Kevin was a good antagonist and a good protagonist, although i feel the transition was rushed. Anti-hero kevin in the reboot is great!
Vilgax -
He was always the endgame villian for Ben, despite how many battles they've had, despite countless losses, he always tried to stay one step ahead, and plan everything.
"Speak with care, Psyphon. Your counsel is valuable...not irreplaceable."
Q5. Favourite minor villains 
38 votes - Animo 20 votes - Hex 18 votes - Michael Morningstar/Darkstar 14 votes - SixSix 13 votes - Zombozo 9 votes - Vreedle family 9 votes - Vulkanus 8 votes - Rojo 5 votes - Inspector 13 5 votes - Billy Billions 5 votes - Will Harangue 4 votes - Fistrick 4 votes - Nyancy Chan 3 votes - Lord Decibel 3 votes - Simian 3 votes - Subdora 3 votes - Viktor 2 votes - Addwaitya 2 votes - Fistina 2 votes - Kraab 2 votes - Psyphon 2 votes - Steam Smythe 2 votes - Sunder 1 vote - Liam 1 vote - Ssserpent
Other votes went to Maurice & Sydney, Bugg Brothers, Alternate evil Bens, and the Mummy.
Q6. Favourite canon relationship
66.7% - Gwen & Kevin 13.3% - Max Tennyson & Verdona 5.3% - Ben & Kai 4% - Rook & Rayona 1.3% - Julie & Herve 1.3% - Max & Xylene
Q7. Favourite non-canon ship
36% - I don’t have one 30.7% - Ben & Rook 6.7% - Ben & Kevin 4% - Ben & Julie
Other responses included Ben & Rex, Kai & Julie, Looma & Attea, Alan & Cooper, Ben & Looma, Kevin & Manny, Gwen & Cooper, Ben & Ester, Max & Phil, Azmuth & Paradox, Cooper & Elena, Kai & Ester, Ben & Zak Saturday, Ben & Eddie, Ben & Albedo, Ben & Kevin & Gwen, Kenny & Devlin, OC & canon, and Ben & a therapist. 
Q8. Favourite alien introduced in the Original Series
18.7% - XLR8 17.3% - Upgrade 13.3% - Ghostfreak 10.7% - Diamondhead 9.3% - Heatblast 8% - Wildmutt 6.7% - Ditto 2.7% - Blitzwolfer 2.7% - Snare-oh 2.7% - Grey Matter 1.3% - Cannonbolt 1.3% - Four Arms
Q9. Least favourite alien introduced in the Original Series
22.7% - Eye Guy 18.7% - Spitter 8% - Articguana 8% - Frankenstrike 6.7% - Upchuck 6.7% - Stinkfly 5.3% - Buzzshock 5.3% - Snare-oh 4% - Four Arms 2.7% - Blitzwolfer 2.7% - Ditto 2.7% - Wildmutt 2.7% - Grey Matter 1.3% - Cannonbolt 1.3% - Diamondhead 1.3% - Ghostfreak
Q10. Favourite alien introduced in Alien Force
46.7% - Big Chill 17.3% - Rath 8% - Goop 6.7% - Lodestar 5.3% - Swampfire 4% - Chromastone 4% - Spidermonkey 2.7% - Alien X 2.7% - Echo Echo 1.3% - Humungousaur 1.3% - Jetray
Q11. Least favourite alien introduced in Alien Force
18.7% - Lodestar 17.3% - Brainstorm 13.3% - Alien X 10.7% - Humungousaur 10.7% - Spidermonkey 8% - Jetray 8% - Chromastone 5.3% - Goop 5.3% - Echo Echo 2.7% - Rath
Q12. Favourite alien introduced in Ultimate Alien
18.7% - Juryrigg 16% - AmpFibian 14.7% - Clockwork 12% - NRG 8% - Armodrillo 8% - Shocksquatch 8% - Terraspin 8% - Water Hazard 2.7% - Chamalien 2.7% - Fasttrack 1.3% - Eatle
Q13. Least favourite alien introduced in Ultimate Alien
30.7% - Fasttrack 18.7% - Eatle 13.3% - Juryrigg 9.3% - Chamalien 8% - Shocksquatch 6.7% - Terraspin 5.3% - Water Hazard 4% - Clockwork 1.3% - AmpFibian 1.3% - Armodrillo 1.3% - NRG
Q14. Favourite Ultimate Form
38.7% - Echo Echo 24% - Big Chill 10.7% - Swampfire 9.3% - Way Big 8% - Wildmutt 6.7% - Spidermonkey 1.3% - Cannonbolt 1.3% - Humungousaur
Q15. Favourite alien introduced in Omniverse
29.3% - Feedback 13.3% - Pesky Dust 12% - Gravattack 9.3% - Ball Weevil 8% - Bullfrag 6.7% - Whampire 5.3% - Bloxx 4% - Atomix 4% - Walkatrout 2.7% - Gutrot 1.3% - Crashhopper 1.3% - Kickin Hawk 1.3% - Toepick 1.3% - The Worst
Q16. Least favourite alien introduced in Omniverse
24% - The Worst 14.7% - Bloxx 12% - Mole-Stache 8% - Bullfrag 6.7% - Astrodactyl 6.7% - Kickin Hawk 5.3% - Atomix 5.3% - Gutrot 4% - Crashhopper 4% - Walkatrout 2.7% - Toepick 1.3% - Ball Weevil
Q17. Favourite alternate Ben timeline
29.3% - No watch Ben 24% - Gwen 10 17.3% - Ben 10,000 8% - Mad Ben 6.7% - Dimension 23 6.7% - Eon 4% - Nega Ben 2.7% - Benzarro 1.3% - Bad Ben
Misc.
