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#this kind of stuff is par for the course in superhero stuff but like (points at raimi) YOU CAN DO IT IN A WAY THAT'S NOT AWFUL GUYS
oliveroctavius · 2 years
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Hey could you explain a bit how NWH is ableist. Not saying it isn’t, like the way they write Norman and the greed goblin is def kinda fucked. I’m just curious on what your takes on it are cuz that’s the only ableist thing I really picked up on.
Sure. In a visual medium, such as movies or comics, how might you symbolize that a character has experienced a moral or emotional break? The clearest way is to show some sort of physical transformation, deformity, or change in mannerism as their worldview changes.
That doesn't have to be ableist; it's just a storytelling tool. What IS ableist is flipping it the other way: that the transformation or deformity makes them evil, and must be fixed to allow them to be "good" again.
The Raimi movies used symbolic transformations while mostly avoiding ableist implications. The Goblin could be seen as mental illness, but when Norman Osborn makes the final decision that dooms himself, he does it of his own free will as Norman. Doc Ock having four arms fused to him and hearing their voices symbolizes his downfall, but he doesn't have to give them up to be redeemed at the end. In fact, he uses the arms to save everyone else. Harry Osborn's face is scarred when his worldview is broken and his moral compass flips, but as a sign that he's turning towards good.
Contrast No Way Home, which takes a variety of villains with a variety of motivations and decides that the only way to fix all their problems is to make them Normal again without their consent. Why is Doc Ock nice now? Is it because he's processed his grief, come to terms with his ego? No, it's because he "doesn't hear the voices anymore". Oh, so the voices made him evil all along. Nothing to learn about human nature there, I guess.
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Soulmarks, Part 13
First part
Previous
~~~
She heard a knock on her balcony door and opened it. He stood outside, his hands stuffed in his pockets. She glanced him over. He was definitely more prepared than she was, he looked like he’d just walked out of a spy movie with all his equipment.
She looked it over with envy. Ah, the power of money.
Marinette waved him inside. “I’ve still got to get some stuff out.”
She dug through her room. Unsurprisingly, her parents weren’t exactly aware of this particular ‘hobby’ of hers… which meant that she’d had to hide everything pretty well. They didn’t exactly go through her room, but they still came up to talk to her often enough that having stuff out in the open was a terrible idea.
She scooped up the last piece of equipment and turned around.
He was also poking around her room, though the reason why was probably less innocent than ‘looking for spy equipment’... which already isn’t all that innocent, so take that how you will.
Her face flushed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Find anything interesting?”
His shoulders froze and he dropped the tiny Chat Noir plush he’d found. “Your room… it’s... uh… very… pink.” He coughed into his hand awkwardly. “Yep. Got everything? Good, let’s go.”
He made to leave and she grabbed his arm.
Tim paused and looked back at her, giving her his most innocent smile. He was probably anxious that she was mad at him for snooping around her room (she wasn’t, she’d do the same thing in his room if he had actually lived there).
She hesitated slightly and let go, pulling out her yoyo to mess with. Now for the part of the night that she’d been dreading most: “We need a backup plan in case we get caught.”
“I doubt we will,” he said with a cocky grin.
Marinette shrugged. “I hope not, but in case… you’ll need to have some kind of suit so we can say it’s superhero business.”
He winced and looked at the floor. “I don’t want to get back in the Robin suit,” he admitted, his voice little more than a whisper.
She nodded slightly. She’d predicted that. He hadn’t once mentioned wanting to get back into the Robin suit, nor had the soulmark made a reappearance. She held up a finger for him to wait and then walked over to her desk, picking up a tiny box.
She’d thought for a long time about what to give him. She had wanted to give him the fox miraculous originally, it was the most in line with what they were doing; Trixx would give them extra cover and they could get closer to Lila without her detecting them. On the other hand, giving the fox miraculous to anyone besides Alya was risky. There was a risk of her becoming akumatized. They really didn’t need that right now.
And, so, she handed over the horse miraculous. It would give them a quick out when needed.
Also, she thought he’d look cute with glasses. Sue her.
He raised his eyebrows slightly and pulled them on.
She was right!
He frowned slightly and started squinting through the glasses. “Oh, crap, do I actually need glasses these are helpi -- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”
“Shhhhh! My parents are going to hear us!”
He pointed at Kaalki, who crossed her arms (? hooves? legs?) over her chest.
“Who is that,” she corrected, then turned to Marinette with a sigh. “Is he at least famous?”
“Yep. Tim Drake-Wayne. Rich and famous, just how you like them.”
Kaalki beamed. “Finally, someone who actually deserves me.”
Marinette rolled her eyes and turned to Tim, who was slowly backing away from the tiny god. “She’s not going to hurt you.”
“Well, yeah, I can and will punt her.”
She rolled her eyes. “She’s literally a god, but okay.”
“A WHAT?!”
Marinette heard a knock on the bottom of her trapdoor and cursed, quickly diving onto it before her mom could come in. Her hands and knees were scraped, but it was much easier than explaining why there was a guy and a god hanging out in her room.
“Marinette? Is everything okay in there?” Her mom pushed up on the door and she threw all her weight into holding it closed. “Who’s over?”
“Yes, mom, everything’s fine! This is just…” She floundered. “A new superhero?”
“How do you know superheroes?”
“I have an amazing personality.” She caught Tim’s eyes and mouthed that he needed to take off all the equipment and then transform.
He looked reluctant, but he complied.
She waited until he was fine and then finally pushed herself off the door, giving her mother an awkward smile as the trapdoor opened.
“Hi, mom, meet…” She looked at Tim and shrugged. “Horse-guy?”
Tim raised his eyebrows. “Horse-guy? Seriously?”
She shrugged. “Do you have anything better?”
“Uh…” He looked down at himself. “Cheval Brun?”
“Should’ve gone with Horse-guy.” She smiled and waved at her mom. “Great, now that you know nothing is going on, can you… go? I love you!”
“Love you… too?” Said her mom, her eyebrows knitting together. She slowly closed the trapdoor.
Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and laid back.
“Tikki, spots on,” she mumbled.
Tim grinned and offered her a hand up. “Ready to go?”
She took it and smiled as he helped her to her feet.
“Of course.”
~
She pulled her night-vision goggles to her eyes. Lila was… on her bed, scrolling through her phone. Threatening.
“Y’know, it feels weird to stalk someone I don’t like,” she said with a pout.
“Right?” Said Tim, frowning as he set up his camera. “Stalking is for obsessions only.”
“Exactly.”
She heard her comm click. “You guys are really weird,” said Adrien, sounding exhausted. “Just… in the future, can you stick to only stalking each other?”
“Sounds romantic,” said Marinette.
“No,” said Dick. “No, it’s not.”
Tim grinned. “It could be.”
“No --.”
“I say we let them. At least it’s not us anymore,” said Barbara.
Marinette laughed. “Exactly. Be glad.”
She felt Tim lace his fingers through hers and she was lucky it was dark because her face was quickly getting warm.
“We’re turning off comms to listen. We’ll turn them back on if we need to.”
Everyone mumbled a bye (and Dick warned that they would pick up the conversation later) and the soulmates turned their comms off in sync.
They waited there for a long time, their ears pressed to the devices Tim had brought to help listen in. But… it was almost like Lila was being intentionally boring. They didn’t have to peek over the side to make sure that she was still there, because they could hear her shift around on the bed or laugh occasionally, she just seemed to be very interested in her phone.
“Christ, she’s more boring than Adrien. At least Adrien sometimes played piano,” she joked quietly, resting her head back against the wall with a tiny sigh.
Maybe they were wrong about Lila. They’d been going off of shaky evidence at best. Still, something in her told her that they were right.
The thing telling her this was definitely fuelled by spite, but she was going to pretend that it wasn’t.
So she continued to listen in. There was a lot of waiting involved in stalking someone if you’re looking for something.
Her eyes found their way to Tim, who gave her a tiny smile.
Well, she might as well kill time.
“So, we going to talk about Lila?”
~
His smile dropped and he tried not to tense up too much.
“Thought we already did?” He said.
She shrugged. “A little, but I’d like to know why you were so convinced. Yeah, Lila is like that, but you seemed pretty determined to believe her over me.”
He hesitated, looking down at their interlocked hands. He’d hoped that her history with Lila would be enough to convince her that was all, but he supposed he should have known she’d be smarter than that.
Man, why couldn’t he just lie? He wanted to lie, it should have been so easy to say ‘oh, no, she’s just really convincing, you know that’ but he couldn’t bring himself to. Not when he’d seen how hurt she’d looked at the cafe, not when she was giving him that smile that said she’d understand no matter what.
Tim sighed and closed his eyes.
“It’s just… you’re so… good, Nette.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“No, really. Like, yes, you’re probably more revenge motivated than you should be, and you can be a bit of a pushover, and you rival Bruce in the bad coping mechanism olympics, but… you’re also a heroine, you’re sweet, and it feels like you were made for me but…”
She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. She looked like she was going to argue for a second, but ultimately just prompted him to continue with a: “But…?”
“But... that’s just not how things go in my life. There’s always some kind of downside, some huge ‘oh fuck’. So you being some sort of terrible person underneath really would have just been par for the course.”
He felt tears form in the back of his eyes. Venting always feels good after the fact, even if it opens old wounds while you’re doing it. Damn. He couldn’t really afford to do this in Paris, but here he was, and now that he’d started he couldn’t bring himself to stop. If he did, he doubted he’d ever be able to bring himself to tell her, and he wasn’t fond of that, either.
“And, I’ve never really told anyone about this, but… I don’t really… talk to a lot of people.”
“I know.”
His head shot up to look at her. “Huh?”
“You’re my soulmate. It took you until fourteen to get a single person’s name. I kinda guessed.”
Oh. Right.
He sighed and closed his eyes. “Well, yeah, my parents sucked and every person who ever tried to talk to me did it because they were rich. I ended up just never talking to people. The whole ‘friends’ thing is still kinda new to me, let alone getting a possible girlfriend.”
He gave a short, somewhat bitter laugh. “Not that you want to date me. I’m a bit of a mess. So is my life. You’d be better off if we were just friends, and even better if you stopped talking to me entirely.”
He felt her head rest on his shoulder and opened his eyes to look at her. She gave him a slight smile, but her eyes were locked on a place over his shoulder.
A frown made its way across his face and he started to turn to see what she was looking at, only to feel her cup his cheek and pull his face until he was looking at her again.
She met his gaze and her smile dropped into a serious look. “Listen: I like being around you. A lot. I’m not nearly as perfect as you seem to think I am, but I still want to be something good in your life. Please, let me.”
He let himself relax, resting his hand over hers and turning his head to press a tiny kiss to her palm.
“I know you only said that because there was an akuma, but… I’d like that.”
She blushed faintly and relaxed a little bit as well. “I still meant it.”
He looked at her for a minute, expecting to see some hint of a lie, but there wasn’t one. She met his gaze and smiled, leaning up slightly to press a kiss to his cheek.
He couldn’t help it. He turned his head and his lips brushed against hers.
She blinked in surprise.
He looked at her wide eyes and paled. Shit. “Sorry! I don’t know what --!”
She kissed him again and he felt himself smile as he kissed back. It was both of their first kisses, so they were, admittedly, a little awkward, but he could definitely tell why people liked it so much. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever felt so energized.
But, eventually, they pulled away. His eyes fluttered open to see she was blushing like mad, and the warmth in his cheeks told him that he was likely just as red. She smiled at him and he felt his heart do a tiny flip in his chest.
Eventually, though, Lila laughed at something on her phone and he was pulled back to reality.
He blinked a few times and looked away. They were here for a reason other than kissing. They had a job. “Did you see where the akuma came from?” He asked after a few seconds.
She snapped out of it as well, pulling her hand from his cheek to point over his shoulder. “Back that way --.”
They both looked at where she was pointing, where the akuma was slowly disappearing on the horizon.
“What are the chances it’s going back to Hawkmoth?”
“Worth a shot, don’t you think?”
They followed after it.
~~~
Next part
A lot of people wait to do kisses until the end but idk I like writing people in relationships too much to
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lady-griffin · 3 years
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Characters That Might Be Introduced in Young Justice Season 4: Phantoms
This is just my own personal speculation, based on what I think might happen in Season 4 and what YJ has given us so far. I’m sure that I’ve missed plenty of characters that others 100% believe or know will be making an appearance...but, I can’t do anything about that. 
While the majority of the characters on this list are ones we haven’t met before, there are a few we have met in the show - I included these characters, because I think they might be added to the ever-growing roster of heroes or have a more prominent role to play. 
This is really long, but I had fun doing it and I hope you enjoy it. 
Characters We've Met Already
Part I: Prominent Future Role
     M’comm M’orzz/Ma'alefa'ak
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M’gann’s younger brother who wants to start a white revolution on Mars. We met him in season 3 during the episode of “Away Mission,” where he was a major focal point.
There are a couple of factors for why I think he’ll play a prominent role.
He’s M’gann’s younger brother and as several people have speculated upon, this season’s tagline of “Phantoms” might be in reference to our main characters’ own personal phantoms from their pasts, rather than literal ghosts. Also given how M’gann has a new little brother in Gar, who was given more prominence last season – there could be something there.
M’Comm wants to start a White Revolution and we know M’gann, Conner, J’onn, and Gar (I believe) will be heading to Mars, either before or at the beginning of Season 4. Since J’onn/Martian Manhunter is usually the last Green Martian – some dark stuff may be awaiting our heroes on Mars or occur while they’re there.
I think he’ll play a significant role in the upcoming season. 
     Jason Todd/Red Hood
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Jason is a prominent member of the Batfamily and we’ve already learned that he was the Robin after Dick, but died before Season 2 began. 
In Season 3 – he was also an easter egg in “Nightmare Monkeys,” where he died in Beast Boy’s mind, along with other fallen comrades.
More importantly, in “Rescue Op,” we actually met him as the Red Hooded Ninja on Infinity Island. Towards the end of that episode there was attention given to the fact that he recognized Dick and therefore his memory was returning.
I can definitely see him having a more significant part in the future. He would most likely be Dick’s main phantom, if that’s the case for Season 4. 
     Big Barda
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One of Granny’s most loyal generals and the leader of the furies before she defects against Darkseid. We were introduced to her in Season 3, in “Influence" - she fought against the Justice League, but more importantly she was saved by Superman. While it’s clear that Granny hurting her or being willing to sacrifice her is par for the course, it seemed pretty clear (to me) that Superman reshaped her outlook on life. 
We never saw her again, so more than likely she defected after Superman saved her.
Given her usual importance to the plot of Darkseid as well as the fact that her main love interest is Scot Free – I think there is more than a good chance we’ll see her again in Season 4.
--
In the third season, each of these characters were introduced in a single episode. Given their significant relationships to either a character or a plot element that is important to Young Justice - it seems more than likely we’ll see them play a larger role in the upcoming season.
Part II: Minor Future Role
     Harper Rowe/Bluebird
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She was a minor character in Season 3, but she was also pretty prominent. Given that she’s a hero in the comics, I can see Harper being a new hero added to the roster. I can’t say how prominent she’ll actually be, but I can definitely see her playing a minor role.    
     Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl
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Courtney is a pretty prominent young hero in DC and she made several appearances in Season 3 – with her show (Stargirl) where she reported and interviewed young heroes. So, maybe she’ll have decided instead of just interviewing heroes, she’ll become one herself. 
     Cisco Ramon/Vibe
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For a character who was just being bullied they paid a decent amount of attention to him. Now maybe he was just a prominent Easter Egg for fans (CW’s The Flash), but it could also be YJ laying some slight ground work for him in the future.
     Cassandra Cain/Orphan
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Orphan is a member of the Batfamily and her mother is Lady Shiva - The Light’s new enforcer, who we got to know decently well in Season 3. Because of that, I think there could be something there to explore in Season 4.
-- 
I don’t really think any of these guys will be major characters, but I’m betting we’ll at least see them in the background as heroes. Similar to how Stephanie Brown and others were introduced as easter eggs and then in the following season we saw them working as heroes.
In addition, there are of course other minor hero/super-powered characters whom we’ve already met (Arrowette, Spoiler, Mist etc.) and any one of them could get more screen time, it’s honestly anyone’s guess; I just don’t have anything specific to speculate about for them.
