The Invincible subreddit makes me feel insane because you’ll say “I was disappointed in the lack of Mark-Nolan interactions, I wanted them to acknowledge how weird things are for them at this stage in their journey” and people will say they think Mark has mostly forgiven Nolan so there’s nothing to show.
Like sorry but the emotional peak of this show was the Mark and Nolan fight, and it’s DASTARDLY to me that anyone is fine with us just not addressing the “WHAT’S SEVENTEEN MORE YEARS I CAN ALWAYS MAKE ANOTHER KID” and “I’D STILL HAVE YOU” of it all? That shit should be the undertone of EVERY scene that Mark and Nolan are in together. They have barely addressed ANY of that and I’m fine with it but only if the show makes it clear that things are not right with them yet and won’t be for a long time. This season was entirely unsatisfying in that regard.
Some positive Cecil Invincible 4.8 thoughts (show spoilers)
- Cecil was interesting this episode. I loved his conversation with Nolan. I have serious gripes about the lack of any meaningful Mark-Nolan interactions in season 4, but the scene where Nolan went to the crater he almost killed Mark in gave me some hope that the writers are purposefully holding out on us with their relationship. Specifically, it’s the way Cecil kept needling Nolan about “this spot”. It made me feel like (hopefully) Nolan is avoiding confronting what he did to Mark because he thinks it’s impossible to apologize for. And it felt like Cecil was pushing Nolan’s face into the fact that he nearly killed Mark because he knows that will hurt Nolan the most, and Cecil wants to push Nolan away. (Do I wish this was paired with some sort of scene of Nolan holding himself back from closeness with Mark afterwards? Yes. Yes I do, and if the writers were better, it would exist).
- I also really liked Cecil’s conversation with Mark. It was interesting to contrast the way Cecil talked to Mark about the Viltrumites with how he talked to Nolan about it. Despite their difficulties, Cecil clearly still sees Mark as an ally and isn’t trying to kick him when he’s down. He’s exasperated, but he’s not angry with Mark. And he is genuinely worried when Mark breaks down. Yes, there’s the pragmatic aspect of “the last person we need losing their shit is Inv-” but also there’s obviously a human level to it. Cecil is actually gentle in a way that feels real, not just manipulation.
- These two scenes together also make me feel like Cecil is specifically angry with Nolan about what Nolan did to Mark. Which I love. One of the best things about Cecil as a character isn’t that he’s manipulative and calculating and “the ends justify the means.” It’s that he’s all those things and he also CARES. While Cecil might get frustrated with Mark, and be manipulative, and treat him like the superweapon he is, I also think Cecil genuinely cares about Mark’s well being. Because Mark needed more “handling”, Cecil developed more of a parental relationship with Mark than he normally would. There’s also something to be said for how Cecil must have felt watching Mark stand up to his father, try to save people, and get absolutely brutalized for it. There’s the pragmatic side of it where that’s when Mark solidified himself as the trustworthy asset to Cecil, and Nolan solidified himself as a threat who could never be trusted again. But there also is the emotional side of watching a teenager go through hell inflicted by his own in order to protect Earth, and feeling responsible for that.
Some mostly positive Eve Invincible thoughts on episode 4.8 (show and comic spoilers)
- Eve finally felt like more of her own person this episode. Now that we’re back on earth and she’s got her powers back, I really need the show to do more with her. I was discouraged about the line of her not using her powers much because she was home helping with her parents. I really hated in the comics how she just got out of the habit of using them, it felt like a lame excuse to sideline her. She needs an actual fucking plotline next season.
- That said, I think the abortion storyline was handled fairly well. My preference would have been that they made it more clear that they were NOT ready to have a kid even if Mark was there, and that the guilt and upset is that Eve had to make the decision and go through that alone with Mark gone. But I think they didn’t do that because Eve decides to keep Terra not long after this (a year or two maybe? Not sure about the timeline). So they wanted to show that Eve would actually be open to having a kid young in the right circumstances. Personally I DON’T think realistically she would, her personality and lifestyle just don’t make sense for having a baby that young, but I also know they’re not gonna change that from the comics. There is something to be said about Mark and Eve’s timelines being sped up because they’re living under the gun constantly.
- I like that they didn’t oversexualize Eve’s weight gain. There’s definitely room for Mark to talk about how hot she looks next season, but I think it’s weird to lead with that. I also like that they kept her insecurity but toned it way down. In the comics they made it some big reveal that Eve was very dramatic about, and it was much better that it just wasn’t acknowledged in the show until Eve brought it up. After sex too — in the comics she didn’t even want Mark to look at her. In the show it felt real that she would be feeling insecure and acknowledge it after they got naked together. Additionally, her design looks like it was crafted with what depression weight gain of a few months would look like, instead of “hot thicc Eve with ass and boobs” which is how it felt in the comics. It reminds me of how Diane in Bojack Horseman’s weight gain was handled, and that is all I could hope for.