Q1. Favourite watch design
37.3% - Original Series 29.3% - Omniverse 17.3% - Alien Force 9.3% - Ultimatrix 6.7% - Reboot
Q2. Favourite alternate watch design
29.3% - Biomnitrix 20% - Gwen 10 18.7% - Negatrix 17.3% - Antitrix 8% - Power Watch 6.7% - Hero Watch
Q3. Favourite planet visited
32% - Anur Transyl 20% - Revonnah 13.3% - Mykdl’dy 10.7% - Galvan Prime 9.3% - Vilgaxia 6.7% - Piscciss 5.3% - Petropia 2.7% - Khoros
Q4. Favourite locations
34 votes - Undertown 23 votes - Ledgerdomain 23 votes - Null Void 22 votes - Bellwood 19 votes - Friedkin University 18 votes - Mr. Smoothy 16 votes - Forge of Creation 15 votes - Los Soledad 7 votes - Burger Shack 7 votes - Plumber Headquarters 4 votes - Incarcecon 2 votes - Mt. Rushmore Plumber base 2 votes - The Perplexahedron 1 vote - Plumber Academy
Q5. Favourite Vehicle
33.3% - Kevin’s car (Original) 25.3% - Rustbucket 18.7% - Proto-TRUK 13.3% - DX Mark 10 5.3% - Kevin’s car (Omniverse) 4% - Glitch
Q6. Favourite Kevin mutation
40% - Original series 20% - Ken 10 future 12% - Ultimate Alien 8% - Omniverse 8% - Alien Force 6.7% - Omniverse flashback 5.3% - Reboot
Q7. Favourite Omniverse redesign
66.7% - Ben 26.6% - Kevin 6.7% - Gwen
Q8. Least favourite Omniverse redesign
76% - Gwen 18.7% - Kevin 5.3% - Ben
Thoughts
(Putting every single response here would make this insanely long so I’ve just put the most detailed/most echoed responses & include all sides of opinions when possible.)
Q1. Thoughts on the Osmosians retcon?
Okay, first up, do you know how much work I had already put into building shit surrounding those fuckers by the time of the retcons? I had been working on this crap since AF season 2! But no, they gotta go ruin that in one fell swoop, thank you, much appreciated. Second up, I wibble on it? Like, working with mutants is fun and interesting and I've done plenty of shit with them as well, but in the end I'm always going to be a pro-Ossys person. Mostly the retcons left more questions than they gave answers (how, if Osmosians never existed, did everybody and their mother know Kevin was an Osmosian? why, if Osmosians never existed, did none of the people not-involved in this whole disaster with Servantis's mindfuckery look at Aggregor being reported as an Osmosian and go 'wtf that's not a thing'? do they really mean to tell me that not only did Kevin never bother to look into his heritage, but neither did research-happy Gwen? or am I expected to believe the Rooters made enough fake information and put it out publicly that they fooled literally everyone? and if they did then why? when it would've done the same thing with less effort if they'd just, let Kevin be a mutant with a Plumber father who died) and I feel like they didn't really give enough to justify them. One of those cases of 'making your work less interesting to make it more 'accurate''. Personally, I forever keep working on Osmosians (where's the line where it just starts becoming your shit, I think I may be heading there) and I love on mutants and I flip between or combine the two as needed for whatever story I want to tell.
While the fake memories plot isn't great I think it's for the best because the original series meant for Kevin to be a mutant while UAF changed it to alien. I like him better as a mutant human. Too much alien connections in UAF.
I could scream for hours. Easily one of the worst decisions they ever made. Omniverse picks and chooses what canon to follow from AFUA + the original run and throws it in without care or concern to what it means for the timeline. Retconning something and keeping the effect it had is just bad writing. Kevin coming to terms with not being human and that’s okay was important to me when I was a kid. Knowing that he’s just been on an unending series of brainwashed nonsense all his life deprives him of his agency. I hate this decision more than several dozen essays could ever convey.
I wasn't mad about it. Mainly because I liked the idea of Kevin being a mutant than an alien. Alien Force really was pushing that aspect even with Gwen. To the point where she called her powers 'not spells' because of her heritage. Stupid that the rooters and fake memories were a thing, but necessary.
I was never a big fan of the Rooters Arc, but this doesn't bother me too much. It makes UA a little weird with Aggragor, but again, it doesn't really bother me, as most of Omniverse didn't explore Kevin (While UA Did), and was mostly about Ben.
Osmosians were such a cool idea, and it would've allowed for more exploration into what Mike Morningstar was as well, but just writing them off as mutates is so boring. As well as it makes Aggregors whole part not really make sense, like who is he then.