Characters We Haven’t Met 
Part I: Legion of Super-Heroes/Time Travel
Based on the idea that the Legion of Super-Heroes and time travel could play a significant role in Season 4 – which is based on how season 3 ended with an unknown woman wearing a Legion Ring. 
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes are a superhero team from the 31st Century; they are similar to The Justice League, but they protect and defend the United Planets. 
     Tinya Wazzo/Phantom Girl
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Phantom Girl is a member of the Legion, so based off that and her name, there’s a decent chance we’ll meet her. I can’t say how big of role she’ll actually have, but I feel confident in saying this season won’t be named after her; it’ll just be fun little tie-in, if she does make an appearance.
     Querl Dox/Brainiac 5
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Brainiac is a very prominent member of the Legion and knowing that they will play some role, it’s not a stretch to say he’ll also play a role. 
Brainiac 5, or at least in the WB animated show, was the inventor of the Legion Ring, as well as the ability to time-travel. 
Given his relation to one of Superman’s greatest enemies, Brainiac, who could definitely be a threat to both the League and The Light (if Brainiac even appears), I can definitely see Brainiac 5 playing a role. 
But, just his promience within the Legion is enough reason to speculate he’ll make an apperance.
     Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl
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Given Saturn Girl’s usual importance and prominence to the Legion (founding member), plus the fact that it was a waitress wearing the ring – it could very well have been her at the end of Season 3.
And even if it wasn’t her, she will still likely make an apperance. 
Other Members of the Legion of Super-Heroes who we could meet: Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl, Timber Wolf, Chameleon Boy, etc.
     Michael Carter/Booster Gold
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Booster Gold is a pretty popular character who has appeared in many other works and is intrinsically linked with time-travel. On top of that, he typically has (or had) a good friendship with the old Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), so maybe we’ll see some reverse-mentor relationship with him and Jaime, the new Beetle – Jaime teaching him what it actually means to be a hero.
In general, I think he would just be a fun and new kind of personality to be brought in. 
     Future Kids (Lian Nguyen-Harper, Damian Wayne, Jon Kent, Tornado Twins, etc).
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Given how time-travel will possibly be an element in Season 4, I think there’s a chance we’ll have an episode set in the future, starring the next generation of heroes. Maybe not all the kids we saw in “Home Fires,” but probably some of them.
Part II: The Phantom Zone  
I have the theory that Granny’s X-Pit is a type of Phantom Zone or at least based off the real thing.
Granny herself even called the pit the Ghost Dimension (which just sounds like another name for the Phantom Zone). So, it seems very likely to me that given the title of Season Four, the prominence of The Phantom Zone in DC, and how the X-Pit worked in YJ -- that The Phantom Zone will make an appearance in season 4, if not play an important part.
There could be lots of ways they could incorporate it into the show.
Maybe it works as a prison. The prison cells are like the red boxes Granny used to protect herself and thus there’s no chance of prisoners escaping the Zone, because if they try leave their cells, they’ll experience excruciating pain
Depending on how the Phantom Zone would work in in YJ, I feel like those who escape the Phantom Zone or are from there, could be called Phantoms.
While I do personally think the tagline Phantoms will refer to our main heroes’ own personal phantoms, the tagline could also be in reference to other elements of the season (like the Phantom Zone).
      Kara Zor-El/Supergirl
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Supergirl is an important and popular character in the DC and given the prominence of the Batfamily in YJ, it seems a bit odd that the Superfamily is rather lacking in comparison. 
Supergirl has been a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes and due to her popular CW Show - she is more recently associated with the Phantom Zone. In her show, she ended up being stuck in the Phantom Zone which is why she arrived on Earth so much later than Clark. YJ could do something like that or maybe she’ll have been stuck in the Phantom Zone until the 31st Century. 
The introduction of Supergirl could be an interesting storyline in association with Conner (and Clark). We know that Clark has been interested in finding other Kryptonians and Kara is certainly more than just another Kryptonian.
She’s also a likely candidate to be the waitress who was wearing the Legion Ring. 
     Mon-El
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A Daxxamite who’s a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes and is also strongly associated with the Phantom Zone. Given how in Season 1, Superman thought that Shazam and Icon were potential Kryptonians, there could be something interesting there with Mon-El – especially since his species are so similar to Kryptonians.
In the comics, Mon-El had been inspired by Superboy into becoming a hero, but he was put in the Phantom Zone because he had an incurable disease; he was later saved by Brainiac 5 in the 31st Century. So that could be another potential storyline for Superboy in Season 4.
Mon-El has also gotten some more recognition in recent years, due to his role in CW’s Supergirl.
Also, when I was looking up a picture for him to use, I learned that there is another version of Mon-El, where he is a descendent of House El/Superman. 
So maybe that version will be introduced instead of the Daxxamite one, I don’t know. 
     Zod Trio -- Zod, Ursa, Non
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I don’t actually think these guys will be important to Season 4, if even they are introduced. But they are important Superman Villains and they’re usually connected with the Phantom Zone – given how many continuities they are prisoners of said Zone. 
So, it seemed silly to not speculate about them at least making an appearance or small cameo, if not something more. 
Part III: Darkseid and Meta-Trafficking  
     Scott Free/Mister Miracle
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Scott or Scot is Darkseid’s adopted son and the biological son of Highfather, so it feels safe to say that he’ll be a part of the show at some point. Especially, given the increase prominence of Darkseid as well as how much we’ve seen of the New Gods, Motherboxes/Fatherboxes, and the two worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips.
Scot is a defector of Apokolips or more accurately was never broken by the place. He is known for being able to escape any imprisonment - particularly Granny’s Orphanage/X-Pit, so if there’s a return of the X-Pit, Scot would be a great asset to our heroes.
Given how we’ve been introduced to the X-Pit quite thoroughly in Season 3, I think that Scot’s ability to free himself would be all the more impressive, and a quick way to establish this new character and his skills. 
In addition, while we didn’t meet the real Orion, we do know that he exists in this universe. Orion is the adopted son of Highfather and the biological one of Darkseid. In the comics, Scot and Orion were traded as part of a Peace Treaty between the worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips. 
Basically, he’s due to make an apperance. 
     Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran/Starfire
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The plots of Season 2 and 3 were largely focused on the kidnapping, experimenting, and trafficking of meta-human children/teenagers, so given all of that - Starfire seems very likely to be included in YJ.
Or at the very least, YJ has laid down the groundwork for her to be introduced - whether or not they’ll use that, we’ll have to see.
Starfire’s origin is that she is a Tamerean Princess who was taken and experimented on, which resulted in her gaining powers (more powers). So, in the YJ universe she would essentially be a Meta-Tamerean. 
Starfire could be a great way to show that the Meta-Gene exploitation isn’t just an earth/human problem anymore, as many more beings across the universe are being experimented on and turned into living weapons.
Thus, expanding upon the trafficking story thread that was introduced in Season 3. 
In general, Starfire’s origin story fits very well with the trafficking/meta-experimenting storylines that we’ve gotten so far and I think her presence would add something new.
Given the popularity of Teen Titans and the prominence of Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Cyborg in YJ, it seems more than likely that Star will be a character in the show. 
Also, we know that Arsenal will be on the Covert Team and that Jason is alive, so maybe if Star is introduced, we’ll see a version of the Outlaws in YJ. Which could be fun. 
Finally, she is one of Nightwing’s main love interests, so there could be some personal drama to be had, if the show goes down that route, which they may not. 
Starfire obviously doesn’t have to be a love interest for Nightwing to be added into the story. 
While I love RobStar (+ Dickbabs), I feel like sometimes Star is just limited to being Nightwing’s other girlfriend. So, if she is introduced in YJ, I would not be opposed to other storylines involving her without Nightwing. 
In my personal opinion, not including Star would be such a wasted opportunity, given what YJ has already established so far.
Part IV: Zatanna’s Protégé(s) / Magic-Based Characters
I have a small theory, that magic might play a larger role in season 4. This is mostly based on the fact that magic has been pushed to the background in the past two seasons. Also, the title of ‘Phantoms’ makes me think of the supernatural (aka Magic). 
We also know that Zatanna will have protégés, as in plural. Now she already has Thirteen, so at the very least we can say that one new magical-based character will be introduced to the team or the hero side. 
     The Phantom Stranger
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A mysterious mystic who battles supernatural forces. It’s unlikely he’ll be a protégé for Zatanna, but I mentioned him first, because of his name. Which is the main reason for why I think he, out of all the magical characters in DC, could make an appearance.
Similar to Phantom Girl, I don’t think the season’s tagline will come from his name, but it might just be a nice little tie-in regardless.
     Eddie Bloomberg/Kid Devil aka Red Devil
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Blue Devil has made a few minor appearances in Seasons 1 & 2 and given how Kid Devil was once his sidekick in the comics, I think there’s a decent chance Red Devil we’ll make an appearance.
He’s a character who I think many people might not know about or at least not a lot about; and YJ does like to shine a light on those characters.
Eddie started out as human kid/teenager who became Kid Devil - sidekick to Blue Devil. He ended up making a deal with a demon and got demonic powers and looks to match - possibly related to that, he had a falling out with Blue Devil and stopped being his sidekick.
I’m pretty fuzzy on the details of his story, as I’m not super familiar with his character; but the broad strokes that I do know, I think could really work for YJ.
He starts  out as the sidekick of Blue Devil (maybe he knows the team), but he has a falling out with Blue or goes off on his own – and gets his demonic powers, becoming Red Devil. Or something like that.
As he becomes Zatanna’s protégé (trying to learn to control his magical powers), he also has to work on his strained relationship with Blue Devil.
It could be a similar story to Red Arrow’s from Season 1, a nice throwback with a new character. And a character who while being new, does already have some slight groundwork laid out for his introduction - with Blue Devil already existing in YJ.
Again, I’m just throwing ideas out here and speculating. 
     Zachary Zatara
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Several people have pointed out that Zachary is a more likely candidate to be Zatanna’s new protégé than Raven is - who was the first person I thought of - given how Zachary is Zatanna’s cousin. 
And yeah, I think there’s a decent enough chance for him becoming a character in Season 4. 
He’s related to a former member of the OG Team and like Eddie, he’s not really a character many people are super familiar with, so that could work in his favor.
It could also be fun to have someone back on the team who has magic like Zatanna and if Zachary was part of the team, we would probably see more of Zatanna – which would be great.
One problem I do have though, is if he does exist in this universe - why didn’t Zatanna move in with his parent(s) (her aunt or uncle) when her father became the host for Doctor Fate.
Of course, that could just be because in season one they had never intended for him to exist in the show, but now things have changed. 
And in Season 2, we were given no indication that Beast Boy had been with the Doom Patrol or that they had died tragic deaths in between the time his mother died and when he joined the team. So yeah....
Zachary is a likely candidate to be added, especially in regard to Zatanna have multiple protégés (or at least 2). 
     Rachel Roth/Raven 
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Unlike Starfire, Raven’s main story arc involving Trigon doesn’t really relate to what has been going on in Young Justice so far. Nonetheless, it seems very likely she’ll be included - given the popularity of TT, plus Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Cyborg being prominent characters. 
Raven  shouldn’t be limited by the existence of Trigon; as you easily have Raven in a story, without Trigon being front and center, in my opinion. And, it would be nice seeing other storylines involving Raven that don’t include Trigon, or at least not having him be a major factor.
There’s nothing specific that makes me think Raven will be introduced in Season 4, but –
She could definitely be Zatanna’s new protégé or at least one of them. And, while in the comics Zatanna and Raven haven’t always gotten along – there’s no reason that has to be the case in YJ. Plus, in Bombshells, Raven is Zatanna’s pseudo/adopted daughter.
Though, I think Raven being the protégé of Doctor Fate might work a bit better. 
Also, in regard to my personal theory that magic will become more prominent, Raven would be a great way to go about doing that, especially with her wide range of powers and abilities. 
While, I don’t think a story needs Trigon to have Raven – her being the daughter of one of the great evils of the universe, could certainly be a bonding element for her and the other heroes who also have supervillain relatives. 
Plus, Raven being the portal to Trigon (this seemingly unstoppable force) could be something interesting to explore in regards to Darkseid’s and the Light’s plans. Maybe Darkseid and the Light would perceive Raven as a major threat and want to get rid of her and perhaps even the good guys would also see her as a threat that needs to be stopped. 
There’s just so much that YJ could do with Raven. And while I would love for her a main or secondary character, I think she could be an interesting neutral party or a single-episode character. 
--
There are many other magical characters that could be introduced to YJ, but it feels silly to list a whole bunch of characters, just because they have magic. 
Part V: Random Characters
     Rose Wilson/Ravager and Joe Wilson/Jericho
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Two of Deathstroke’s children who operate as heroes. I can see a lot being done with these two in YJ, especially with Deathstroke being a member of the Light. They could potentially bond with the other characters who also have supervillain parents and maybe even bond with Tara over the terrible parenting skills of Deathstroke. .
     Natasha Irons/Steel aka Starlight aka Vaporlock
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Natasha is the niece of John Henry Irons/Steel who had a very minor role in Season 3, but nonetheless was introduced to the audience. In addition, Natasha has been associated with Infinity Inc, Lex Luthor’s group of “superheroes” who were also introduced in Season 3.
And while I could be mistaken, as I don’t know much about her, when she was part of Infinity Inc., she was injected with a serum that unlocked her meta-gene, giving her powers.
Natasha could possibly be introduced in Season 4, as a lot of the elements to her story, are already part of Young Justice. 
Green Lanterns
I think there’s a decent chance of us meeting a new Green Lantern, especially a younger one - as they would be a member of the Covert Team or the Outsiders. 
     Jessica Cruz/Green Lantern 
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She's recently been popularized or at least introduced to many fans through the show DC Superhero Girls (2019) and I think if there was a combination of that version and her comic book counterpart – you could have a really compelling character for YJ. 
In the comics, Jess suffers from extreme anxiety, which is such an interesting and unique folly for a Green Lantern to have. And, I just think there’s a lot of story potential to be explored in that dilemma. 
     Keli Quintela/Teen Lantern
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From what I’ve seen of Keli, I think she could be a fun addition. Just for the sheer fact that she uses the Green Lantern power completely different than every other Lantern we’ve seen – that alone is enough reason for her to be added.
     Kyle Raynor
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One of the major Green Lanterns of DC. Like the two ladies above, there’s nothing specific with what we’ve been given so far in YJ to indicate he’ll be included, but I just think because of his status among fans, if the show was to introduce another GL – he has a decent shot.
     Vic Sage/Question
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Since Season 1, I thought Question would be a great addition to the hero side – as the typical conspiracy stuff he obsesses over and discovers to be true, actually does align with what The Light has consistently been doing.
In general, he would be a fun character to add. Also, if we’re thinking of potential new protégés - Vic Sage could be the current Question and there could be a young (or at least somewhat young) Renee Montoya - under his care/tutelage. Or Renee could just be Question - either works for me.
I loved Question in JLU and would love to see him again.
Finally,
Wally West/ Kid Flash (former)
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I think there’s a very good chance we’ll see the return of Wally in Season 4. Especially since Season 3 left us with many little hints that he’s not really dead.
Also, in regards to the idea that the tagline of “Phantoms” could be about the team’s personal ghosts haunting them, well Wally is a ghost for many of our characters - so that fits rather perfectly.
Or, maybe he ended up in the Phantom Zone. Or if ‘Phantoms’ is referring to more literal ghosts, even that still works in regards to Wally, as he’s presumed dead. Or maybe, he was jumped through time and somehow ended up in the 31st century (w/ the Legion of Super-Heroes). 
Maybe I’m wrong, but it just seems very likely Wally will be returning.
--
And now we’re finally done. 
As I’ve mentioned before, this is just my own speculation and I’m sure I’ve missed several characters. Also, I obviously don’t think all of these characters will be introduced in Season 4, but to me they all have somewhat of a chance. 
And yeah...that’s it. 
I hope you enjoyed this extremely long list of characters who I think could be introduced in Season 4 of Young Justice. 
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cuttlefishkitch · 4 years
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hello! i haven't talked to you before, but ron said that i could ask you for some advice on writing eds? (i'd like to know things to avoid/common things that could come up in everyday life that would be good to mention/the sort of aids and stuff they'd have maybe?/anything else you think is relevant)
Hi! Sorry this took so long, a combination of ADHD and chronic pain slowed me way the fuck down. Thank you for being patient! 