- This is more Mark-centric, but I really loved the shot of Eve smiling and looking carefree and beautiful as the last thing Mark sees to convince him to not fight Thragg. It tied in really well to his guilt about not being there for her pregnancy and abortion.
I finally watched The Drama, and have lots of thoughts (almost entirely positive, I thought it was excellent). Spoilers for the film.
The part that struck me most was the flashbacks to when Emma decided to not go through with her plan. Emma didn’t voice it exactly, but it was apparent from the scenes that the reason she ultimately decided to not hurt anyone was because she was no longer lonely and ostracized. It was the community grief that saved her. It was her school coming together, opening up spaces for kids to express their feelings and grieve together in safe spaces, that gave Emma space to express how scared and sad she was in a healthy way. Emma was comforted and her grief and pain was accepted by those who previously ostracized her.
And it wasn’t a coincidence or ironic that Emma ended up advocating for gun control. She was asked to join that group because she understood gun violence in a way that one of her peers recognized as genuine. She wasn’t a “fraud” for becoming a gun control advocate, she was actually the exact right person to speak up about it. It’s like if someone with suicidal thoughts became a suicide prevention activist. That is the best type of person to be an advocate, because they understand the people they are trying to help. And it’s completely okay and even good that the reason Emma joined the gun violence prevention group was to make friends. Those friends saved her life, and possibly the lives of other people.
What was so interesting was that Charlie clearly wanted Emma to have had some big horrified revelation that snapped her out of it. But it wasn’t that simple. It was being welcomed into a community that saved her. It was finally being shown some basic human empathy and connection after being starved of it.
I think that it’s lowkey character assassination for Mark to not question the destruction of Viltrum more in the show. In the comics I believe that he even asks that they’re certain there’s no other life forms on that planet? In the show he just goes “Dad wait-” and Nolan goes “trust me.”
And I get what they’re trying to do with showing the development between Nolan saying “you’re just gonna have to trust me” in 4.5 and Mark scoffing at this, while showing here that Mark does choose to just trust Nolan. The issue is that this isn’t earned! Like at all! Yes, we’ve seen that Nolan has gotten better and is on their side, but nothing we’ve seen between him and Mark should make Mark confident that Nolan would care enough about maybe some non-sentient ecosystems on a planet enough to not destroy it.
They haven’t put any work into actually building Mark and Nolan’s relationship back up, so it makes it insane to me that Mark wouldn’t at least ASK in the moment “what about all the other life on this planet.” And then sure Nolan could go “Nothing lives on this planet it’s dead” and maybe Mark hesitates and Nolan goes “Trust me.” Something like that would be far more in character for Mark, who has become so concerned about how his actions affect other beings. And Mark also knows that Nolan, even when he’s being “good”, has a track record of not valuing life the way that Mark does! Yes, Nolan is getting better, but he’s still learning, and I just don’t believe that Mark would unquestioningly trust Nolan’s moral compass at this point in their relationship.
It just… ugh. I really didn’t like what this episode did with Mark. It feels like it was written by someone who doesn’t understand him. But that’s not even true, because the showrunners on a show like this are ultimately responsible, so somehow the same people who understood Mark so well in the beginning of the season are just letting his interiority and character go by the wayside because they care more about Thragg and Nolan’s characters. Ugh.
My issues with Invincible episode 4.7 are actually my main discontent with the Viltrumite war arc in the comics (and now in the show). Which is that it decentralizes Mark too much. I don’t mind giving room for these other characters, or even letting Nolan take more of the spotlight. But it feels like we pause Mark’s story to let it happen, rather than having his character arc continue throughout the war. Which is strange because everything to do with Viltrum and his dad is so central to his character! I just feel like he should be having more thoughts and opinions about it beyond being scared of dying. We’re so out of touch with his feelings for most of this arc and it makes me struggle to care about it.
The one thing about episode 3x8 looking SO FUCKING GOOD is that it makes me wish the whole show, especially the non-fight scenes, was able to look like that.
I KNOW THAT IT CAN’T. And yes, I’d rather have the animators take shortcuts so that we can have amazing episodes like this one, and have it not take 3 years, and not overwork the animators (too much. Because lbr, a LOT of overtime was spent on that finale).
But at the same time… man. I will dream about a version of Invincible that looks just like that the whole time because holy shit.
Instead we got a world where the space backgrounds and the punches and fight actions look pretty good, some of it looks amazing, and the characters’s expressions (especially in space) look like this: 😐
Maybe it’s on me for my expectations being too high, but I was disappointed in the Mark-Nolan interactions this episode (and Mark in general). They felt too easy, and unearned.
The tension between them has mysteriously disappeared, even though we haven’t seen them talk one on one since episode 5. We’ve literally only seen them fight together. I understand there’s a level of camaraderie that builds from fighting, and I’m sure that Mark is happy to see Nolan stepping up with Oliver, but it just doesn’t feel right to me. I haven’t seen Mark go on that mental journey, I’m just seeing him now suddenly being okay with Nolan without any build-up or reconnection on a personal level. Their relationship is THE central relationship of the show, and I don’t like seeing an important development get hand-waved away.