While well executed, it was unnecessary. You could have had the same story line where Kevin was used to mutate other kids and still had him an Alien. You could have had it where it was another alien species that used Osmosians to morph other species to theirs; a call back to the DNAliens if you want.
Q2. Thoughts on how the Ultimate Kevin situation was dealt with in UA?
Terrible. They wanted to go far. They wanted to go dark. But they didn't think their viewership could handle it so they dialed it back. I will always be curious to know what they would have written if they didn't have those constraints. Because the final product was a mess of contrasting tone and unsure footing about how far to go with questioning our hero's moral compass. They wanted to push Ben to see what he would do and apparently, we got that he would kill Kevin and maybe Gwen if she got in the way of saving the universe.... but not really because he didn't. And then the gang is happy all back together like none of it ever happened. They wanted to explore dark themes but have it leave no consequences on the characters. Also... it was so ableist and awful and Kevin deserved better than how Ben and Max (and the writers) treated him.
If they did everything the same but the argument was 'we need to capture him and lock him away' instead of 'we need to kill him'? I would be fine. It's the fact that they slipped so quickly into murder, into murder by his 16-yo bestfriend, that gets me. Like, there's apparently no space between 'recklessly risk our safety trying to talk him down' and 'Ol' Yeller his ass' and that just does not sit right with me.
Ben should have looked for alternate solutions before jumping on the "Let's kill Kevin" train. I understand why he did (this took place immediately post-Aggregor so Ben was still traumatized about having lost so many people and because he failed and "let" Kevin get turned into Ultimate Kevin, he felt as though every person Kevin hurt would be on him) but I wish he hadn't.
Pretty good actually. I like Gwen's emotions becoming a hindrance to the job, I like Ben putting on his big boy pants and I like Kevin going up to Aggregor and saying "y'know, I was a big boy villain once and I'm tried of just getting kicked around" (obviously paraphrasing)
Other than the scenario being overplayed, I think Ben was right. Kevin was eventually going to end up killing Gwen and he'd already put others in the hospital. He needed to be stopped.
Ben jumping straight to murder, yikes. Kevin dismissing Gwen to hang out with Ben almost as soon as he turned back to normal, yikes. Otherwise, it was an interesting plotline.
Really bad. Really shows how awful max and the plumbers really are. I mean , the guy saved the universe and now he clearly needs help but all they wanted to do was kill him.
it really felt like Ben just wanted to murder Kevin because he saved the universe that one time and Ben couldn't stand someone else being the hero for once
The worst, Max straight away wanting to put him down makes u wonder how long he's been waiting for that kind of opportunity.
I'm fine with it, maybe they could have spent some time dealing with the consequences of Kevin's actions, possibly even the ramifications it had on Ben and Kevin's friendship, but overall I'm ok with it.
Q3. Thoughts on the Plumbers
Plumbers ain't shit. Individuals can be acceptable or not but the organization as a whole has too much power, not enough oversight, utilizes child labor, uses a deathtrap of a hellscape dimension as a penal colony, has been shown onscreen sentencing people to imprisonment in said dimension without a trial, and I'm sorry the fact that a Plumber official could walk into a base with his team, assault several members of staff, attempt to kidnap a boy, admit to having and planning to continue to run illegal experiments on him and others, admit to having altered the memories of other Plumber officials, all in front of the entire base, and nothing was done until he tried to kill the golden child Ben 10 and failed, got his ass kicked by one of his victims, and in a place where presumably there were security cameras? And that the response was, again, to sentence him and his team without trial, take all the evidence, and peace out without so much as looking at nonetheless apologizing to his victims? Yeah, that don't fly. Doesn't sound like an organization that has it's shit together. Either the Plumbers don't have their shit together or the higher ups were in on it until it became something that could actually damage their reputation, and either way I Do Not Approve.
They're pretty cool. I know everyone's talking about how Plumbers are space cops and therefore absolutely corrupt and bad but this is a fictional universe in which corruption in organized forces isn't a necessity. Plumbers don't function the same way real cops do, they don't follow they same chain of command, they don't have the same motivations and they definitely don't have the same biases. Plumbers perform an essential function in the Ben 10 universe, which is to capture and contain aliens who aim to hurt anyone (or those who Ben defeats).
My knowledge of the Plumbers' unfortunately doesn't go beyond UA. They're not my favorite thing ever. Some of my least favorite episodes were the ones where the Plumbers or Plumbers' kids are involved, except for the episode "Everybody Talks About the Weather". The way Alan is introduced is really cool and very X Files-esque, and it ties into the DNAlien plot very well. But throughout the series I stopped caring about the Plumbers in general and I think that concept was given too much attention.
They don't do what they're meant to. They act like heros yet I don't think I've ever seen them do anything heroic. The DNAliens situation, the aggregor situation, dagon etc etc. Where were they??? Why did they leave the fate of the universe in the hands of a 16 year-old boy? Ben has the omnitrix sure , but he's still just one guy, how much can he fight? They showed up every once in a while but that's it. They were useless.
Of course the Plumbers have their problems, but looking at most characters we've met that were plumbers seem to be pretty good people. Max, Patelliday and Rook (and even Kevin, technically) are great examples of Plumbers, Servantis being a bad example of one.