EDIT: WEIRD HEEL THINGS I FORGOT!!
So, before I get into this I should probably say I technically haven’t been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS for anyone reading) because it’s one of those syndromes that takes forever to get diagnosed with (it took a friend of mine’s mother over 30 years to get dxed). Many doctors, and everyone I know who does have EDS agree with me that it’s probably what causes my chronic joint pain and some of my other chronic issues. But just because three separate doctors have said “Yeah Probably” doesn’t mean I’m diagnosed!! Only a geneticist can do that!! And they had two-three year waitlists BEFORE the apocalypse happened.
I am diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Small Fiber Neuropathy, and potentially misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia (once I get properly tested for EDS I might get undiagnosed with this because I don’t have most of the main symptoms of Fibro, but I got diagnosed with it anyway because it’s what doctors misDX you with when they don’t know what’s wrong with you and don’t want to do more tests).
All that said, I’ve done a lot of research about EDS (mainly because it’s the only thing that explains all my symptoms since doctors seem incapable of doing so), and know a few people who have either confirmed or suspected EDS, so I’ll link to some stuff, talk about the symptoms that often come with EDS, explain how the symptoms I have affect me, because just because someone’s not diagnosed doesn’t mean they aren’t having symptoms, and probs elaborate a bit about writing physical disabilities and chronic pain in general because it’s super important to me! 
So RESOURCES aka how to make sure your post never sees the light of day because you’re linking things and tumblr hates it when people give other people information!!
Youtubers! If you want to know about the day to day of living with EDS or any disability or chronic illness I super suggest finding a youtuber that makes videos about their life. My EDS favorites are
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard
Annie Elainey
Amy Lee Fisher
Websites! If you’re asking random folks on tumblr I’m assuming (and hoping) you’ve already done the basic WebMD google searches and looked over the seemingly ridiculous lists of symptoms and related conditions, so here are a few websites that are made more for people than for doctors.
The Ehlers Danlos Society
OhTWIST (That’s Why I’m So Tired)
ChronicPainPartners (the fact that they have an entire section of articles called “Dealing with Doctors” should really tell you something)
Books! If you feel like doing actual reading! I suggest reading books written by people with Ehlers Danlos, to get a feel for how they portray themselves. I’m not saying steal, but it’s probably a good point of comparison to see how your portrayal feels. (haven’t actually read these b/c my ADHD doesn’t let me read)
Ria Ruse by Morgan S. Ray (a superhero book with a disabled super MC!!)
Mysteries of Maybelle by Imani Benfell (Imani is still in high school and has already written and self-published a book cause she didn’t have enough representation for herself how cool is she!!)
Bodies in Motion by Liana Brooks (tw for pregnancy problems and miscarriages in the link, because it’s a blog post talking about integrating EDS symptoms into the story without explicitly naming them as such)
OKAY, now for some rambling about EDS SYMPTOMS!!!
Ehlers Danlos is one monster of a genetic condition in complexity and variety. There are THIRTEEN different identified types of EDS, it often comes with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and/or POTS, and can lead to various other conditions like gastroparesis, chiari malformation, craniocervical instability, and/or bad teeth. So if you’re going to be writing a character with EDS consider what other comorbid conditions they might also have. I’m mainly going to be talking about Hypermobile EDS (hEDS) because it’s what I probably have and what I’m most familiar with. That said there is a lot of overlap in symptoms with the other varieties.
I started typing this section and realized I was going to have to break it down even more so we’re going to talk about Chronic Pain, Unstable Joints (Dislocations and Subluxations), Skin Things, Mobility Issues, and Other Weird Shit and how those things get addressed separately.
Gonna get the Other Weird Shit out of the way first. Because EDS is a malfunction of connective tissue it can fuck up all sorts of random things. For instance, I and many other people w/ hEDS have trouble swallowing. Shit gets stuck in my throat, I sometimes choke on and have to cough up food, and pills can be hard to swallow, which sucks cause I take A Lot Of Pills. If it doesn’t cause full-on gastroparesis it can cause IBS or other digestive problems b/c the digestive tract is mostly made of connective tissue. It can potentially cause heart problems even if they aren’t as big of a risk as in some other forms of EDS. Premature osteoarthritis is common because what you need is more joint pain. And Fatigue OH BOY THE FATIGUE. And of course the headaches, can’t forget those pesky migraines can we!
AND piezogenic papules!! I completely forgot!! Piezogenic papules are little white bumps that appear when you put weight on your heel. In some people they hurt, but in others they don’t. They’re technically tiny little herniations of fat peaking through the fascia in the heel. They were added as part of the diagnostic criteria for hEDS in 2017!
Now for Skin Things cause it’s not as big a thing in hEDS as it is in other forms. Basically, in a lot of forms of EDS, the skin is extra stretchy and extra delicate. It bruises and tears easily, people with the extreme versions of this can accidentally scratch something into an open wound if they aren’t careful. My skin is pretty soft and sensitive, I def have the typical velvety skin, and as is pretty par for the course of someone with hEDS my skin is a little stretchy, and sorta delicate. I’m not as tissue-papery as some people get, but I almost always have at least one mystery bruise or scrape b/c existing is hazardous. Most of scars are also pretty normal, unlike the extremely papery and atrophic scars (though I have a few tiny acne scars that are atrophic) that are common with other kinds of hEDS. Something that I DO have is Lots of Stretch Marks, all over my thighs, and even down to my calves. Which wouldn’t be abnormal, except for the fact that I’ve never been over 145 lbs and I’ve never been pregnant. Having a lot of stretch marks or striations in the skin without due cause happens because the structure of the skin isn’t as strong as it is in people with a normal amount of connective tissue.
I don’t have to worry as much about my skin but people that do are usually very careful with adhesives because they can irritate or tear the skin, which sucks when you need a lot of bandaids cause your darn skin won’t do its job.
Now on to the meatier stuff and since I’m mostly working backward let’s do Mobility Issues!! These can happen in loads of ways, but a lot of what causes these in people with EDS are the other two things I wanna talk about. Unstable joints lead to increased risk of injury when doing stuff people with fully functioning joints can do.
For context, I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user, meaning I can walk, but a lot of the time it’s better if use a chair. Mine is mostly for my POTS symptoms, but the fact that my legs aren’t also in absolute agony is a big plus. I use a custom manual wheelchair with a SmartDrive (b/c I’m very fucking fortunate and have good insurance) whenever I leave the house and have to be “walking” for more than a few minutes at a time. I can’t fully self-propel in a manual chair because it would be damaging to the joints in my arms and hands, but the smaller chair is easier to maneuver in less than accessible spaces (like almost everywhere). There was about a month-long span where I used a very cheap and very bulky electric chair while I was waiting on the ideal set up I have now. Before that, I also briefly used, and sometimes still use, an up-right posture cane.
People with EDS have widely varying mobility issues because of how uniquely it can manifest. My cane only gave me a little help with balance because if I used it in any prolonged capacity any pain it took away from my legs was relocated to my arms, and as an artist, my arms are more important to me!
If you’re going to write a character with EDS having mobility issues as a result of their EDS the best thing to do is to narrow down their specific needs. Are their knees complete and utter garbage but their shoulders and wrists strong? Maybe they can get away with using a cane. Can they not stand for longer than 5 minutes because of the vertigo from their POTS? Maybe they need a manual wheelchair. Would propelling themself damage their back and arm joints? An electric chair might be necessary! Plenty of people with EDS use all sorts of combinations of these aides to get around their life, consider how your character’s good and bad days would be. Do they have back up plans if they overestimate themselves? There can be a lot to manage, but don’t let it scare you off! Sometimes I try and make it into a resource management game (because I’m a game designer and that’s what I do), to make evaluating my energy and mobility needs more fun!
But now let's tackle some of the reasons those mobility aides might be needed. Unstable Joints.
Ever stepped wrong and rolled your ankle? It hurts for a few steps and then kinda fixes itself, or maybe it bothers you for the rest of the day and you put it up and ice it when you get home? When I was walking around outside my house that would happen AT LEAST once a month, usually more. Some times I’m sitting wrong and when I get up my knee isn’t a knee anymore and decides to just give out from under me. My knuckles are made of unruly popcorn and they Don’t Want To Stay Home!! Oh! And my shoulder is more often out a little out of its socket than it is fully in.
Unstable joints lead to Dislocations and Subluxations of varying intensity, and some people get them more frequently than others. Some can be severe enough to necessitate hospital visits and even surgery, some subluxations are so banal (like my fUCKING SHOULDER) that you just learn to live with the pain.
If a character is going to be in high action, combat-heavy scenarios, chances are they’re going to be popping out joints left and right. Hell, depending on the severity of their joint laxity they could be doing the same sitting at a desk. Again, it’s incredibly varied. I’d suggest setting some sort of baseline for yourself, of what a character’s joints can and can’t stand up to, and maybe do some research on which joints are most likely to pop out in general (hips and shoulders are big culprits being the wacky ball and socket motherfuckers they are). Then maybe have something pop out or hold up every so often when it shouldn’t cause hey! EDS is kinda just like that! Unpredictable!
Some ways people manage joint laxity is with braces, KT tape, and physical therapy. Braces come in many different forms, since I’m currently getting pretty much no treatment for my shitty joints I use mostly compression braces made for sporty people. It really is amazing how much a bit of tight fabric can do to keep my wrist in place.
More specialized braces often have solid parts to prevent the joints from hyper-extending (bending the wrong way) and causing further damage. If you ever see someone with what looks like diamond shaped rings around a bunch of their finger joints, chances are those are Ring Splints, and are there to keep the finger shaped like a finger. I want to get my hands on some and get some on my hands Very Badly, because my fingers hyper-extend SO MUCH when I type, and it makes my hand pain way way worse.
KT tape is another thing people often use. It’s stretchy tape you put on your skin and it basically functions kinda like a second ligament as well as reinforcing the joint and keeping the bones mostly where they’re supposed to be. The problem with this is a lot of people with EDS have very sensitive and fragile skin like I mentioned before, so KT tape can cause allergic reactions, chronic skin irritation, or just straight up take the skin with it when someone goes to remove it. Hence a lot of folks are really careful with it.
Physical Therapy is kinda the best (and only) treatment for joint laxity aside from Very Invasive and sometimes Highly Experimental surgery. It focuses on strengthening the muscles around the joints so they can do the work all those bone ropes made of body glue can’t. The problem is finding a physical therapist that 1) knows what EDS even is, 2) knows you have it, and 3) knows how to treat it without doing stuff that’ll Phucking Hurt You Worse!! Because exercising wrong with EDS can do Permanent Damage!!!
Again most folks use a combination of all of these things, or have next to no access to them b/c healthcare sucks.
Anyway, on to one of my favorite topics, Chronic Pain!! One of the reasons this post took me so long!!!
Chances are if your character has chronic pain as a result of their EDS there are gonna be some things they hate, including stairs, rain, thunderstorms, stairs, hills, uneven terrain, oh and did I mention stairs??? It’s going to vary person to person, but almost everyone I’ve met with pain from EDS has complained about their knees. For me the most debilitating pain is in my fingers and wrists. They’re by far my least stable joints but I use them constantly for stuff like drawing, typing, and sewing.
Because my joint pain is so wide spread, like most people’s with hEDS, it effects every single part of my day to day life. I can’t carry a heavy ceramic plate, open a bottle, or even use my computer without pain. It’s practically impossible for me to get comfortable in any position be it sitting or laying down, and as you can imagine that makes it hard to sleep a lot of the time. Moving too much hurts, but so does sitting still. I’m constantly taking braces on and off or cracking/stretching my joints so they pop back into place and hurt less.
Also being in pain makes everything else That Much Worse. I get tired way faster than I did before my pain was this bad (I had chronic pain for a while before actually realizing it wasn’t normal to not be able to walk down the block without feeling like your foot bones are trying to escape). My sensory issues and anxiety disorder are more easily aggravated because my base level of comfort is way worse. It fucks with my depression. And OH BOY does it make my ADHD worse because being in pain is fucking distracting as hell and makes it harder to make decisions and switch tasks. Also my ADHD often makes my other symptoms worse cause I forget to take my meds, don’t drink enough water, or can’t find my fucking braces because the item eating black-hole that comes with ADHD stole them. The intersection of mental and physical disabilities is probably a rant for another time though, so back to chronic pain.
Does it suck? Yes, undoubtedly. Is this incredibly debilitating? Of course it is, I spent the last several months unable to feed myself without assistance because there was a staircase between my room and the kitchen and I could only manage to climb it once a day. Is it overwhelming? Definitely, I’ve frequently broken down crying from a combination of pain and frustration because I’m having a bad day and there’s no relief to be found. Am I able to predict when it’s going to rain with uncanny accuracy because any change in barometric pressure makes me feel like every bone in my body is trying to kill it’s neighbors? You bet your fucking ass I am!! Does it sometimes make me irritable, angry, and occasionally dismissive of when abled people get cold or a temporary injury because the stuff they’re complaining about is my life every single day and all avenues of treatment and recovery I have could take years and still not entirely solve my issues? Yeah, and while I deserve a little extra patience I also have to be sure to check myself because I don’t want to turn into someone who’s nasty to be around. Do I sometimes need to sleep for 17 hours straight because it’s raining, I have migraine, and I’m in too much pain to be conscious? Yup, sometimes a few days in a row. Does living in constant pain mean I’m unable to do all the things I want to and does that sometimes make me wanna curl up in bed and never leave? Yeah, it happens.
But! And here’s the big important but, that’s not everything! I still write, draw, and talk to my friends!! It might take me a little longer but I get there. I’m still happy and excitable and make the time to write out five page long posts about EDS because it’s something I’m passionate about! My chronic pain doesn’t stop me. I refuse to let it. I never really wanted to go mountain climbing anyway, so I’m perfectly happy being able to make it up and down the six steps in my house, even if sometimes I have to sit and bump down them on my ass, or crawl up them like a cat. Chronic pain isn’t all I am. It isn’t a fate worse than death. It isn’t the only thing your character should talk about (though I do talk about my pain a lot cause I’m a complainer about almost everything). You can have your character be hindered by their pain, realistically they would be. You can have them seek comfort, support, and relief. Other characters can commiserate and be sympathetic, but it doesn’t mean their whole life is going to be one big pity party, that would be incredibly fucking boring. I know I’d be bored out of my mind.
All that said dealing with chronic pain, especially from EDS, is Complicated. Physical Therapy is the gold standard, but like I said before it can be a long and difficult process, and isn’t always accessible. Stabilization methods like I talked about before can help prevent pain, or reduce it by keeping bones mostly where they belong. Heat and cold help joints, relax muscles, and reduce inflammation but keeping them applied is rough and the relief doesn’t always last. Doctors prescribe anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and sometimes even anti-epileptic medication to help manage pain, but everyone’s mileage with those varies. And I’m not at all qualified to talk in-depth about narcotics or other heavy duty pain-meds, but suffice to say the war on drugs fucked shit up for people that legit need that kind of help BIG TIME.
Now for my closer/bonus rant about EDS and Disability Writing in General!
Everyone always says write what you know, so if you really want to do disabled people justice, get to know disabled people! Make friends with disabled people, get involved with advocacy groups, consume content made by disabled creators both about disability and not! Disabilities are so fucking diverse, even EDS is such a complex disorder, and comes with so many potential co-morbidities, that practically everyone with it has a unique experience. There’s no way I can fully explain everything in a tumblr post. Hell, even if I could talk to you for hours probably couldn’t give you enough info to answer all your questions (especially since I’m still in diagnosis hell :,) ), so talk to a wide range of people with EDS and other disabilities!! I know it sounds like a lot of work but trust me, disabled people are some of the strongest, raddest, coolest, people you will ever meet that it won’t feel like it.
And don’t be afraid either, the fact that EDS and other disabilities are so wildly varied means that you have a little bit of wiggle room with your character’s experience. There’s so little disability rep out their I think people are WAY to scared to try their hand at writing it. So long as your character is a fully developed person in addition to being disabled, you give some logical thought as to how it would affect their life, and you don’t make their disability the butt of any joke it isn’t difficult to avoid ableist writing. PLEASE WRITE MORE DISABLED PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN/CHRONIC ILLNESS!!