Yes, the hug felt right (Mark saw him get “killed”) but I wish it had ONLY been the hug. Nolan’s hand on Mark’s shoulder, Mark stepping into Nolan and Oliver’s embrace, that was what felt weird to me. The hug would have been MORE impactful if that had not happened, and the distance between Mark and Nolan was maintained until that moment. Or if they wanted to show that Mark was slowly warming up to Nolan - then get in his head more. Let us see him be conflicted about it, instead of what we got.
I also felt like Mark just disappeared emotionally in that episode. We got him being afraid to confront Thragg, but that was it. Yes, he was asking about Oliver but I don’t think he was nearly worried enough about him. Oliver was completely defenseless for way too long! He could have been ripped apart by a Viltrumite while they weren’t watching him. I think part of the issue is just that space fights feel muted because we don’t get to see them talk, but also Mark just felt underwhelming. I felt like he was another fodder soldier for most of the episode and Nolan was the main character. I don’t mind Nolan being the FOCUS, but we shouldn’t get out of touch with our main character’s emotions for an episode for that long. We didn’t even focus on Mark’s reactions to seeing Viltrum for the first time - the planet he heard about since he was a kid, the one he used to dream about going to?
In space the show sometimes forgets that it’s about Mark because Kirkman gets excited to write about all his cool space stuff and Nolan and the Viltrumites. And all that stuff is fun, but you can’t just lose your main character’s interiority in a fight where he destroys the planet of his ancestors the first time he sees it, and his brother is dying. Also I just really don’t give af about Thragg. I liked his conversation with Nolan and seeing the Purge backstory, but Thragg as a character is not that interesting to me, and I don’t care about seeing his power level more than I care about following the character I’ve been following from episode 1. Thraggg “aura farming” or whatever is not enough to make me like an episode. I need the emotional stakes from the character I care about most.
I think we’ll get more from Mark next episode of course, but my expectations for Mark and Nolan’s relationship have gone way the fuck down. There’s a conversation with Nolan that should have happened this episode that didn’t, which I think maybe will end up next episode and I’m more than fine with that. I just wish we had gotten more this episode before the fight with Mark and Nolan to set the stage for them to move forward.
Overall, this season I think they’ve done a great job with Nolan and his relationships with everyone except Mark. Which is disappointing but maybe they’ll bring it back in the next episode for me. Even if they do, I think this episode was a missed opportunity and even mishandled their relationship and I feel bummed about it.
in conversation about white people who go to Japan and expect their knowledge of anime to culturally carry them, I was once posed with “it’s like if there was a Japanese guy who was obsessed with spongebob and came over here and thought he could get by just communicating in spongebob quotes.” This is a false equivalence because if such a man existed we would crown him king. We’d love him. Americans would fucking love that. sometimes I get sad that this isn’t a real guy I can invite to a party.
A pun post crossed my dash, and I reblogged it with an equally bad pun in return. A couple of my followers find it funny, it's a good day for everyone.
That was on July 7th.
Virality on Reddit was entirely algorithmic. You could garner a couple crossposts, but the success of a post was entirely dependent on whether or not it hit r/all--the main page of Reddit. If your post does that, it's immediately exposed to 10x the number of people and immediately gets upvoted.
On my pun post, I get a couple reblogs. And those reblogs get a couple reblogs--nobody really adds any content to the post, it just gets a couple reblogs here and there.
There's a specific chain of reblogs that I'd like to focus on. The most popular post on this chain has about 25 reblogs on it. Half the posts have three reblogs or fewer. Five posts in this chain have just one reblog total.
But the reblog chain keeps going. And going. It breaches containment many times over. And finally, after a chain THIRTY SIX posts long, at 9:30 AM, July 22nd this morning, it hits a popular account.
99% percent of the people who have seen the post--virtually unchanged from how it left my dash--have seen it because it was curated by 36 different people. That's insane to me.
None of those 36 people know that they're part of this chain. They saw a post, reblogged it, and moved on. If any one of these people had not reblogged, the post would have a fraction of the impact it has.
And yet, after two weeks, the post has effectively hit the main page of tumblr. It was picked up, only because people liked it enough to show it to their followers. There were no algorithms necessary.
You really, truly, cannot get this on any other website.
The thing specifically that I never liked in the Invincible comics is that Nolan never faced real personal consequences for his actions. He was mostly allowed to slide back into this fatherly role, with just a few conversations and apologies. The show is doing a far better job of demonstrating the depth of the hurt he caused with his family. And by making Nolan sit with that hurt, and him allowing the people around him to be angry and upset, it’s actually making Nolan more likable and more redeemable than if people just forgave him automatically because he’s “a good guy now.”
snowghoul
kaledo-art
theartofmadeline
prguitarman
janainaart
gummygunk
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
titsay