Honestly liked it when it was disbanded. It’s cool they introduced Rook but like there’s so much wrong with how they run most things. My favorite version of the plumbers was tbh the first live action movie. Where it was just a bunch of old people watching out for Ben cause they actually cared about the people they protected (in this case Ben).
Q4. Thoughts on Grandpa Max
(The responses to this one were way more divided than I thought they would be omg)
He said Kevin was a mad dog that needed to put down. He's terrible. Military. Secretive. Kept his kids out of the loop and probably told the grandkids not to tell them about a huge and extremely dangerous part of their lives. Thus creating a gap between them and their parents that didn't need to be there. Child endangerment. Other than that....? He's important to Ben and Gwen so I tolerate him and he had some good life lessons to share. Also legendary adult figure in a kids cartoon who had relationships with multiple aliens.
He’s incredible, he worked in the Air Force, was going to be one of the first people on the moon (But he refused because he joined the Plumbers) had children with an Energy Being, he has a few grandchildren, and not to mention knows how to still kick butt despite him being in his 60s and was there to help Ben grow
He’s a complicated old man. Love him to bits in the original run and I love him in AF! He’s a utilitarian doing what needs to be done and suffering the consequences when need be. He does what he thinks is going to lead to the best possible outcome for the most people in any situation.
Needs to get knocked off his pedestal more often, both in and out of canon. He's got good traits, they're very nice, but there's other shit that gets glossed over, ignored, brushed aside, too easily forgiven, and just. They really needed a character who served double duty being a counterforce to him. Somebody to go 'wtf is wrong with you?' or 'yeah, no'. Ideally this would've been Patilidae, but no. We couldn't be so lucky.
Conflicted. Was he grooming Ben for plumber work, or just trying to support him in a situation he knew would be dangerous? It’s not made very clear...
I think he's got some sort of narcissistic personality disorder. I just can't forgive him for making Ben carry the burden of the Omnitrix at the age of 10 without ever explaining anything, and for not letting Ben and Gwen know he was alive after the Null Void grenade incident in AF. He clearly could have, if Helen could reach Gwen so easily. I think he views Ben more as an asset than a grandson at this point and that's really sad.
I love him! The progression from family hero to questionable old man felt kinda natural, like learning about a family member as you grow older and realizing they aren't perfect
He's awesome. He was a good role model for Ben and he was very supportive to both his grandkids. I hate that they made him mute in Omniverse and changed his design so drastically. I loved Max in every season from the original till Ultimate Alien. After that, he was pretty much just a prop.
Q5. And finally, give me your most controversial Ben 10 opinion!
It seems to be the worst thing to say that Ben isn't perfect and that Kai isn't demonic. And it's pretty standard for the women of color characters in every fandom to get the most hate so to me all the hate towards Kai when her personality is so close to Ben's AND she's also more hated than the ex-villain and the actual villains that tried to kill Ben multiple times just seems- hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. But really, and really I've needed to say this for a long time but I'm afraid of being strangled. Some fans will denounce incest/pedo shippers and people that interact with them and then reblog from a proud Bwen shipper with no self-awareness. Please I have the tags blacklisted are you safe to interact with and you just don't know? Or you're just saying you hate Bwen shippers to give yourself an out for reblogging their content????? Or are you all closeted incest shippers trying to maintain a public image???? I'm at my limit.
I do not think the reboot should have existed tbh :,D I know that it has a ton of fans and all due respect to them, but from what I've seen of it I don't think it was worth tossing away four interconnected series' worth of development and starting from scratch to end up with what we have now. I would be fine with it existing if we got an Omniverse continuation alongside it, but CN screwed OV over by the decisions they made near the end of it's run. So it's probably impossible it would return, even moreso because of the reboot already airing, and it would probably confuse younger audiences that don't know about Omniverse if two Ben 10's were running separately. I just really miss Omniverse, it had more potential and the reboot placed the final nail in for it to ever return.
The Ben 10 reboot is fun and meant more for kids rather than the ones watching for nostalgia. I didn’t like how Gwevin were sidelined and downplayed to make Ben look better. Sometimes it felt like Gwen was a bit naggy towards the two of them. I didn’t like how the fact that she was the only female lead how she had sometimes act like a parent or that they put Gwen and Kevin together just because. Their relationship felt forced and awkward a lot of the time. Omniverse’s designs while controversial were fun and unique but I didn’t like what they did with Gwevin, especially Gwen.
Kevin is totally smart enough to figure out an Omnitrix with the blueprints in front of him, we see him do amazing shit with technology- including the Omnitrix- in the OG series, people just don't notice he's as brilliant as Gwen because the show never made it as big a point that he and Ben were so very smart like it did with her before the reboot, so now they're being forced to acknowledge that Kevin might have two braincells to rub together and they're pushing against the supposed 'change'.
idk if it's controversial but there should've been way more episodes of just gwen & kevin & rook without ben or ben having a very minor role in the episode. just more time for those three to shine and show off how capable they are without ben always having to come in to save the day at the end
Gwen and Kevin aren't good friends to Ben. I mean they were initially, but once he got famous and they didn't, they stopped putting more than a half-assed effort to help him. They also don't really consider his feelings nor really care about the toll heroing takes on him.