Okay that’s it, again sorry it took so long for me to get back to you! My fingers were being little pests about it, and my ADHD (which is honestly more disabling than everything else a lot of the time lmao) was being an asshole! Hope this helps, and feel free to ask me more questions if you need clarification! It might take me a bit but I do love talking about this stuff.
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snowdice · 4 years
Text
Gaps in His Files (Part 7) [Relabeled; Refiled Series]
Fandom: Sanders Sides
Relationships: Logan/Patton
Characters:
Main: Logan, Patton
Appear: Remy, Virgil (but only in the epilogue)
Summary:
Logan Berry has learned many things the last 10 years: a lot of math and physics, a bit of humility, and how to be a hero being just a few. Through his education, his experience teaching, and his exploits as the superhero Bluebird, he’s changed in a lot of small and large ways. He has recorded these changes in well-organized documents and files. He’s even had to create two new file designations: a red one for files about his moonlighting at Bluebird, and a light blue one dedicated to his boyfriend, Patton.
When Bluebird is targeted by a memory device and all of those 10 years of progress suddenly disappear, Patton Sanders and Logan’s extensive files are left as his only resource to get those memories back. But what is Patton supposed to do when there are clear gaps in his files? And what does he do when he is one of them?
This is set 25 years before Sometimes Labels Fail though it’s story is completely independent of it and it is not necessary to read that one first.
Notes: Superhero AU, memory loss, past child abuse, past child neglect, unhealthy ideas about ones place in relationships, emotional suppression, self-deprecating thoughts, medical procedures mentioned, very brief unhealthy views of sex
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
After Logan finished eating, Patton showed him his office. First, he was given his personal and work files which were familiar in organizational structure even if they had years’ worth of new information in them and his work files had a new subfolder for teaching instead of being purely for schoolwork. Yet, the thing that most interested Logan was the new file designation which Patton retrieved for him by finding a key in a hidden desk drawer compartment and using it to open a secret compartment in the wall. The files there were red and completely new to Logan. Thankfully, they still had quite a bit of structure that he was able to pick up quickly and there were easy to read tables of contents with understandable subsection titles.
He flipped curiously through the first few. They reflected the story Patton had told him earlier in content as well as form. The beginning files were either blue for work or plain white since his foray into superherodom had started from an academic source.
Though he had not known Logan at the time by his own admission, Patton’s knowledge of his early days of being a superhero were perfectly accurate based on the files. That combined with his knowledge about where the files were in the first place, stroked Logan’s curiosity regarding the man even more. Logan was not a trusting person, at least he had not been at 18, and he imagined not much had changed in the last 10 years. So, he had to wonder what it was about Patton that had made him willing to share so much about his life and clearly heavily protected aspects of his life at that. He did not imagine he would share his exploits as a hero with just anyone.
And, if it were just his exploits as a hero, perhaps he would have even understood that. It was good to have an ally, especially one with useful skills such as a doctor. Yet, Patton’s knowledge went deeper than even that to things more personal, ones not in these files or any of his others. He knew things about Logan: his favorite color, why he prefers some fabrics over others, and stories that had never left his lips in his current memories.
Why? He had to wonder. What made this person so different than everyone else?
Certainly, he could see the appeal of him as a romantic partner in the theoretical sense.
He was a doctor which was useful considering Logan’s superhero status likely led to physical injuries sometimes. In addition, that was a well-paying, respectable job, though it did have an unpredictable work schedule. Achievement in that field spoke of enough intellect to be on par with Logan even if they were in different areas.
He was also clearly adequately skilled in other things. He had managed to find Logan and get him back to his apartment and seemed to have enough emotional control to do what was necessary in the situation.
This was someone he imagined his parents would have likely expected for him as a romantic partner (if they expected anything at all). Though, Logan did have to worry that if they were both not particularly emotionally expressive then there may not be a good balance in the relationship.
Logan watched as he flipped through one of his personal files to get a picture from his college graduation to show him with practiced ease. He was comfortable around Logan’s organizational system, he noted. That was something no one had ever bothered to be before. Most people either tolerated or scorned the way he kept his files, but Patton knew his way around it almost as well as Logan himself, better in fact when it came to the new red files, fingers always flipping to the correct pages in seconds when Logan asked questions.
It was nice to have someone care enough to learn it.
It felt as though something shifted marginally inside his chest at the thought of someone being patient enough to learn how Logan organized his life. To do so was to basically learn how Logan’s mind worked. He… hadn’t known that was something he might want.
Oh.
That, he suddenly knew with clarity, that was why. Or at least part of why. It had to be.
“So,” Patton broached suddenly, likely catching him staring and wonder why, “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
Logan blinked at him. “You already know me. Better than I do myself at the moment.”
“Sure, but I’ve only known versions of you that I’ve known.”
“Yes. That is typically how reality works.”
“Well not today,” he pointed out and… fair point. “Plus, maybe you’ll start to remember more if you start talking about yourself. Like when you’re trying to remember the title of a song so you sing the lyrics you know until you get to the point where they use the title in the song.”
Logan considered that. “That sounds like a rational strategy to try. What should I talk about?”
“Well, I know a lot about the events that happened in your life, but not really what you thought about them at the time. What are things you like and dislike in your life right now. You know,” he paused, “what are things you find annoying? Stuff like that.”
“I like coffee,” Logan said after a moment of consideration, “and school. Libraries. I like order and schedules and it makes me uncomfortable when things don’t go to plan. I don’t like impromptu things or eating outside. I don’t really like when people are overly emotional or when they cry mostly because I never know how to respond. I don’t like my English teacher because she once had a mental breakdown crying about a dream she had for 30 minutes when a student asked her if she’d graded our papers. Also, she was homophobic. I like math and science and my parents. Though, I dislike when they insist, I try to go out and “have fun.” I especially disliked when they set me up with a date for the homecoming. When I said I didn’t want to go especially with a girl they set me up with a boy for the next dance which was… nice as they attempted to listen to me, but they entirely missed the point. I dislike messes. I like jam. I want to major in math and physics and get my PhD in at least one… that seemed to work out. My calculus teacher was my favorite even though everyone else seemed to resent her, but we also mostly all passed the advanced placement test, so I think it was worth it. Also, she was kind.”
“You had a homophobic English teacher?” Patton asked.
“Ah, yes, did I never mention?” Logan asked. “She made her views known to a boy in the year below me and got fired a month ago.”
“You never told me about that.”
“Perhaps I decided she was no longer worth dwelling on. The man who took her place seems adequate, though I am not in his class. I also like my current English teacher. She says she got her teaching degree later in life and before that used to be a cultural anthropologist. She tells us stories about different places she’s been.”
Patton smiled. “She sounds interesting,” he said.
“Yes, and it is quite an interesting course. It is an extra one beyond what I must take to graduate. We write a research paper over the course of the entire semester.” Logan paused for a long moment. “This does not seem to be doing anything.”
Patton nodded. “Okay,” he said. “That’s fine. We’ll try something else. Maybe we should have lunch first though.”
Logan was starting to feel a bit hungry. “That is a good idea.”
Want to read more? Click below!
AO3 Part 8
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acediscowlng · 3 years
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hello! how are you? if you want, could you recommend me some Titans comics?
Hello, nonnie. I’m doing well, thank you <3 
Goodness, I actually haven’t read comics in so long so I’m not the best person to ask if you’re looking for something more recent. And, I’m not really sure what kind of stuff you like so I’m just gonna put the ones I love the most here. I’ll also include a blurb of each run I recommend so you get an idea of what’s going on there and see for yourself if you want to explore those runs on your own.
(This is arranged by publishing date for my own sanity and also because that’s how I organize my comics. Also I’m not including some runs because... I don’t like them that much.)
(This was originally supposed to include stuff from the reboot but my comics from that era are.... missing and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out where they could possibly be. But if you really want recs from that era, hit me up and I will look for my comics. They have to be here somewhere lol.)
Pre-Crisis
Teen Titans volume 1 - Baby Teen Titans in all their silver age glory. I want to say it’s mostly fab five, but that’s not really accurate. It’s mostly, Dick, Donna, and Wally, and Lilith later on. Roy is there for most of it, Garth is there in the beginning but disappears and then mostly sticks to cameos.
On the bright side, this run also features amazing characters who deserve more love, such as: Mal, Karen, Duela, Hank, Don, and the entirety of Titans West
Teen Titans #1 and #4 - the first because it’s the first issue and I think you should always read the first issue, and the second because that’s the issue where Roy joins the team, which completes the Fab Five.
Teen Titans # 14 - Some Robin angst. This issue was actually retold in Teen Titans Year One, so it’s pretty fun to compare those two stories.
Teen Titans #22 - The first of the many backstories of Donna Troy. Remember when it actually made sense? This was a time it actually made sense.
Teen Titans #24-29 - Okay, this arc’s actually pretty interesting. It’s the first time the Titans officially break up but also not really and also sets the tone between the JLA and teen titans, planting the seed of animosity between the two teams that comic book and fic writers will capitalize on many years later.
Basically, there’s a peace rally but things go wrong, someone dies, the baby titans blame themselves, the JLA also blames them and they go into retirement. The arc actually sort of resolves itself and Garth more or less calls them chicken and tells them to get their shit together.
I love it because 1.) The Drama, 2.) This is one of the few times Garth actually gets to have a proactive and assertive role in a TT story, which is amazing. That boy needs more love and related to that, 3.) Garth’s characterization is pretty interesting in this arc, since he’s usually written in TT comics as quiet and in the background, so it’s really fun to see him go absolutely feral here
Teen Titans #48  -Duela Dent!!! Listen, I love Duela Dent (the pre-boot one. I have heard Things about the reboot version and I have decided that I simply Do Not Want to Know). She’s fun and wacky and her concept is so galaxy brained. She turned up a few issues earlier, but I’m going with this one because it delves into her backstory. Initially, she was introduced as the Joker’s daughter, but no, here it’s revealed that she’s actually Two-Face’s daughter who just looks like That. Amazing.
(This backstory was later retconned in NTT but shhhh we’re not talking about that)
Post-Crisis
New Teen Titans - The classic. The baby teen titans from volume 1 decided to break up and focus on college. Dick lasted all of six months before leaping at the opportunity to get back in the game, and the fact that literally none of them outright say no to him says a lot. Ran for so long and had so much drama. This is the height of Teen Titans and introduced so many amazing characters to the roster like Kory, Vic, and Raven. Also Joey Wilson, who is not as iconic but should be.
(My recs for this will, unfortunately, be from the earlier issues because NTT is a very long hot mess and my interest just tends to fizzle out around volume 2 no matter how hard I try.)
Issue 1 should go without saying.
NTT v1 #8 - Slice of life, which is my favorite kind of titans story. It just follows the characters around as they go about their day, and you really get a view of their characters.
NTT v1 #16 - Another interesting one and really explores the moral dilemma of having several characters who have different stances on killing. Basically, a criminal kills Kory’s boyfriend, she tracks down the criminal for vengeance purposes, and there’s many moral discussions on whether or not you should kill criminals.
NTT v1 #20 - Another slice of life, this time specifically from Wally’s POV. I like making fun of Wally in NTT because there’s a lot to make fun of, but this one is just genuinely sweet and heartwarming.
NTT v1 #27 - General casefic, but it’s also Roy’s first appearance in this run so it deserves a shoutout. There’s even some genuine social commentary in the story (though that’s pretty par for the course for this era of TT), which I appreciate.
NTT v1 #38 - Donna Troy backstory part 2. Pretty much builds off of the one established in TTv1 #22 and just expands on it. Also Dick and Donna being best friends is the best.
Tales of The Teen Titans v1 #42-44 - The Judas Contract. Listen, I know this is the Iconic TT story and everyone loves telling it over and over again, but I am not one of them. I don’t hate it, but I never really found it that interesting either. But it also introduces Nightwing and Joey Wilson, which on its own means it deserves a spot on my rec list. 
Tales of the Teen Titans #50 - The Wedding of Donna Troy. Let’s just ignore who Donna marries lol, but another character-driven slice-of-life-ish issue, and you can really tell how much the Titans love each other. Also, according to my notes, every single Titan up to this point makes a cameo, which I’m too lazy to confirm right now but I trust my notes.
Teen Titans Spotlight - This is an entire series of minis and all the Titans get their own issue. They’re all pretty great, so just pick your favorite character and dive right in.
Tales of the New Teen Titans (Mini) #1-4 - The Titans go camping. That’s it. That’s the story. It becomes a tradition in later issues, which I think is adorable.
Titans V1 - These are the 90s Titans. They are adults and more... settled, I suppose. Dick is in Bludhaven, making a mess out of his life, Wally is the Flash and making a valiant but ultimately futile attempt at being in the JLA at the same time. Roy and Garth just want to hang out with their friends again despite having families to take care of, and Donna is once again going through a backstory change and she has long since stopped keeping track. I’ll let you decide what kind of run this is.
Titans v1 #1 - 16 is pretty fun and introduces a lot of new characters to the roster. Full of slice of life, full of fluff. Most issues kind of forget that it’s supposed to be a superhero comic and spend most of their time just having characters hang out with each other, which is the best thing, in my opinion.
Honorable mentions:
Teen Titans Year One is a stand-alone retelling of the TT stories from those TTv1 days. The art is gorgeous and it really gives you a sense of the relationships between the fab five.
Also, if you’re just looking for mindless fluff, Tiny Titans is a thing and is completely lovely and adorable. It’s basically ‘what if it the teen titans were in kindergarten’ and the art is just the cutest thing ever.
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netflixonyourcouch · 3 years
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The Boys Season 2 (2020)
So I finally finish a 3 day binge of Season 2 of what might be possibly the best show on Amazon Prime, The Boys.  My early impressions after having sat with it for less than 15 minutes is that the season was overall great, although it did falter in a few areas that I will address.  Spoilers abound.
So let’s start with the positives:  The Boys works off the same formula as season 1 which is basically dazzling us with an action/comedy/thriller/drama hybrid.  There are a few shocks and twists along the way as well.
Can we take a second though and give praise to the actress who plays Kimiko, Karen Fukuhura.  She gives us a masterclass on visual acting.  Since she has no spoken lines in the show, we rely on her expressions and reactions to other characters in order to learn her story and she absolutely NAILS it.  Lowkey she’s my favorite character on the whole show, and I live to see how she processes conversations and emotions on the show.  Absolutely A+.
The show has always been graphically stunning, and this season is no slouch.  The visual effects are on par with last season, and I think there were even more impressive scenes of set destruction and utter chaos than last season.  The effects team deserves some praise here as well for sure.
We also get some satisfying team-ups between characters this season, and I especially like the scenes of Butcher and Starlight together.
Now, if I may take some time to levy some criticisms of season 2 in 3 main areas.  First, I think the show gets a little too mean spirited at times, to the point where it’s actually kind of repulsive.  The first instance of this was Homelander bludgeoning the deaf superhero in the head, causing him to writhe around the floor, screaming in a pool of his own blood.  The violence on the show is impressive to watch, but we don’t really want to see innocent people brutally hurt, I prefer the character earn their fate.  Likewise, watching a little boy getting pushed off a roof - even if there was no harm to him, was equally a little unsettling to watch.  There’s other stuff in this season where I’m like, okay, did you really have to do that?  hahaha. 
This kind of segues into my second criticism:  The streak of Homelander and Stormfront being villainous was just plain overwhelming.  Stormfront at the very least started off endearing with her wisecracks, but once her true side emerges, the show makes it a point to just pile on the terrorizing that Homelander and Stormfront take part in with the rest of the characters on the show.  It becomes exhausting to deal with.  And infantilizing Maeve’s sexuality and making a mockery of it was again, just too mean-spirited in my opinion to be an enjoyable plotline.  I understand that we’re not SUPPOSED to like the evil on the show, but at some point you have to reel it in.  
My third criticism was my main criticism of the first show:  What the show is supposed to be critiquing (corporations/government control/alt-right/fascism) is always a little too direct, I think at one point Stormfront utters the line “Make America safe again” and there’s another reference to protesting, which in this racial climate is just a little too “real” in 2020 honestly and is no better than South Park riffing on current events in their too-obvious way.