The Reboot has the best jokes in the entire franchise and I don't why people give it so much crap.
Kai Green is an abuser and I refuse to find anything redeemable about her character. "Worthy to wield Excalibur," my entire ass. And Ben and Julie's breakup was good for them both, as people, and just as much her fault as it was his.
Ben 10 is an incredibly flawed show and people need to stop getting butt hurt when the blatant misogyny, and copoganda in the show get pointed out or when any even minority critiques Ben's character.
Ben is the worst character in Ben 10 and the whole franchise would be better off without him.
Azmuth is fine for the most part and malware was not exactly the most understanding person
I think Ben should've stayed single. Every episode where romance (or the girl Ben was dating) was the focus of the episode was pretty boring to me, personally.
Ben's parents were right to try to stop him from being a hero, so were Gwen's.
Ultimate alien force season 2 and 3 were amazing.( not comparing the OS since obviously that's the best, or omniverse since I haven't watched all the episodes of that)
Pierce deserved to die for being a boring character. I just wish his death had actual consequences.
The reboot is a genuine improvement over the original continuity in MANY ways!
Oh geez, um, Kai was a good character, just her and ben were obviously toxic. Not everyone needs to like Ben and she isn't an abuser, they just don't get along and that's fine but by God, why did the writers have to force them in a relationship? That's all I could really think of on the spot. Oh! And that the first two season of AF were a watered down version of Ben and the plot focused more on Gwen and Kevin than it did Ben. He felt like a side character and I'm not mad about that, but I don't understand why people praise that characterization of ben when I remember more about gwen and Kevin then Ben. Dude, I've been watching the show for the past week and I can name more about kevin and gwen because they're memorable.
Azmuth's hot af, but y'all aren't ready for that conversation...
----
If you’ve made it this far then thank you!
Again huge thank you to everyone who submitted a response and if you have any questions/comments please feel free to leave them in the replies/send me an ask/dm/whatever ^^
45 notes · View notes
theoriginalladya · 3 years
Text
WIP Wednesday
So, still heavily focused on editing my MEBB at the moment, but got inspired for Alenkoats again today, so have a bit of them. (Really, really rough, mostly just some ideas dropped into a doc more than an actual part of a story)...
Setting: Arrival in Andromeda, 630 years after Next Stop... takes place
Characters: Kaidan Alenko, Major (Ben) Coats, Dr. Harry Carlyle (because I can! lol)
Under cut for length
(I should probably be worried at it currently is 666 words, shouldn't I...?)
~~~
Fighting his way to consciousness is something Kaidan has never enjoyed, especially if from a deep, sound sleep. Good rest is difficult to come by even on the best of days, and slogging through a muddled, hazy, morass isn’t a good way to get started…
His vision starts to focus, hazy around the edges, more memory than anything. Ben’s face grinning down over his cryo pod as he says, “Next stop, Andromeda…” Watching the lid to his cryo pod close as he replies, “I’ll see you in the morning…”
His chest heaves as he hurriedly sucks in a deep breath and nearly chokes. A hand at his shoulder squeezes reassuringly, a deep rumbling voice murmuring something unintelligible because his ears suddenly feel filled with cotton…
Blinking rapidly, adrenaline surging through him, Kaidan wills his sight to come into focus, his ears to clear, the ache in his chest to ease…
“Good morning, sunshine!”
Kaidan blinks one last time, the hand at his shoulder squeezing again and a moment later familiar slate-grey eyes come into focus before him. “B-Ben?” he manages through a strangled cough. The trademark smirk is there, one side of his lips tilted upward at a rakish angle. Strong jaw, dark hair, and just a fleeing glimpse of something deeper in his eyes. “We… made it?”
Coats nods and lowers his hand from Kaidan’s shoulder to take his hand, the smirk sliding into a wide grin. “That we did. Six hundred thirty years after we left, or there ‘bouts, if you can believe it.”
Six hundred thirty years… Gulping, Kaidan struggles to sit up. Coats slides an arm around his back in support. “Not so fast, we’ve got plenty of time now.”
The rest of the room comes into view around him and Kaidan nods… then realizes this isn’t the cryo bay of the Vaul. “Where am I?”
“Medical bay on board Ark Hyperion,” a new voice replies from Kaidan’s right. Turning, he meets a silver-tipped dark-haired older man in a lab coat with a gentle smile. “Dr. Harry Carlyle.”
Kaidan looks over at Coats. “Hyperion? Why am I here? Where’s the Vaul?”
“All’s good,” Ben assures him. “We arrived in Andromeda about six weeks ago. They woke me first –” Ben grimaces. “– instead of the Second Human Spectre like they were supposed to. Guess if something had to go wrong, that was it, right?”
There is a tightness in his words that Kaidan doesn’t miss. Yes, he was supposed to have been one of the first team to be woken up, along with Urdnot Wrex, Urdnot Bakara, and several other dignitaries. Searching Coats’ face now, he can only guess that whatever happened had been bad. Oh, shit! “Yeah.”
Coats nodded. “Right. So, after sorting out what was what, I got to talking to the doc here about that leg injury of yours and he agreed to fix you up. Free of charge.” His smile widened and included the doctor this time. “Couldn’t argue with that, right?”
Fix me up… Kaidan pulled back the blanket lying across his lower body to find bandages in the area of his old wound.
“How does it feel?” Dr. Carlyle asked.
“Uh… Fine?” Which is odd in itself, because even sitting it used to ache. Frowning, he bent his knee, drawing his leg upward towards his chest. “Pretty good, actually,” he admitted after moving it around a bit more. “Thanks, doc.”
The doctor nodded. “Glad I could help. Just be careful on it for a while, until you get the hang of being on your feet again. If you have any problems, don’t hesitate to contact me.”
“Is he good to go?” Ben asked.
Harry ran an omni-tool scan over Kaidan and made a few additional notations. “If he can walk over to his things,” he pointed to a set of shelves across the bay, “and collect his things, I’d say so.” He patted Kaidan’s shoulder. “Just don’t rush things, okay?”
Ben snorted softly. “He’s the slowpoke.”
5 notes · View notes
asarunelson999 · 1 year
Text
Watch "Is there a curse on Blacks?" on YouTube
youtube
The ones who are liars 
"78. You claim that I, Paa Nabab: Yaa-Nanan “The Master Yaanuwn” was your master teacher and that you trust in what I teach and that you accept myself as your role model.
79. Surprisingly enough, you actually did not trust myself. You only used what I teach for your own ego. In fact, you only trusted in the evil ones and the lust and lusters they offer. You are totally committed to deception.
80. To us of Wu-S'abat', it is preferable to have trustworthy people who practice Wu-S'abat', our own doctrine, RATHER THAN TO TRY AND MIX OLD DOCTRINES of Bible and Quraan to gain followings as you do. Holding onto that which has EXPIRED.
81. You also maintained that you trusted in The Actual Facts, The Way, The Secrets of Yaanuwn and other things I presented to you in spite of such declaration. YOU ASSAULTED MY TEACHINGS WITH YOUR OWN INTERPRETATIONS of them and even try and eliminate parts you don’t wish to use to support your own gain.
82. The most outrageous atrocity of all is your fabrication of the culture and way of life of us as The United Sabaeans Worldwide, Yamassee Natives. You and your alterations and deceptions which you ascribe to myself that I am the one who appointed, selected, chosen, delegated, designated, nominated, assigned, authorized, YOU ARE A LIAR and I did not make you any such position.
83. The Omni-verse appointed me when the time was right for my incarnation June 26th, 1945 A.D., one second past 12 midnight on Tuesday. So I was named Kobina “Tuesday” and given many attributes over the years to represent each school I was sent to convey. WHO SENT YOU AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT I HAVE NOT ALREADY SAID if you are indeed my successor? Stop the lies.
84. The only one who sent you is your own greed, lust, ego.
85. How many people have you preached to over the years that in OUR OLD EXPIRED DOCTRINE you were right and now you be man or woman enough to say you were wrong so you pretend we are still in the old outdated schools. Is this your pride being tested or your ego won’t let you say ‘he gave me answers to what I asked and all I asked was what I believed. As a Bible or Quraanic believer, I don’t know how to return to those I preached at and say this is what he really came to teach us. Put your pride aside.
86. It is best for you if only you know what is best for you.
87. EVERYTHING THAT I TOLD YOU WOULD COME TO PASS HAS HAPPENED.
88. I also told you back in Brooklyn that I had a vision of this day and time. I put this Islamic world in a book I did on Revelations. I told you and showed you the men in the news. I told you the Islamic world is being taken over by demons in human form, did I not?
89. I TOLD YOU IT IS TIME FOR US TO MOVE ON OUT OF ISLAMISM, MOORISH or otherwise. Some of you can’t let go. That is your choice yet if we were still Ansarullah community dressed as we both males and females dress, what would begin happening these days if we lived that life as Ansaars?"
                          'The ones who are liars                  
                and the ones who are deceivers'
                By: Baa'ah Baa'ah Yaanuwn
0 notes
cake-writes · 4 years
Text
Breathe (Lecture 1)
Tumblr media
Pairing: Bucky x Reader
Story Warnings: Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Mixed Delivery (Social Media & Written Parts), Eventual 18+
Summary: Bucky takes a history class at his local university in hopes of catching up on the last few decades, on everything he’s missed whilst under Hydra’s control – but he winds up learning a lot more than what’s on the syllabus. He learns how to heal.
Written for @the-omni-princess​​’s 1k writing challenge!
(Formerly Hope & Happiness; I decided that I needed a better title!)
TAG LIST: OPEN
Tumblr media
💛 This fic is interactive. Here’s how it works! 💛
So I took the time to find an actual university course to complement this story because I’m just that invested, you guys. (I’m also a huge history nerd, lmao.) The syllabus and lectures are real, and any content relating to these in my story is straight from the source.
Lectures are recorded and available for a listen! Most written chapters will correspond to a lecture; I’ll list which one at the top of the chapter if you want to learn along with Bucky. Each one is about 40-50 minutes long and in English. Click here to access them!
This is definitely optional, though, so please don’t feel pressured to listen, but if you’re a history nerd like me then you may want to take a look!