Now, does The Boys still kick ass?  Of course it does.  But it’s gonna need to knock a season 3 out of the park.  It can’t be the same old/same old.  The reveal at the end of this season is HUGE though, and I definitely can’t wait to see where that plotline develops and that character’s motivations and progressions for the next season (And please, if you know where her plot is going because you heard it elsewhere, please let people just discover it when the show presents it lmfao)
But I’m not gonna hold you.  Long story less long:  This show is amazing and at 8 episodes a season, it makes for a really quick binge watch as well.  One can hope for a few tweaks/refinements next go around to keep it from dragging on to too cloying or too dark of a territory though.
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Lockdown's dancing queen: Sophie Ellis Bextor explains how she's survived with five sons while performing web concerts from her kitchen - and owes her life to the NHS after almost dying during childbirth
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8371137/Sophie-Ellis-Bextor-talks-surviving-lockdown-five-sons-performing-concerts-kitchen.html
Any mother of five who is still sane after two-and-a-half months of lockdown will surely have some survival tips for the rest of us. And Sophie Ellis-Bextor does indeed have advice.
Come Friday night, when the textbooks have been flung in a corner and you've finished screeching at the kids, you should dig out your heels and put on your sparkliest hot pants, she says.
'If you don't own a sequined one-piece, you should get one,' the singer insists. 'They make you feel like a disco superhero!'
She would also recommend a glitterball to hang in the kitchen. It will distract from the dirty dishes, she says.
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Tidying the kitchen is optional, though: 'I do try to but if there's the odd dish in the sink, who cares?'
When the history of the great British lockdown is written, there will be villains (take a bow, Dominic Cummings) and heroes.
And Sophie Ellis-Bextor will surely be in line for a medal, for services to the national dancefloor (kitchen disco division).
Every Friday night for ten weeks she has donned her own glad rags and, via the magic of social media, invited us all to a disco round at hers.
She has been in charge of the mic, singing her own hits (with tweaks) and cover versions of some of her other favourites (speaking of favourite things, she even does a mean Julie Andrews).
Each week she has changed the lyrics of one of her biggest hits, Take Me Home, to the lockdown-friendly Stay At Home. We cheered. We heeded. 'Well, most people did,' she says.
Lots of entertainers have been doing their stuff in lockdown. Few of them have done so with five children in tow, though, and with such pizzazz.
You'd never guess it from the size of her waist but 41-year-old Sophie — whose mother is former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis — has five sons, aged from 16 down to 16 months. Her family life has never really been a part of her work.
But at the start of lockdown, something changed and she decided to stop being so precious about the work/home life divide.
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'I've always been quite private, never showing the kids' faces, that sort of thing,' she says.
'But suddenly it all felt totally irrelevant. I just had this desire to sort of connect with people, to have fun and do something that just distracted us all — and for me, as an entertainer, that meant getting up and putting on a show.
'If it was going to be a show in my own house, the kids had to be involved as we're all locked down together. That overwhelmed any other emotion, really.
'I said to them, 'We're going to have a party. Do you want to come? What do you want to wear?'
'We pulled out all manner of sequined things we already had. They got out costumes, hats, whatever. There were no rules. They could be in their pyjamas if they wanted, because they often are.
'At the end of the first one, I remember making a joke like, 'This could be the end of my career.' '
In another time, it could have been. What too-cool-for-school singer sashays around the Lego, for goodness' sake? And what pop star hoicks a baby onto her hip, limbos around the lightsabers or attempts some sexy strutting when there is a pint-sized Superman in the way?
'It has been quite surreal, hasn't it?' she says with a laugh. 'But this whole situation is surreal, so I guess it has been fitting.
'We've had all sorts — the kids joining in, or sitting there bored with it all as I dance around them. We've had the baby crawling across the floor, trying to pull the plug out of the router. It's not stuff you normally have to contend with when you go on stage.'
And the performances have been all the more magical for it, I suggest. Her kitchen discos have been in keeping with the national mood, which lurches between delirium and despair and involves much trying to get on with the day job, with the kids at our feet.
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All our kids are represented in hers, too. There is Sonny, 16 and a typical teenager, who mostly rolls his eyes at the idea of being in his mum's disco 'but actually he's invaluable because he helps with the baby so I can relax'.
Kit, 11, has 'kind of dipped in and out of the discos. He has missed a few. Sometimes he'd just rather do something else'.
Ray, eight, and Jesse, four, are generally game for anything — but if the children all join in at the same time, while wearing masks, the potential for chaos is high.
Last is baby Mickey, who likes to reach for bright lights. And cables. And sparkly shoes.
'I think what has kept some people tuning in is the music, but others are only watching to see if any of my kids injure themselves,' Sophie says.
People may also be tuning in to see her game attempts at making the most inappropriate songs kid-friendly. Her new repertoire includes the highly suggestive Prince song Gett Off. If the kids ask, it's a song about getting off the climbing frame, she explains.
When we speak, Sophie is preparing for — sob! — the last lockdown disco. Kitchen Disco No 10 will finish with a rousing rendition of the Madness hit Our House, which contains the lines 'Our house it has a crowd/ There's always something happening/ And it's usually quite loud'.
How apt. That sums up family life in all its messy glory.
It will be the end of a very weird chapter for Sophie.
'We could keep going but I'm getting the feeling that lockdown is being eased. There is a different feel, so it's time to stop. Although I'm bad at saying 'never again'.'
It has been a blast — and Sophie admits she has benefited herself.
'The discos have done my soul and my spirit the world of good. I've always turned to music anyway when anything has been happening in my life, good or bad, but I don't know what shape the past few months would have taken without this outlet.
'I've been doing cover versions of songs and they have all basically been like love letters to people I can't see any more.'
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Lockdown came earlier for this household than for most of us. One of the children showed symptoms even before the schools closed, so they all isolated early.
That Sophie's stepfather — Janet's husband, John Leach — was having chemotherapy as part of his cancer treatment made the situation even more serious.
They are a close family. Janet, who lives only a few streets away in West London, is used to popping in and out, and provides childcare once a week. Any contact at all between them stopped overnight, as it did for so many families.
'I haven't hugged my mum since I don't remember when,' Sophie says. 'They couldn't leave their house at all at the beginning, so it was a case of leaving some groceries on the doorstep. My stepfather has Stage Four lung cancer and was in the middle of chemo, which had to stop.
'Now, thankfully, it has restarted but it has been a terrible time — devastating, really. For so many families the world has just tilted.' The older children understand why they can't see their grandparents, the little ones less so.
This is a united family (Sophie's mum split from her father, film and television producer Robin Bextor, but they are all on good terms), yet not necessarily one that ever did things by the rulebook.
Many will recall the furore when Janet — then the nation's darling, as many Blue Peter presenters were — fell pregnant with Sophie's brother Jackson. She was unmarried at the time and it was a national scandal.
It sounds as if Janet was the sort of mother Sophie has become — old-fashioned about some things (table manners, eating together) but more relaxed about others. And Mum having a slightly crazy day job was par for the course.
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'I remember going with her when she did a skydive. She was in the Guinness Book of Records at one point for the highest-altitude jump for a female. At the time it was just normal.'
Janet didn't mind when Sophie decided she would not go to university because she wanted to join a band. 'Many parents would have said, 'No, we have paid for this private education. You will go,' but they never did. They were completely supportive.'
And of course, it worked out. Sophie started to get attention in the industry in the Nineties with indie band Theaudience — but in 2000 her career went mainstream thanks to a feature spot on the song Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) by Spiller.
Further hits followed. Then, in 2013, she went even more mainstream, signing up for Strictly Come Dancing. Her Charleston was a thing of wonder but she lost in the final to Abbey Clancy.
She knew her husband, The Feeling bassist Richard Jones, for a year before they started dating. When they did, it was something of a whirlwind and she discovered she was pregnant within weeks.
'Sonny was premature, so he was actually born eight months after we got together. Weird maths.'
Then, finding that it was rather fun, they kept having children. 'In a way I think it sort of set the tone, having Sonny so early. We've never really known what it is to be just the two of us.'
Juggling a pop career with five children can't have been easy, but her laid-back approach must help.
Some aspects of her parenting style have come in handy in lockdown, she says. 'I try to get up and dressed myself, but I'm not bothered if they want to stay in their pyjamas,' she admits.
Other aspects of lockdown have been hard. She admits she is not a natural home schooler.
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'With five, it has been really difficult keeping up with the school stuff. I think their teachers do a brilliant job and I can't compare.
'At the start I did try hard, but to be honest I was feeling a lot of pressure to be running the home and making them emotionally happy. I quit quite early, realising it was making me really tense and really unhappy.
'We've kept the eldest two doing more formal work (Sonny is in his GCSE year, she explains) but with the little ones it's more about projects they can do.'
She says it isn't practical — or even desirable — to turn their home into a school. 'I'm hoping that home is where they learn to interact with each other, where they learn how to be happy, how to be kind.'
They have all been clapping on the doorstep on a Thursday night, too, aware of the debt they owe the NHS.
Sophie's life was saved by doctors when she suffered from complications during her first two pregnancies and gave birth prematurely both times. Kit weighed just 2 lb 6 oz.
'Anyone who has ever had a loved one's life in the hands of hospital staff knows what it is to feel that gratitude,' Sophie says.
'If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here and neither would my first two.
'I'll never forget their faces, the doctors and nurses who treated us in the neonatal unit. You don't, because you owe them everything.'
To be a singer in this climate is perhaps to feel a little superfluous, but Sophie says the only things she can do are sing and dance. The reaction from the wider world to her 'little discos' has been heartwarming.
'If you can make people smile and laugh at how daft it all is, then you make a connection that is actually quite special.'
We are getting all wistful now, when I suggest that her sons will grow up knowing they were a part of something magical. She laughs.
'They are more likely to roll their eyes at their crazy mum dancing around and tell me to keep the noise down!'
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in-tua-deep · 5 years
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Have you seen stranger things? Because literally all I can think about is a stranger things umbrella academy crossover
I may or may not have bingewatched the entire new season yesterday (the scoops troop has all my uwus I thought there was going to be forced romance but instead there was canon LGBT+ rep #bless) but you’re very valid but there are many ways to do a crossover!!
Like a general crossover where both shows are still separate and, for example, when Five jumps he accidentally brings his siblings to the past in Hawkins, Indiana where they have to deal with the general absolute nonsense that being in the town entails while probably being mistaken for escaped experiments by the party after calling Five by his name ? I can just picture the kids trying to catch Five or something to take to El because they assume he’s her brother or something goodness (and also this one would probably differ depending on whether the squad was deaged to thirteen again or stayed at 29)
or an integrated crossover where, after numbers one through seven left/were failures Reggie-Papa (as an integrated person? the same person?) and say he joined the government (or maybe always was?) and started experiments anew with ?? both kids they find and maybe the kids of the original 43? because Kali was what, number eight? and El is eleven so technically it could line up if you just bump Kali’s age up a tiny bit (from 25 to 29) and pretend El’s mum was much younger when she was born (and of course if you fudge up timelines a little bit, but that isn’t too difficult considering despite being ‘present day’ the Umbrella Academy universe’s tech is pretty on par with Hawkins era stuff) which would mean that El actually IS their little sister that none of them knew about (and presumably that they have three more on top of that that are who knows where)
wait in an integrated au maybe Five got stuck in the upside down instead of the apocalypse hello yes and maybe instead of the Commission and stuff and him jumping back, maybe Eleven pulls him out of the Upside Down or opens the door and Five decides to take his chances and jump through himself or something and because time works differently in the upside down that’s why he’s still a kid/his powers were goofed up over there idk i’m just kind of spitballing here tbh
Klaus, looking at a demodog or demogorgan or mindflayer or whatever: wow Ben you didn’t tell me your cousins were coming round to dinner
I genuinely can’t tell whether Five/some other Hargreeves would cheerfully allow the party into life threatening danger or try and keep them away from it because, to technical adults the party must seem awfully young but also they were superheroing and yeeting themselves (or rather, being yeeted by Reggie) into danger soooo
but if they did try protect the kids, also pointing at Nancy/Jonathan/Steve/Robin like “babies. you all are babies. children.” because the difference between 17/18 and 29 is a whole world tbh and then honestly Joyce and Hopper are looking at the Umbrella Academy like “y’all are too young for this as well idk why y’all are being hypocrites” because they’re both like,, in their forties and the umbrella academy are in their twenties (even if only barely) 
and if you wanted to switch up the squad’s ages as well to make ‘em different and do away with the whole 43 children born randomly bit and fully graft the umbrella squad into the stranger things universe you could probably get away with that as well in which case I have no idea how old they would be tbh though presumably Five would stay physically thirteen (or ten depending if you wanted to go comics or show canon)
heck i dunno if you want to yeet me a more specific ask about a crossover I can probably spitball up an au for that but there are just too many possibilities to get into on a single post oops
(Steve is my fav stranger things character based solely on s2/s3 since i hated him s1 lmao but Robin has also clawed a space for herself in my heart what a blessed friendship,,,, I absolutely adored the new season up until the end which ripped my heart out :( i miss alexei)
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Grand Titans Rewatch: 1.02
Grand Titans Rewatch: 1.02
it’s been literal months since i started this project and neither this nor the fic series that’s supposed to go alongside it has garnered much attention, if any, but damn it, i made a commitment and this time, i’m going to follow through.
for reference, episode 1’s recap here, and its corresponding fic tag is here.
SPOILERS ahead for pretty much the entire series.
1. the recap portion of the episode leans very heavily on the type of horror genre that rachel’s character brings to the show, and honestly, i love it. the superhero genre can feel very… sterile at times, with bright, clean colours and costumes and standard team-ups ending in a climactic punch-fest. the insidious horror of rachel discovering something huge and dangerous inside of her and trying—and largely failing—to control it bleeds into the rest of the show; each of the team has an inner demon to battle, but the lesson isn’t triumph over the beast as much as it is acceptance. it’s unfortunate that the dc live action universe in general has developed a reputation for being gratuitously grimdark; i love the thematic consistency that the tone brings to the show, and it is honestly the freshest take on these characters that i’ve seen so far.
1.5. there’s something to be said, too, about this muddy-window perspective we get into these established superheroes’ lives—the intriguing, sometimes downright opaque scenes of them trying to re-build from wreckage. i love that this is how they choose to distinguish themselves in a very, very crowded arena: the origin story here is not for the superheroes or even the team themselves, but the bonds they form and the family that they become.
2. i kinda love the clash between the goofy costume and the grimdark torture scene. it’s never immediately obvious, but this show is remarkably committed to its comic book roots—so much so that it’s kind of jarring. usually in the journey from the comic to the screen there is an ironing-out of genre and tone, but this show will show you its spandex clad hero with the plastic-feather cape being threatened with torture and castration because that’s how it goes in the comics, goddammit!
2.25. it’s pretty impressive that they’re able to afford such a big place in washington dc
2.5. hank and dawn’s easy intimacy is lovely to watch. i remember not being fond of this long detour to introduce these two relatively obscure characters right after all that juicy set-up in the first episode the first time i watched this, but now i can enjoy the languid way their story unravels, the little glimpses we get into the life they’ve led and the marks that it has left behind.
2.8. a delightfully cheesy moment with the giant bird cage immediately followed by a quietly devastating depiction of sexual impotence and a possible addiction to multiple painkillers! see what i mean?
oh! and before i forget:
MIRRORS, MIRRORS, EVERYWHERE: 9
3. flashback time! can’t say that i’m terribly impressed with the fight choreography; there appears to be hardly any contact between the heroes’ kicks and lunges and the thugs they’re supposed to be fighting, and a lot of slow-motion and editing trickery needs to be employed to make this look kinetic. i don’t really blame them much, though—those capes look awfully cumbersome to be just walking around in, leave alone fight. and i’m glad that the show is making a point of showing that robin’s style of fighting in flippier and more acrobatic than the others’.
3.65. aaaand we get our first hint of History between dick and dawn. to be honest, given what i remember of the rest of s1 and what we know of s2, it does seem like they’re making it so that the original titans did exist, swapping out roy and wally for hank and dawn. i’m not super-enthusiastic about this decision, but we’ll see how it plays out.
4. dick and rachel!