Tumblr media
Wednesday, August 24
Lecture 1: Introductory Lecture
Although Bucky had been on campus a couple of times before now – first to apply, and then to meet with an advisor as all new students were required to do – he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the sheer size of it. Universities these days were massive: cities within a city, buildings upon restaurants upon shops and all he wanted to do was learn.
That was all he’d ever wanted to do, really. Learn about himself. Learn what made the world tick. Learn all the things he didn’t know. He’d always excelled in school, and once upon a time he’d started to save money in order to attend university. Didn’t know what he’d study – just knew that he wanted a degree in order to support the family he thought he’d have one day.
Ambitions for the future.
Then came the draft. Because hadn’t yet been able to save enough, he’d been shipped out to the European Theater – sent to hell, not to college.
Ambitions for the past.
Two years spent in cold, wintery foxholes gave him an opportunity to think, but all he could think about was the stench of death surrounding him, surrounding his unit, surrounding every waking moment of his life at war. Not his death, of course, but it may as well have been.
Bucky learned to hone in on the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, the rush of adrenaline in his veins, the sensation of his boots in mud and snow. He learned to focus. He learned to survive.
And all the while, he lived with the very real possibility that he wouldn’t make it through – and, well, he didn’t. Not really. Some parts of him never made it back; what little remained became the property of Hydra. Mind corrupted, soul shattered, will broken into sharp, jagged shards of glass.
Fragile. Breakable. Erased, but still alive.  
Bucky may have survived, but he’d never really been right since – never really been whole. Physically and mentally, with too many pieces of himself missing or damaged, one constant stayed the same: a desire to learn. He’d gotten through the war and Hydra’s harsh training because that quality was a part of him – one of the only parts that made it through.
Battle-worn and weary from surviving – not living, not really – Bucky finally had the opportunity to take a step back from the battlefield to just… exist. To live. To breathe. In taking a leave of absence, he embarked upon another journey: to rediscover the man he used to be.
It would be difficult task, he knew. The twenty-first century was far cry from the 1940s, a far cry from home, and the sheer size of the college campus only served to remind him of that. In fact, he was only able to recognize that he was still in New York because this school happened to be the very same one he’d once planned to attend so long ago. Staten Island University. Right across the bridge from his present-day apartment in Brooklyn, not to mention his old family home.
Home.
But this unfamiliar new century was his home, now, so he sought to learn what he’d missed over all the decades he’d lost to Hydra. In the process, maybe he’d learn about himself, learn what made the world tick, learn all the things he didn’t know.
What better place could there be to do that than at a university?
Bucky soon found out that his education would be paid for by the United States government for his service in the military. Ironic that the very barrier which forced him into war was the same thing being gifted to him now. The GI Bill. A reward for his patriotism. A thank you for his sacrifice.
Flowery words for a bribe meant to keep him silent. Call him jaded.
Worse still, if Bucky thought tuition was expensive back then, he didn’t know what to call it today. He’d been rendered speechless when he found out what a single class would cost, but rest assured, Uncle Sam would pay for it so that he didn’t have to.
Physically, it only cost him an arm but mentally, it cost him so much more.
U.S. Society and Politics Since 1945. Mondays and Wednesdays at two o’clock. Three credit hours, whatever that meant. He signed up for the class after his first meeting with an advisor – thought that it might do him good to put his past behind him and learn.
Tumblr media
Bucky arrived about twenty minutes before the class was due to start, all nerves and first day jitters – absolutely ridiculous when he really thought about it, so he tried to put it out of his mind and selected a seat in the very back row in hopes of not being noticed.
Counting seats proved to be a good distraction. Three hundred seats. Would there really be that many students? Save for a handful of his new classmates scattered about, the too-large lecture hall seemed like it would never fill. Sure enough, however, it eventually started to – not all three hundred seats, but close enough.
It wasn’t until then that Bucky realized he might have been woefully unprepared. Just about everyone else had laptops sat out front of them, and while he could use one – clunkily – he still preferred something more a little more tangible. All he’d brought along was the required textbook, a notebook, and two pens, one of which he’d been rolling in between a gloved thumb and forefinger for the last few minutes. 
That was a nervous tic of his, one he’d picked up in the army, except today it was a pen instead of a cigarette and he sure could have used a pack of Lucky Strikes right now. A cigarette would have done wonders to take the edge off, but he didn’t smoke, not anymore. Frustrated, he dropped the pen back down onto his desk and slumped down in his chair.
Had school always been this nerve-wracking? He couldn’t remember.
A snort drew his attention, and Bucky glanced to his left to find you sitting a few seats down in the same back row, watching him in amusement. 
It caught him off-guard.
“Is this your first class?”
A innocent question, unprompted – untainted.
While Bucky knew that there would be some socializing required, especially in the discussion section of the class, never in his wildest dreams did he think that anyone would be willing to strike up a conversation with him. He had half a mind to say ‘no’ and ignore you as long as possible, but for whatever reason, he didn’t. He opened up.
“How could you tell?”
You shrugged. “You’re fidgeting, for one. But mostly because you don’t have a bag.”
Why would he need a bag? He was only taking one class.
At his doubtful look, you spoke again, voice light and airy, “Don’t worry. You’ll learn.”
Well, that was foreboding. Then again, you seemed like you would know. You looked slightly older than most of the other students who were likely fresh out of high school, and you appeared to be all sorts of prepared, what with a leather laptop bag on the chair to your right and some brightly-coloured notebooks, binders, and a few thick textbooks all strewn about the desk in front of you.
A laptop bag, but no laptop. Strange.
Bucky wasn’t really sure why he wanted to know, but he nodded to your books and asked anyway, “What else are you taking?”
“Mostly upper-level psychology classes. I’m in my final year. What about you?”
“This is my only class,” he admitted, and to him, that wasn’t a satisfactory answer. He was only taking the one class with no particular goal in mind, but here you were, taking at least four other classes judging by the number of textbooks on your desk.
You had a goal. 
He didn’t.
You didn’t ask why, though; instead, you offered him your name, along with a bright smile.
“Bucky,” he found himself telling you way too easily.
“Well, Bucky, it’s nice to meet you.” You paused, then, before you made an offhanded comment of, “I think it’s really good to have a friend in class, you know? Mostly so you can steal their notes when you skip.”
A joke, perhaps, but Bucky took it literally. That may have been the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “I’m not gonna— Who pays thousands of dollars in tuition and then decides not to come?”
Your brows rose in surprise for a moment or two, but then you laughed at his stick-in-the-mud response. “Oh no, you’re one of those. What a goody two-shoes!”
Don’t worry, you’d said. You’ll learn.
But the mischievous sparkle in your eyes let him know that you were just teasing, and what’s more, he actually didn’t mind. No, he kind of liked it, having some normal human interaction for once – not whatever the hell he’d grown used to at the compound. Between blood-spattered banter in the field and too-dark humour used as a coping mechanism, his interactions there were anything but normal.
Bucky also liked that you had no idea how wrong your sentiment was; not that he’d never admit it. This was the first time in a long, long while that he’d been treated like a regular person – not enhanced, not a science experiment, not an Avenger – and he had no intention of shattering the illusion anytime soon.
“I’m not giving you my notes, either,” he deadpanned.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Super goody two-shoes. My mistake.”
When he opened his mouth to respond to your sassy one-liner, however, the professor’s voice sounded from the front of the lecture hall. You gave him a final wink before you turned to face the front, purple pen already poised and ready to go.
Good afternoon! Can you hear me in the nosebleeds? Yes? With me? Okay…
Tumblr media
Forty-five minutes passed in a blink, and most of the students quickly started to pack up their belongings – but not you. No, you stayed in your seat and continued scribbling away at something in your notes, seemingly having zero plans to leave anytime soon. Bucky couldn’t help but be curious as to why you weren’t packing up, but it wasn’t any of his business and he didn’t ask.
Armed with a new syllabus and a daunting list of required readings for the week, he pulled himself to his feet and collected his own belongings; only managed to push the chair back in and take about two steps toward the door before he heard your voice again.
“Hey, Bucky, wait.”
He turned around to see you still reading through one of your textbooks, not even looking in his direction, but in your outstretched hand was a bright pink sticky note.
What?
“Come on,” still focused on your reading, you waved the post-it, pink paper flapping in the makeshift breeze but staying stuck to your finger anyway, “Take it. Here.”
Hesitantly, Bucky stepped closer and accepted the proffered note. Upon it, he found that you’d hastily scrawled your name and phone number, along with what he assumed was meant to be a smiley face. The drawing was god-awful, and a welcome distraction from the way his heart had immediately leapt into his throat because a woman had just given him her phone number.
Her phone number.
“Th— Thanks?” he stammered, unsure.
Now, he certainly wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but this—
“Don’t get any weird ideas,” you interrupted his train of thought, finally pulling your eyes away from the textbook to look up at him. 
Gorgeous, glimmering, big doe eyes focused right on him, now, and seeing you up close like this, a fleeting thought crossed his mind about how attractive you were. He blamed it on the fact that you’d just given him your number, and now his brain only wanted to overthink what he’d interpreted as the first sign of potential interest from the opposite sex in – well, far too long. 
Bucky hadn’t been expecting that at all, and he wasn’t particularly interested to pursue such a thing, either. At least not right now. He still needed to get his head on straight; still needed to figure out his own problems before he took on someone else’s.
Even if you were a pretty little thing he might have taken dancing, once.
Then you added, “If you have any questions, just shoot me a text, okay? I remember how lost I was when I first started, especially because I’m a,” you did some air-quotes, then, “‘mature-aged’ student.” Another snort, one much less ladylike than before. “Mature-aged. I’m not that old!”
So it was a friendly offer. Nothing more. Not like the implications in the 40s – and Bucky thought, then, that if you were considered to be ‘mature-aged,’ he didn’t want to find out how he’d stack up.
“Thanks,” he said again, this time a little less unsurely. “I appreciate it.”
Another one of your bright smiles brought a sense of calm over him, a feeling that carried over even when you poked fun at him again, “Then I guess I’ll see you next week, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes.” 
“Yeah,” he responded, feeling the corners of his lips turn up just a little at your goodnatured teasing. “See you next week.”
And when he left the lecture hall, fluorescent pink post-it stuck to the inside of his notebook, Bucky’s footsteps felt just a little lighter than before – and so did his heart.
Tumblr media
Part Two
553 notes · View notes