I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS INTERACTION:
a) rachel desperately trying to hide how scared and vulnerable she feels behind brittle defiance
b) dick bemused and concerned and casting around for ways to connect with her but giving up too easily
c) “for the lady” – oh, dick. i love you.
d) rachel warily checking her reflection
e) dick making false promises of safety to rachel in order to get her to come with him to washington—a manipulative little ploy that i’m sure was par-for-the-course during his time with batman
f) “but sometimes there’s no time to be scared” is that what kid!dick told himself when he was starting out as robin oh my heart hurts
g) dick just dropping out of his job for an indefinite time without notice because why in the world would bruce wayne’s ward ever have to worry about keeping down a steady job? he’s utterly unconscious of this, which makes it hilarious
MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 10
5. i’m already really fond of rohrbach and charlie the m.e. i know s2’s slate is already really crowded, but i wouldn’t mind seeing a resurrected rohrbach make an appearance, and for bit more of a spotlight on dick’s day job.
6. OH MAN i honestly didn’t remember that dick phoned alfred this episode! and that he considered—for a second—calling bruce! poor guy’s genuinely scared. for all his ‘fuck batman’s, dick’s anger and fear is more internally directed than he realises. this boy needs therapy.
6.5. dick going “… obviously” at rachel telling him not to get pineapple on their pizza makes me think he was definitely setting out to get pineapple on their pizza at that moment.
6.75. oh fuck. i knew it was coming, but that dead guy screaming at rachel through the photo was still terrifying. man i wish they’d stuck a little longer with the horror/mystery vibe they’ve got going here.
MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 11
6.8. dick immediately reaching out to hold rachel and comfort her as she sobs, terrified, in the bathtub shouldn’t feel particularly special or heartwarming—it’s a very natural, human instinct, after all—but for this particular version of dick grayson to automatically show this compassion when he’s half convinced himself that his lifetime as a vigilante has left him an amoral husk of his previous self… is significant.
7. it’s an interesting choice to go with the nuclear family as the first major villains featured on this show, but fits totally with the tone so far—the dark, despairing and dank things that hide underneath a cracking veneer of cheery suburban normality. pretty standard horror genre stuff—with an added twist that these people aren’t actually androids, but regular people horrifically tortured and brainwashed to act as murder machines.
7.5. aside from that, it’s a neat contrast to the found family that’s actually starting to evolve, with all of its rough edges and imperfect but raw displays of love.
8. i really like that, for all that rachel and dick have in common, their interaction is weird, start-stop in nature, each dancing around answering the others’ questions with any kind of honesty. rachel has clearly picked up on dick’s caginess around her and dick, for all that he’s been trained in subterfuge and basically been living a lie to most of his friends and co-workers, is unable to keep acting like he knows what he’s doing. he hasn’t had to really live a double life in a while—and he’s rusty when it comes to doing anything that’s not detective or vigilante work.
8.5. dick’s interactions in general through the series contrast with the easy and intimate ways the others talk with each other; he’s just so isolated and so friggin rusty at this.
9. you’d think rachel would’ve figured out by now not to shake random people’s hands.
9.25. i’m so happy about this show’s commitment to showing just how much of a hot mess dick is.
9.35. i’ve certainly warmed up to the icy, washed-out way this show looks, and the general sense of… space, both in terms of physical space as well as the way each scene is allowed to unfold and just breathe. you don’t get that a lot in superhero media these days.
9.45. an update to the dick grayson timeline! dawn says she hasn’t seen dick in four years and seems genuinely surprised to learn that he’s working with the police now. so how do you go from zero to detective in just four years? is that even possible? the timeframe becomes even shorter if you assume that he only decided to join law enforcement after leaving batman. maybe that’s just another thing that dick kept hidden from his friends, even when they were, you know, friends.
anyway, dick continues to be a hot mess, and i am glad that is consistent over every on-screen iteration.
9.5. i am genuinely unsure why this dick/dawn history exists other than to create some weird conflict between hank and dick. i’d much rather that conflict come from dick being an asshole generally and dropping all contact with his friends when it all became just Too Much To Deal With.
10. OH MAN so him contacting alfred was to arrange a big sum of money to pay off hank and dawn?? yep, dick is 100 percent bruce wayne’s protégé. i’m sure he also thinks of this as a way to help hank recover and for hank and dawn to rebuild their post-vigilantism life. this is a terrible way to deal with your guilt, my friend.
and i love that all of this—the mistakes he’s making with rachel despite his genuine concern for and desire to help her, the way he’s unable to really talk to her instead of at her, his false platitudes when he thinks he has nothing to say—is a plausible reflection of the ways bruce floundered with him when he first took dick in. dick has spent so, so long as bruce’s sole heir; though i’m sure they learned to communicate better, the core dysfunction of his relationship with bruce is embedded in his bones.
but the show is clearly setting up the dick-rachel relationship to evolve—and in doing so, have dick come to terms with his own relationship with bruce, instead of spinning increasingly bitter and dark memories of it in his head.
all said, tho: what a dick move. in every sense of the word.
11. aaand here’s why i never understand criticism of this show that says dick is too dark: it’s just so typical of him to hold himself to insane standards and just cut loose and run whenever he feels he’s failed those standards. it’s why he’s always among the first choices to lead a team but his leadership almost never sustains very long. it’s why he’s everybody’s friend but so desperately, desperately alone, especially when it’s his turn to spiral and need help. it’s why when he is spiralling, he adopts spectacularly self-destructive methods to do so. standing aside while zucco died is essentially his (infamous) blockbuster moment, when he so egregiously compromised his moral code that he was forced to re-evaluate the very core of what he’d identified as for decades. he hates himself, but he splits the blame, recognising the very real damage being robin did to him but pinning everything that’s wrong with him on it.
this tracks with every version of dick grayson that i can think of, bar the golden age/silver age comics, more contemporary nightwing runs—especially after his stint as batman with damian as robin—where he’s matured a bit and more level-headed, and, of course, fanon.
11.5. but while dick is wrestling with himself, actual people do get hurt and lost on the wayside. i’m glad that this show is not shying away from showing that.
12. maaan you really, really didn’t have to do this to anyone, leave alone someone as prominent in nightwing’s history as amy rohrbach. still holding out hope that she’ll return somehow next season.
13. rachel using dick’s own words to get him to help hank and dawn… oh fuck yes.
13.5. to be perfectly honest, i quite enjoyed robin as this menace in the shadows, taking thugs down brutally when they can’t even see him. you never see hyper-competent robin on-screen anymore.
13.75. also? hank and dawn’s genuine horror at his brutality is another giant indicator that this is not a dick grayson who’s functioning optimally, by any standard. he needs a place to start growing from, and this is it.
14. dick getting called out on his bullshit is pretty satisfying to watch, no lie.
14.5. i’d forgotten just how brutally the nuclear family defeat hank, dawn, and dick. yikes.
14.8. that last shot of dick desperately trying to save dawn’s life while having flashbacks to his own parents falling to their deaths is so fucking haunting, holy shit.
15. that was… honestly so good, you guys! i remember seeing this episode for the first time and feeling a little irritated with the languid pacing and the way it seemed sort of like filler. but there’s so much great stuff that stands out to me on re-watch—this show genuinely rewards multiple viewings, even when you know what’s coming next.
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emzymakesbelieve · 5 years
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not to be fake deep but let's talk about all your old walt babies that you haven't mentioned (because i love the hainline's okay and you and all your kids and i miss you
Send me an old muse and I’ll gush about them.
oKAY SIT DOWN AND BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS.
(I love you, too, sweet pea.  *smooch*)
Frank Hainline
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So Frank is a prick, to start off, but he’s my prick and you’re not allowed to trash talk him without my say so (which of course you have because he’s A PRICK).  He was the kind of kid who wore an anarchy symbol on his jacket but never actually did anything to represent or invoke anarchy.  He’s also a gigantic slut and can’t keep his pants zipped for longer than ten minutes.  Fidelity is not this man’s middle name (*CoUgH* illegitimate child he never knew about).  He definitely wasn’t ready to become a father when Victoria got pregnant (and more or less trapped him into marriage), but by the time baby Penelope came, he devoted every ounce of energy he could to making sure she had a good life, and the two of them actually grew very close.  He passed away from cancer when Penelope was about ten.
Norma Hainline
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Penelope’s eldest.  The two most important things you need to know about Norma are that she’s a dancer and she’s gay as a maypole.  Her main focuses are tap and ballet.  She loves old Hollywood - she got her start watching Singin’ in the Rain and Fred & Ginger films - but definitely prefers to live in the here and now where she can express herself both as an artist and as a lesbian.  The dance world, much as she loves it, is a crusty old institution that needs to break some pointless rules and get over itself.  She is also Grade A Mom Friend Extraordinaire™.  Her love language is definitely acts of service, particularly making sure you’re eating and sleeping well and taking your medicine on time (though turns out she’s a terrible patient herself).  Much to her frustration, her two closet friends - Noah and Nick - are both more or less bent on self destruction and driving her completely bonkers, but she loves them just the same.
Francis Hainline
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Francis, the third eldest, has no business being in this family with how shy he is, but nevertheless.  Definitely the black sheep of the family, but his siblings defend and support him with everything they have.  (Well, Kath usually does it with a lot of sarcasm, but you can tell she loves him.)  He’s a total hipster and has a special love for anything that was built before the year 2000.  His prize possession is an old camcorder that uses real VHS tapes, so naturally he becomes a film student.  I envision him growing up and working as a cinematographer and eventual director of poignant indie films and documentaries - stuff with lots of lingering, fly-on-the-wall shots.  Also, special shoutout to Seraphina, the love of his got dang life.  Those two gave me so many freaking cavities with their cuteness.
Kathleen Hainline
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So Kath is a mess, but that’s just par for the course in this family, I suppose.  She’s the baby of the family and has always felt like she’s living in her sister Norma’s shadow.  She’s a bit of a wild child, but certainly not to the extent Victoria was.  It’s all just a cry for attention, trust me.  She wants to feel needed, she wants to feel wanted, she wants to feel special.  And anything that takes the attention of the people she loves off of her needs to die, plain and simple.  She’s best friends with Daisy and is technically endgame with Jonas (though we really didn’t get to write them that far), so here goes a prayer candle for my lovely Becca.
Dory Novak
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As you can probably guess by the name, Dory is based on that delightful blue tang we know and love.  In the Walt universe, she developed her short term memory loss after an accident that killed her parents, and was adopted by Marlin.  She loves swimming and her family and especially anything combining the two.  She’s a freaking sweetheart who is actually pretty hard on herself, and it was so heartbreaking to play her in any kind of stressful situation because five minutes later she would still be freaked out by have no idea as to why (looking at you, Scream event).  Also, Scooby liked her a lot and I felt so freaking blessed???  She ends up becoming a social worker and helping kids in the foster system like her.
Charlie Harper & Jenny Harper née Parkington
I never got to properly play Dory’s parents, but here’s the fast and skinny on them.  Jenny was a shy bookworm who never thought boys would be interested in her and (for the most part) had made peace with that theory.  Charlie was a jock who was head over heels for Jenny but never knew how to communicate it without being a sleaze.  Eventually, he manages to ask her out, she says yes, and they pretty much become attached at the hip.  She comes to his basketball games and swim meets decked out in the school colors and cheering like a maniac.  My guess is Dory came a little earlier than they were expecting, but not so early that it would be considered scandalous - probably when they were almost finished with college or something.  Dory became their world and they spoiled that little girl beyond belief.  Unfortunately, both of them were killed in a car wreck when Dory was very little.
Marlene Novak
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Dory’s first kid, adopted.  To sum it up nicely, Marlene’s a hot mess because she was never able to come to terms with the fact that her birth mother didn’t want her.  I tried to start this whole plot where she ran into her birth mother just out in the wild and that made her get even messier, but I think I was just throwing crap on the fire to see what blew up at that point.  She also has a…flirtatious arrangement, shall we say, with her friend Viv.
Lyle Novak
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Dory’s second kid, also adopted.  *sigh*  Lyle, Lyle, Lyle…  He’s a cutie, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I didn’t give his character enough punch?  He just seems kind of blah now that I look back at him.  I have a history of being super self conscious about my male characters if they don’t have like a Super Archetype personality for some freaking reason, and Lyle is definitely an example of that.  He’s a little shy, but not so shy that it’s endearing, and he’s also a little courageous, but not so courageous that he actually gets crap done.  He’s a little complacent, looking back on him, which is kind of the opposite of how I wanted to play him...?  I dunno.  Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself.  HE’S CUTE.  LIFE GOES ON.
Cinderella Tremaine
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To the surprise of absolutely no one, I’ve actually played a Cinderella counterpart in a few different groups, but let’s just talk about how I portrayed her at Walt.  French transfer student in America (I changed her to straight up American after a point) who loves animals arguably more than life itself and tries her best not to cry over things she can’t control.  She’s also daydreamy as FRICK.  Loves to get lost in her own imagination.  If she’s not engaged in conversation or work of some kind, I can guarantee you her conscience isn’t even on this plane.  Also, can I just shriek about the superhero AU version of her where she was a counterpart to Zatanna and literally became her own fairy godmother?  Because I think about that far more than is probably healthy.
Emmett Tremaine & Johanna Tremaine née Cartier
Same thing as Dory’s parents, just gonna give you a quick lowdown.  Johanna came from a fairly well off family in France (distantly related to those guys, but far enough away that it doesn’t really count), but her parents thought she was an absolute embarrassment.  She was never afraid to speak her mind when it came to things like etiquette and politics, and she had a fabulously wild imagination.  She never stopped believing in fairies, ghosts, gremlins, things like that.  Emmett was that quiet nerd dreamer type, very much obsessed with travel and history.  And like I need to spell it out for you, but they were LUDICROUSLY in love with each other.  Like, nauseatingly so.
Robby Tremaine
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Robby is Cindy’s son I whipped up real quick one next gen when I was going crazy and wanted to snatch Nick Robinson’s beautiful face.  He’s a hardcore farm boy who doesn’t mind a little mud behind his ears and super environmentally conscious.  Not just recycling and veganism and all that, but he will go off on you about sustainable farming and animal raising, and how the hydrogen fuel cell is the way of the future.
Taige Bailey
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Based on Terk from Tarzan, Taige is a super jock, total butch lesbian, and altogether DUMBNUT.  Like, GOD she’s so stupid sometimes because she just barrels into crap with reckless abandon and doesn’t think things through.  Dear God, she will PUNCH you if you so much as look at her funny, just ‘cause she feels bored.  And she walks around like she’s God’s gift to creation, but she’s just a little twerp.  But she’s my twerp.  (Huh.  I’m just now realizing how similar Taige and Pen are.  In a weird way, Taige is like the tomboy version of Pen.)  Here, you can imagine me lighting a prayer candle because I never got to play her against her two best friends and I’m SAD.  Y’ALL NEVER GOT TO EXPERIENCE THE TOUR DE FORCE THAT IS T CUBED.  Also *cough* she and Vitani may have had a *coUGH* flirtationship.
I would also put Taige’s parents on this list, but they’re so hardly even developed that it’s not really worth mentioning them.  I only know their names: Lamarr and April.
Jared Bailey
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Taige’s only child, Jared’s still trying to figure out what masculinity means to him, what with being raised by two women and all.  He can get a little “dudebro alpha male” sometimes, but he’s also that kid you definitely want to have your back when things get rough.  He’ll help you with your homework, teach you how to shoot a three-pointer, and walk you home when it’s dark like the gentleman he is.
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nebulae-unravelling · 5 years
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Aquaman, or the recurring problem with me watching movies
So, I just watched Aquaman and it was... good? I liked it? I didn’t go into it expecting much, to be completely honest, on account of my lack of knowledge about both DC and Aquaman in general. I also know that I’m more happy criticising than just sitting back and enjoying, which makes things... challenging, shall we say, when I watch things with people who are not similarly inclined.
So, the pros. The special effects and set, costuming design were pretty rad (there is just one thing that bugged me about costuming, which is the cause of all this, but we’ll get to that later) and the plot line was on par with a b-grade superhero movie, which is to say, I enjoyed it but I’m also not the one who paid for it, so there’s that. Jason Momoa was a hottie as usual, and while I appreciated the rampant shirtlessness, I really likes how his naturally curly hair stayed naturally curly, unlike the redhead with titties (which of course had to be ~shown off~ with a tastefully low-cut outfit) whose hair was very much artificially curled every time it got wet again. Kudos to the hair and makeup department for that actually, I didn’t know that Atlantans had exactly the same makeup as us, or really makeup like we know it at all. Who’d’ve thought? I’d much rather watch mermaids with fucking tails and gills (and to be fair there were a few, but certainly not the main characters/love interest) and a general physiology that is not a fascismile of what like, actual humanity looks like. (We’ve done it before, The Shape of Water anyone? That at least looked like a fucking fishman.) But I digress. Mira or whatever her name was had a very typical costume, and was a very typical role of love interest peppered with a couple of pretty cool power displays. She was good, for sure, and this isn’t meant to be a critique of anyone’s acting. More, the executive decisions around keeping the movie a stereotypical, so-so plotty capitalisation on Aquaman from Justice League.
(Am I being too harsh? I feel like that was too harsh? Honestly, the movie was good, but it wasn’t anything special.)
Anyway, the real issue I had was that Mira was always in heels of some description. Specifically, in that last battle (which was meh, also, I mean, who arrays their troops so that they would be shooting each other in the back if not for ~movie magic~) she had wedge heels that were at least three inches, if not four. They were in the ocean, what on earth does she need heels for??
But we all know why, really. It’s the same reason Gal Gadot was told to wear heels in a fight scene in Wonder Woman (not sure which one, still haven’t seen it) and she couldn’t do it. Which, fair, I couldn’t fight in four inch heels either. So the production crew (or whoever, I’m not sure) CGI’d, frame by frame, these fucking high heels. The second article raises a couple good points, but to reiterate, there is NO practical reason for the heels, other than to appeal to the male gaze and reinforce the apparent necessity of women wearing heels and only heels. (Side note, I fucking love heels and love wearing them, but I think they’re wildly impractical to do anything other than walk short distances and stand around looking pretty in. And I’m there for that, honestly, but it’s a particular kind of demeaning when you’re raised from a young age to believe that women can only fight in heels and to do anything less is to be ‘unattractive’ and ‘unwomanly’.)
So Mira wears her heels, and kisses Arthur in the middle of battle (why?? It’s so strange?? Their chemistry is hardly super compelling??) and we think nothing of another woman fighting in heels because it’s normal and what is expected of us.
We don’t need it. We don’t need another generation of young girls growing up with this unreachable benchmark of beauty. It fucking hurts to unlearn all that shit, like it really fucking does.
That’s it, that’s the TedTalk. I liked aquaman but it wasn’t great, and I’m sick of women fighting in heels cos that’s not how shit works in real life.
It bears repeating, so here goes. I am not criticising the actors for their acting skills. They were pretty great. And despite all evidence to the contrary, I didn’t hate aquaman. It’s just very easy to get hung up on all the bad stuff, I guess. Furthermore, this is my opinion. I’m not someone who knows a lot about film, I’m just opinionated and sick of badass-women-but-only-in-heels requirements. As such, this is a self-indulgent rant post. If you don’t like it, bite me.
Peace out.
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ninjagoat · 6 years
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Notes on Supergirl 3x09
There's a good chance I might end up being facetious this episode. See if you can guess where.
So, it's the next day after Wake Up? When did Crisis happen?
We talk about bad writing on the show a lot (and believe me, we WILL be discussing it a lot today), but I want to talk about how Mon-El describes the future:
"Technology has developed beyond imagining; but at the end of the day, it's still in service of communicating with each other, and entertaining each other, and also killing each other. In this day, or in a thousand years, conflict is constant. But so is strength." The repetition, the cadence; this is a man who has given so many rousing speeches as a leader that they invade his regular conversation. It's so different from how he used to speak, and it's a lovely piece of work.
Kara's Best Friend Winn - who spent two days with a police scanner and a sewing machine helping her become a superhero, when even Alex didn't want her to be one - being tickled pink by Imra not knowing what phones are is nice.
Amy Jackson is from the Isle of Man, if you were wondering what that accent is. It's its own thing, but the Youtube videos aren't usually this... breathy.
Mon-El was basically the 31st Century Apostle of Supergirl. I'm here for it.
And for Imra's hero worship.
It's a good thing he turned down your invitation, Kara. Things might have gotten awkward, what with Lena being there and all. Or perhaps not. Who can say?
Can we have a ship war between Kara/Food and Alex/Booze soon? I think we're due a ship war that makes sense.
"Crone Buddies"? What happened to the realisation there must be someone else for you Alex? It was just last week/yesterday/possibly an alternate time-line.
I'm getting bored with Danvers Sisters time, to be quite honest. Yes, you're going to support each other through this. We know. Talk it through with someone else, Kara. Perhaps your Best Friend, Winn (who one time requisitioned an entire Catco office and server just so you would have a base of operations at work)?
Look, relationships are the only thing James Olsen has ever been shown to be bad at, so can you two hurry up? I wanna know how he's going to screw up a good thing this time.
I want to love this scene with J'onn/M'yrnn/Kara's Best Friend Winn - who once served as a buffer between Alex and Eliza at Thanksgiving while Kara basically ignored him in favour of her not-boyfriend, who called her from a romantic getaway with his actual girlfriend - but I know it's all a ploy to keep him away from Lena, and thus avoid pesky questions like, "So, how do you know the analyst from the clandestine government agency that helped me out with those things those times?"
Unpopular opinion: American Christmas songs are almost universally shite.
I should also point out that, since Lena knows he is DEO, Kara's Best Friend Winn - who once committed treason on Alex and Kara's behalf after Kara invoked his difficult relationship with his father - is the only person currently in this room that is not concealing a secret identity from her.
I'm just gonna stop having headcanons. I keep thinking of ways the show could mine conflict from the scenarios they've created, and the show doesn't then do it badly, so much as ignore it entirely. I actually burst into tears once because I thought up a thing where Kara tells Winn he can't come to the Christmas party because Lena knows he's DEO and it would raise too many questions. I would actually prefer that to this version. At least it would be a story point then.
Wait. Hang on. Are they trying to tell us that Wake Up happened on Dec. 22nd? Because... seriously, what?
Alex, you can't just steal a child, even if you are great with her; so stop thinking about it. Who said this 'wanting to be a mother' thing was out of character?
I like the choice that Lena would make weak excuses for why she can't just go for it with James. Putting your last boyfriend out of his misery by deactivating the nano-bot swarm he's comprised of must be a tough act to follow.
A funny thing about chemistry that's "off the charts"? It can't be measured.
A rhyming scene of James and Winn on the other side of the room having *their* version of this conversation would have gone a long way.
This is literally the fourth episode of eight you've spent time with Sam, Kara. It's not like she's one of the Barton Bellas.
"I've always had Alex, and she has my back, but-" Sorry, NOW TV keeps cutting the sound there, so I don't know how the sentence ends. I'll presume it's something along the lines of, "If you don't want to date someone who works for you, do you remember my Best Friend, Winn? Really smart, you saved the world together that one time? And at your party? Hates your mom? Remember? Look, he's rocking that Christmas sweater!"
(And he's clearly single, since his girlfriend of 44 weeks isn't here)
I cannot imagine how difficult blocking this scene was, if J'onn has to come up to Kara in front of the friends that don't know she's Supergirl and say she has to leave her own party on Dec. 23rd. I'll assume this scene was written by the Buffoon.
VASQUEZ! You have returned to us! From where-ever it was!
The Symbol is Kryptonian? What were the odds?
I get the feeling that 'if we don't know it, it can't be known' is a common attitude from Krypton. Kinda... snobby, wouldn't you say?
And since we, the audience, already know the Symbol is Kryptonian, why are we sending James and Lena on this wild goose chase?
Speaking of which, why would Morgan Edge burn a symbol into your corn-field, Lena? Explain the logic. While you're at it, why would you go see him about it? What is he going to tell you?
And by saying "I will go with you," as opposed to "This plan is stupid," we've got a solid idea of why there were no 'James helps mentor Kara as a reporter' stories last season.
A two minute scene solely to remind us that Morgan Edge exists. Yay.
Get Prince's name out of your filthy mouth.
"I'm here just to make sure you remain civil." You know what else would have achieved that James? Not going at all.
Here's the thing. It's Reign. We know it's Reign. There is no mystery here. THIS IS NOT HOW MYSTERIES WORK.
THE ALIEN BAR! Still lacking in visibly alien aliens. Bloody gentrification.
Dude, just put lobsters down on the floor if you're gonna do this ribs shit (given the platform, this is probably a one-percenter joke).
Look! Kara's Best Friend Winn - who quit his good job at a global media empire so he could help Kara with superheroing full-time (you know, right before Kara considered moving to Metropolis) - distracting Imra so Kara and Mon-El can talk! What a great Best Friend he is!
I'm gonna say this now: not on board with SaturnNerd, unless it's rounding out Winn's doomed trip through Nerd Fantasy Romance Tropes (the list so far: Kara - Girl Next Door; Siobhan - Mean Girl (To Reform Through Kindness); Lyra - Manic Dream Pixie Girl; Imra - Sexy/Naive Foreign Exchange Student).
You're not at the jokey we-had-fun-didn't-we stage yet, mister.
Creepy Preacher Dude! You're back! And still creepy!
Fort Rozz!
Right, they are clearly establishing Sam as Reign, and Reign as the World-Killer. THERE IS NO MYSTERY HERE.
Sam. Have you never seen a Christmas film before? You know what happens if you work Christmas Eve.
The Christmas story is nice, though. Sam & Ruby are a nice addition to the show.
El Mayarah, brothers and sisters.
'Cip'. Imra's WAAAAAY overplaying this 'foreigner' stuff.
Yep. Break her heart more, Imra. Solid plan.
Sigh. What are you doing going to other hackers, Lena? We know they're gonna be sub-par. Or James should, at least.
For newer, confused viewers, James is a superhero, who has a shield. Winn built it for him. You may not have known this.
This Reign fight is one of the best vampire attack scenes I've ever seen.
Sooooo, we needed Lena and James to visit Edge, so Edge would pick tonight to hire an assassin to kill Lena, so Reign will then target Edge. 'Kay. Oh, and Edge is apparently using Reign as a cover for Lena's 'death'. Except it happens before Reign goes on the rampage. So circular, this logic.
No love in his eyes? Admittedly, Kara's never been good at this.
Edge has a lead-lined panic room. This is the smartest thing he's done yet. Ineffectual mustache twirler.
This week's Jeremy Jordan Award For Doing So Much With So Little goes, unsurprisingly, to Jeremy Jordan; for seamlessly transitioning from sarcasm to serious through repeated use of the word 'No.'
And kudos for Kara's Best Friend, Winn - who once got up in his best clothes and went to a posh party solely to humiliate himself in front of the hostess (the hostess being Lena, who is of course not Kara's best friend, because Winn is Kara's Best Friend) because Kara had gotten herself in a jam - for emphasising that an attempt on Edge's life is only 'objectively' bad. Sticking up for his Sister in Science.
Okay, how late is it on Christmas Eve? Everyone's still at Catco. IT'S A SUNDAY. WHY IS EVERYONE HERE? GO HOME.
I'm not against GuardianCorp, there's a lot of story to mine there in terms of the relationship between Journalism and its Corporate Masters (it's not a marriage made in heaven, nor should it be); but like many things, it depends on execution. With that in mind, there's a few tangible details I want to highlight here:
Firstly, with the exception of letting her call him Jimmy, which is only relevant to a specific section of the audience (casual viewers won't remember why that's a big deal, and longer term fans of the character consider it the default); the nicest thing we've ever seen him say to or about her is that he doesn't see her as an extension of her brother. That seems like a low bar to cross. In fact, I have no idea how James feels about this particular development at all.
Secondly, James hasn't been challenged yet; or at least, it doesn't *feel* like he's been challenged yet. In my notes for 3x02, I wrote of GuardianCorp, "This isn’t a thing that’ll be resolved by him doing nothing until someone else makes the decision for him," but he hasn't actually made any decisions. This story isn't a James story (yet). It's a Lena story, about her taking a chance on him.
(ASIDE: At some point, someone decided that Lena's main flaw would be 'self-doubt' instead of 'hubris', as was previously established in 2x05. I take small comfort in the fact that person is likely no longer employed)
Thirdly (and this last one's much more open to interpretation, so YMMV), Mr. Brooks isn't really pulling his weight here. Ms. McGrath is doing *all* the heavy lifting: she's standing there, giving him full heart-eyes, and he barely seems to notice that it's happening. James could be playing it cool, I suppose; but that's just another way in which I can't relate to James as a character (because HOW? How do you play it cool when she's looking at you like THAT?).
(FURTHER ASIDE: You know who would have been a challenge for James? LYRA. Or, at least, a visibly alien alien. That story would be about James and his perception of himself; having been friends and love interests for 'passing' aliens over the years, why is an ALIEN alien a sticking point for him? Played by a trans actress, preferably, to hammer the metaphor home. It would also have given him a cause to champion at CatCo)
At some point, I should stop doing notes, and just write a damn review. It'd probably be shorter.
Why are all these Christmas parties happening on Christmas Eve?
You know when would have been a great time to do a Christmas episode? Last season, when it was all about the immigration metaphor, and your three non-human characters can all express how they feel about this religious festival they don't belong to.
Love the tone of this office fight (the song still sucks)
Kara's getting the beat-down of her life, and she's still trying to protect others. I love her.
That block and swing is fucking incredible.
AND THEN THE FLAMING DOOR!
Where the hell is this fight happening that James, Lena, AND Edge can be witnesses?
Impressed at how objective Alex is being here. Would like more detailed reaction shots though. Particularly from Kara's Best Friend, Winn.
Imra's very confident about Kara being okay.
Episodes since Winn and Lyra have had a scene together: 13. THIRTEEN. These counts were supposed to be a joke, show. Not a running commentary of despair. Speaking of which...
Episodes since Winn and Lena have had a scene together: 9 (Record high: 16). No, I'm not counting this one. Being in the same location does not a scene make. We'll just have to live with my pain extending to double digits in January.
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junker-town · 5 years
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The most ridiculous, bizarre and sublime sports video games of all-time
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Sports are dumb. Video games are also dumb. But dumb sports video games are the best.
You know what’s good? Sports! You know what also can be (generally) good? Video games! It’s also pretty fun when those two things meet, and even more fun when they meet in the weirdest ways possible.
That happened quite a bit more in the 90s and early aughts than it does now (probably because it costs a whole lot more money to make video games these days, but that’s another story) and while they weren’t always good games, they were usually worth it on their novelty factor alone. And I am fascinated by these games.
I have spent hours playing Ninja Golf on the Atari 7800. I don’t really know why, I’m just so intrigued by the process that spawned such things. I’ve played far too much MLB Nicktoons, because seeing Spongebob Squarepants share a field with Carlos Beltran is still hilarious to me. To use a more well-known example: Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl is something I’ve been playing a lot of. It’s a game that doesn’t relate to Glanville in any way, but somehow has his name on it. Discovering why that is and also, you know, playing the games, has been my mission for a long time.
Hopefully that means my bosses will continue to let me write about the cross-section of sports and video games, with some deeper dives and the like. But until then, as sort of a primer, an appetizer if you will, how about we establish a base? Let’s take a brief look at the WEIRDEST sports games for each major sport!
This is part one, where we’re covering American football, basketball, hockey, baseball, soccer and golf — I will cover tennis, auto racing, combat sports and some others in a follow-up article.
American Football: Brutal Sports Football (Atari Jaguar)
Honorable Mention: Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl (Super Nintendo)
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We’re starting out hot and heavy with, you guessed it, an Atari Jaguar game. Also released for a number of other consoles, Brutal Sports Football is exactly what it purports to be: football, but more brutal than football already is. I’m somewhat obsessed with this game.
Now, don’t confuse obsession with skill, because I am TERRIBLE at it. Part of that is me not having much experience with the Atari Jaguar, and part of that is the game being crushingly difficult. But it sure is fun, and as you can expect, it’s quite violent.
Featuring teams like the Thugs, Slayers and Goats (actual goatmen, of course), Brutal Sports Football is pretty standard football, if pretty standard football included axes, beheading, repeatedly stomping your opponent into the ground, powerups in the form of rabbits (?) and a surprising amount of backstory to its teams.
No, really. Every team has a brief explanation of their history/what kind of team they are. And they’re ridiculous.
Some of those are just ... whew.
Just how brutal is Brutal Sports Football, you ask? Well, you can use the severed heads of your enemies as a weapon to cave in the head of another. So, it’s at least on par with actual football.
There’s something about the gameplay that intrigues me, even though I can’t get a damn thing done in it. It’s surprisingly smooth-feeling for an early sports game, and the rules are interesting. Aside from the murdery bits, the goal is to get the ball into the end zone, which is an enclosed area a bit closer to a soccer goal. You can throw it or run it in, and when you run one it, it feels a good bit like dunking.
I suck at it (a theme you’ll find on this list), and I don’t think it’s an amazing video game. But it sure is weird.
Basketball: Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball (Super Nintendo)
Honorable Mention: Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City (Super Nintendo)
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I’m going to start this one with a declaration: Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball is a bad video game. There, I said it. It’s out in the open. Some people — whom I no longer respect as human beings — claim that it’s a good game and enjoy it immensely. They are horrible people and if you like it, so are you.
Hyperbole aside, WHERE IS BILL LAIMBEER? Much like Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl, Laimbeer has absolutely nothing to do with this video game, and like the game above, it was released under a different title in other regions, Future Basketball. But there is also very little about it that is futuristic, save for the drab, gray arenas, the robots and what the game says are jetpack-assisted jumps, but are actually still pretty lame, standard basketball jumps.
There’s bombs, but nothing about getting them feels good. What baskets do or do not go in seem to have no correlation with where you are and what the opposing players are doing to you, and the “combat” animations are so slight that it’s hard to tell if you’ve hit someone, unless they explode.
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The game has bad sound effects, bad music, slow action, a bad camera, and very little excitement. I’m told that some people enjoy it, but as a kid, I’m not sure I’ve ever returned a game faster. That doesn’t make it any less weird though, and the fact that this game exists at all is pretty fascinating. Why does it have Bill Laimbeer’s name on it? Why is he on the cover? Where are the fans?
I’m so confused. I wanted to give this to Michael Jordan’s Chaos in the Windy City, or the fan game, Barkley: Shut up and Jam: Gaiden, but Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball is a little higher profile and I wanted to set the record straight while also pointing out that it’s weird. And dumb.
Baseball: Ninja Baseball Bat Man (Arcade)
Honorable Mention: Nicktoons MLB (Multi)
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This is one of those that doesn’t REALLY resemble the actual sport it represents, because it’s not a baseball game so much as it is a 2D beat-em-up arcade game with a baseball theme. And when I say baseball theme, I mean every inch of this game is steeped in baseball stuff.
You fight baseballs. You fight giant catcher’s mitts with faces on them. You’re a robot baseball man who hits other robot baseball men with baseball bats. One of them just uses a giant baseball as a smashing weapon.
The story — yes the game has a story — is that you, the Ninja Baseball Bat Man — or N.B. Batman, as the commissioner of baseball refers to you, have to recover items that were stolen from the Baseball Hall of Fame. You can play as the well-balanced Captain Jose, the speedy Twinbats Ryno, the powerful Beanball Roger or the long-reaching Stick Straw, who stands 7’2’’, officially.
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It’s a pretty great game, actually — a fun 2D brawler you can play cooperatively, I definitely played and beat this in multiple arcades with friends of mine.
The game was conceived by Drew Maniscalco, who came up with the idea after reading about the top grossing films of its time — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and one of the Batman films (speculated to be Batman Returns). So Maniscalco wanted to create his own superhero-influenced game. He also liked the word “ninja”, thinking it felt “mysterious,” which was more than enough of a concept to make a video game in the early 90s.
This is the game on this list I can 100% recommend. You should play it if you can.
Hockey: Mutant League Hockey
Honorable Mention: NHL Hitz 2003
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So, I actually didn’t want to include Mutant League Hockey on this list just because the Mutant League franchise is so big. That said, there is a surprising lack of weird hockey games. I went with NHL Hitz 2003 as the honorable mention because I think it works surprisingly well for an NFL Blitz spinoff, but I was hoping for something really nuts for hockey.
That isn’t to say that Mutant League Hockey is sane. No, it’s quite weird. It’s your basic hockey, except with robots, undead skeletons and trolls, and lots of things that are quite lethal, like exploding pucks and spikes on the boards.
Getting checked into them is not fun.
There are also random holes in the ice, and you can hit people with your stick. You can get a powerup that turns your goalie into a giant demon face, and if the opponents score on your giant demon face, it explodes.
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And it’s oozing with personality, including fake coaching quotes like the one above. Have you ever seen a sideline interview that was actually interesting? Probably not. But they’re plenty interesting in Mutant League Hockey. Also, one of the arenas is the Madness Square Garden (why not Scare Garden?).
Soccer: Inazuma Eleven GO 2: Chrono Stone
Honorable Mention: Battle Soccer: Field No Hasha
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If you’re unfamiliar with Inazuma Eleven, it’s a game developed by Level-5, a company responsible for many high profile puzzle and JRPG video games, like the Professor Layton, Dark Cloud and Ni no Kuni series of games. There is also a manga and anime spin-off of the games. I think any games in the series would fit on this list, but I went with this one because it’s my favorite of the bunch.
This is a story-heavy and strategy-heavy video game. The main character (of the series, not this game specifically), Mamoru Endou, is a talented goalkeeper and the grandson of Daisuke Endou, a legendary soccer player. You’re trying to save your team from being dissolved and you do that by progressing a surprisingly deep story, interspersed with bits of tactical soccer gameplay and strong anime cutscenes.
The game centers around the Football Frontier tournament, and includes arenas set throughout time and a final arena in a SKY PALACE. There you play Zeus, another team, who are drinking “ambrosia,” which is basically just a whole bunch of PEDs to make them better at the game. They’re juicing! In this relatively wholesome soccer game!
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Gameplay includes scouting, recruiting new players by beating them in battle. In actual soccer games, when you run into one of the opposing players, it initiates a command duel, which has its own series of moves and actions you can take as part of it. Normal soccer rules apply with substitution and number of people on the field. It’s honestly impressive how deep it all goes. It’s not something I would recommend to non-RPG players, but fans of the genre should absolutely give it a spin.
Golf: Ribbit King (Nintendo Gamecube)
Honorable Mention: Desert Golf (Mobile)
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Before I get into Ribbit King, a quick note about this honorable mention — Desert Golf is a simple never-ending golf game that came out on iOS and Android and doesn’t have much going on for it ... which is part of the reason it’s weird. The game has no explanations, no anything but a ball and hole, and some hills. I played it through a couple thousand holes. There are things about it that I will not talk about in case readers want to try it for themselves, but suffice to say when the game became a hit, a lot of people had a lot of discussions about secrets or things hidden in the procedurally-generated game.
Now, back to Ribbit King, an extremely under-appreciated golf game where you play as a person, or what appears to be a picnic basket(?), and you’re hitting catapults holding frogs with your mallet to launch said frogs around a course filled with flies, hazards and extra points. When you hit the frog, it will then hop upon landing, and how much hopping is dependent on powerups you’ve used, your swing, and the stamina of the frogs, which you can replenish with items.
Strictly speaking, since I strive for 100 percent accuracy, I will of course note that the game does not refer to it as golf, but Frolf.
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It’s a weird game. There’s a full story mode with voice acting, and it’s as weird as you can expect. You play a carpenter named Scooter, and you’re trying to become the Frolf Champion, so you can win the Super Ribbinite, a fuel source needed to save your home planet. There’s also a sentient rock pile, gumball machine and karate-using panda.
The game is a successor to a Japan-only Playstation game titled Kero Kero King, which I played way back when but never knew about Ribbit King until the past year or so. I’m glad to have found it.
There are so many weird games for these sports I didn’t even get to mention — Cyber Baseball 2020, Mega Man Soccer, Blitz: The League, Zany Golf, like 40 other crazy baseball games and so much more. Sound off in the comments on what I missed and your predictions for the next batch of weird games.
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breeeliss · 7 years
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Marinette is wearing a flower in her hair and bee!Chloé cant control herself for the Marichat tropes.
im glad that maribee!marichat tropes are becoming a thing :P
words: 1695
“Okay, so it says I need to get a package of puff pastry.”
Marinette snorted and spoke with her mouth full. “Strike one. Store bought puff pastry is abominable.”
Queen Bee frowned. “Obviously I would get the expensive kind.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s all sub-par. You gotta make that stuff from scratch otherwise what’s the point?”
“Not all of us live in a professional bakery, Marinette!”
Marinette stuck her tongue out. “That sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”
Queen Bee plucked up some of the mille-feuille crumbs from her plate and threw them in Marinette’s hair, laughing when the girl screamed in outrage. “Don’t sass me, I’m a superhero!”
Marinette shoved a foot against Queen Bee’s thigh, jokingly trying to shove her from her dainty perch on her balcony railing. “I’m giving you my professional opinion.”
“No.” Queen Bee reached over and tapped her on the nose. “You’re making things difficult by not giving me the recipe for these things and forcing me to do research.”
Marinette shrugged. “Family recipe. Sworn to secrecy. Sorry, my dear.”
“I wouldn’t tell anyone! Surely you’d trust me over anyone else.”
“Your sterling commitment to civic duty is not enough of a reason.”
Queen Bee pouted and handed Marinette’s phone back to her. “Fine. I’ll just starve then.”
“Or you could just come back during opening hours and buy some.”
Queen Bee smirked. “Why would I do that if I can just tap on your window and get some for free?”
“Oh, I see,” Marinette said with an eye roll, pulling out the second box of pastries she’d brought with her to the roof. “So I don’t benefit from this arrangement huh?”
“Of course you do, silly,” Bee said. “That Ladyblog girl breaks her neck trying to get exclusive interviews with the four of us and here you are with straight-from-the-source access to anything you could ever possibly want to ask me. Surely you have questions.”
“Yeah just one,” Marinette nodded solemnly. “Who told you that blue eyeshadow and yellow went together?” Marinette burst into giggles when Bee reached over and gently slapped her on the shoulder and started ranting about her elaborate plans to slowly gain her trust and pull this top secret Dupain-Cheng recipe from her one of these days. 
Queen Bee was really fun to tease, and Marinette wasn’t quite sure why. She reminded Marinette of Chat Noir in the sense that they were both really strong personalities that tended to be just a touch over the top. The difference was that it was obvious that Chat Noir liked to play it up for the sake of being funny and teasing Ladybug – two of his most favorite pastimes. However, Marinette was convinced that Queen Bee really was this dramatic on a day-to-day basis. She was a ferocious fighter and was more eager than the three of them to jump straight into the action, but would do things like complain about flying on hot days, scream out in horror in the middle of an akuma battle because of a broken nail, or whine melodramatically in front of a closed bakery sign after forgetting that businesses closed early on Sundays. 
It should’ve been annoying, but it just made it easy to poke fun at her. Queen Bee wasn’t an obnoxious person, and she had too much respect for her miraculous and for Ladybug to even come close to being someone worthy of Marinette’s scorn. She wouldn’t ever admit this to her, but Bee was wonderful entertainment. She supposed that was why it was so easy to invite her in for pastries and sit with her outside. Despite the fact that this was technically Queen Bee’s first time meeting Marinette, the two of them slipped into their familiar banter as if Marinette’s mask was still up. 
Marinette pushed off from where she was leaning against the banister, put the pastries to the side, and went back to her seat in the lawn chair that she’d been occupying before Queen Bee showed up. “You’re so distracting. I was in the middle of something before you showed up.”
Bee scoffed dramatically. “Oh, what could possibly be more important than me?”
“My class is holding a Spring picnic tomorrow,” Marinette explained. “I promised a few friends I’d make them flower crowns to wear tomorrow.”
“Flower crowns?”
“Mmhm.” She held up her wire crown that had un-flowered greens and a few cut white daisies that she was pulling from a store bought bouquet by her feet. “I thought about keeping them all one color, but maybe I should put in some other colors or something. White doesn’t seem very spring-y you know?”
Bee’s wings fluttered briefly as she walked along the balcony wall to the left of Marinette. “They’re pretty…”
“Thanks!” Marinette smiled. “I’ve never made flower crowns before, so it’s been interesting. I don’t mind if you stay, but I kinda want to finish these before I have to go to bed.” She bit her lip and put the flower crown on her head, looking up and adjusting the flowers that were drooping too low past her brows. “Maybe the stems are too long…”
Queen Bee sat on the edge of the balcony and plucked up one of the flowers sitting in front of Marinette. She pressed it to her nose, inhaled, and blinked in shock. “They smell amazing.”
“They’re fresh!” Marinette explained. “Bought them this morning. I’m going to leave them in the refrigerator over night so that they’ll stay stay fresh in the morning. Hopefully the fragrance will stay.”
“No I mean they smell really good,” Bee repeated, keeping the flower close to her nose. “Like…something sweet, and grass, and rain, and something else….”
Marinette looked down and snipped the stems off the flower she just took back. “Well, if I can get the hang of this and if I have flowers left over, I can make you one if you want. I can make it yellow and add in some light blue ones just to help you match that eyeshadow shade you seem so attached to.”
She expected Queen Bee to snap back defensively at Marinette making fun of her makeup again, but she didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, Bee crawled along the banister and leaned over to smell at the flowers in Marinette’s hair. Marinette froze and felt her eyes widen as she heard Bee inhale as deeply as she could. “They smell even better when you have them all clumped together like this….”
“Um,” Marinette muttered. “Thanks?”
Queen Bee gently cupped Marinette’s cheek and tipped her head upwards so that she could press her nose to the center of every flower that was weaved into the crown. Marinette furrowed her brows and looked at Bee from the corner of her eyes, more confused than offended that she was invading her space this much for the sake of just a few cheap flowers she’d bought at a stand earlier that day. She could just see Bee’s wings fluttering gently every time she switched to a new flower and inhaled a new lungful of fragrance. 
The hum of her wings was getting louder, and pretty soon she was hovering just a few feet above the ground and practically burying her nose in the flowers. Marinette felt herself smiling with all her teeth. “Are….are you buzzing?”
Queen Bee blinked as if she were clearing her vision and hummed. “What was that?”
“You’re…kind of hovering over me. And getting pollen on your nose.”
It took a few seconds for her to realize that she’d forced Marinette to lean almost completely to one side because she had been getting so closer to her. Queen Bee squeaked in embarrassment, touched her feet down the floor, and skipped back a few steps until she was leaning against the railing at the complete opposite end of the balcony. Her blush was spreading underneath her mask and up to her ears and Marinette had to hold back her comment about Bee sporting all three primary colors on her face at once. 
“I’M SORRY!” Queen Bee exclaimed, the apology coming out as an involuntary shout. “Oh God, that was so weird. I was so weird. That was weird. Oh crap, now you think I’m a freak, oh holy effing Christ.”
Marinette snorted in laughter and walked over to Queen Bee, using the sleeve of her sweater to wipe off the bits of pollen that were still on the bridge of her nose. “Don’t worry about it, you’re totally fine. It was just…surprising, that’s all.”
Bee covered her face with her hands and mumbled through her fingers. “I’m still getting used to these superpower things and that’s never happened before!”
Marinette stared at her pitifully and rubbed one of her shoulders. “I mean….maybe it’s a bee thing.”
“What?”
“You know,” Marinette continued. “Bees. Flowers. Pollen. Makes sense.”
“I-I’m not….that’s not….I’m not actually a bee, Marinette!!” she sputtered. 
Marinette closed her eyes and winced. “I dunno! That seemed pretty bee-ish.”
Queen Bee’s brows were pulled into a confused scowl and the lingering blush on her face just made the girl look downright adorable – so adorable that Marinette felt her cheeks aching from how hard she was smiling. “I just liked the flowers you picked!! They were really good flowers!!”
“Hey, if you want you can take some. Pollinate some of the gardens nearby.”
“Shut up, you’re the literal worst!”
“I guess I’m definitely making you that flower crown now. I’m afraid you won’t be able to sleep at night without them.”
“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”
“Are you kidding?” Marinette scoffed. She picked up one of the white daisies and teasingly held it out for Queen Bee to take. “I’ll turn this into a rooftop garden if it means seeing you bug out like that again. Get it? Bug out?”
Queen Bee pouted, snatched the flower out of Marinette’s hands, and turned around with a huff. “So mean…”
Marinette picked the flower crown off of her head and started eyeing the yellow bouquet of flowers still sitting in the paper she’d bought it in. “Yup. You’re definitely getting a crown now.”
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