@@Darkkitton Starfire is protecting the planet, planning her future, making sure she's ok, and assuring her a comfortable living space and education. There is always someone in a worse predicament and someone always living better in every way.
Dumb-Fire, reason for it "didnt even use her brain like all of her neurons from her brain is nothing but a polish cow dance. Listen what the body wants you to do. They once said"
The funniest thing about this to me is that with Starfire being a literal alien who lost her homeworld and family, she SHOULD have been a bad mother. Starfire should have been overprotective of what is essentially the last of her family and lived in fear of Blackfire killing her daughter, she should have been looking for a sign of Mandy's powers developing every birthday so she could use what time they had left until Blackfire inevitably came to train Mandy so that they could combine their might and defeat her, she should have tried raising Mandy the Tamaran way, but she DIDN'T. Despite all the factors working against her, Starfire managed to be a better mother than anyone reasonably could asked, let alone EXPECTED her to be.
If the dumbass author knew that, I'm sure that's how she would portray starfire since she tried to make her seem like a bad mother. Good thing she's stupid and didn't do her research.
There's a *lot* to dislike about this, which a lot of people are pointing out in the comments, but one thing about Mandy that really irritates me is how she always seemed to hate Starfire for being famous and having powers, but the moment she herself gets powers and becomes famous suddenly it's like it was never an issue with her
For some reason, reading a lot of terrible works, like this one, only makes me want to create an antagonist that's so unlikeable and insufferable despite being popular. But yeah, that story almost screams Mary Sue.
@@crystalwings4520If I had a nickel for every time there was a character named Mandy, who was a Mary Sue and had a negative attitude, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?
@@Replay_Gamer If you're thinking about Mandy from uhhh... Grim... Tales... The show with the jamaican grim reaper - don't lump her in there. She's based.
Mandy hyperventilated after running a block and yet was able to defeat someone stronger than her mom. This book is pure pain, I salute to you for reading this to us 🗿
@@collectorking6204 Your comments are just right, the ones saying it's hate just because of pointing it out are the emo lgbt tranny bozos cristaloids and etc., in short: the leftists
A better story writing and she could have "come around to her senses" in the end. There are many things unsaid, for example, how se wanted something different o herself instead! But they never talk about it. Or how at the end she did realize she was a very bad daughter. Or how they had a circle of support and love she just rejected them. Idk, personal growth is not inscribed in this comic
As a gay person, one who used to be fat, whose favorite superhero ever is Starfire I see this book as a pile of horseshit. Seriously. This is the worst narrative I have seen in a while.
At the same time she clearly spoiled that kid too much (which is in character for Starfire) but yeah she ended up with a brat that throws hissy fits at the slightest hint of things not going her way...
So plot is basically, ungrateful brat learns nothing and getting superpowers are the fix to all your life problems. What a great message to show young adults and teens!
Not just that, but it's clearly the author working her way through her angsty teenage years and wanted to turn it into a YAGN but no publisher would take it, so she proposed the idea to DC just slap-dashing Starfire into the story.
To be fair, it is possible that her daughter DID inherit the power to learn a language by kissing someone, but... You know, she would never find that out because of her personality.
I love how they pick Starfire to try and make her seem like a bad parent but Starfire is just so perfect and wholesome of a character they can’t even stain her character
I love how they didn't even try to make Starfire an unlikable character in this to make Mandy's temper tantrums seem more justified, she's basically the same character she always was. Which makes The entire story literally make no sense, they want to act like "oh my god look how bad of a childhood she has, her mom literally always finds time to be with her, tries every way to make her happy, and always sticks by her no matter what, oh the horror!" Absolutely insane that this even exists.
And Mandy makes fun of her Tamaranian speech patterns, is rude to her guests and completely ignores her mother trying to be a part of her life. There's kids who don't even expect dinner when they get home and have to fend for themselves. This girl looks mad at her mum for being in the house when she gets home with a nice warm meal and something for them to talk about. 😭Starfire is amazing.
What the video doesn't really show/highlight is that part of why Mandy is the way she is is because kids all her life teased her because of who her mom is. They would badger her about not having powers. Even speculate who her dad is. Boys can be seen literally saying "love your mom's tits". Its about being the child of a celebrity basically. The comic shows her decline over time, and her mom doing her best. Its angsty teen stuff. Its not done well, but its not what her mom does, but who she is and the affects it has on Mandy.
pretty sure the theme of this comic was something about being an angsty teen and how hard it is. If anything its more about how you should always be a good parent.
So the main character essentially creates all the problems for herself, blames it on others, and then magically has it all fixed in a matter of a few pages.
average lesbian self insert portraying the creator in their angsty emo goth teen years who hates their parents and hates life and creates a million problems for herseld, ironically theres no lesson or moral in the comic, just "ur life is shit and the only way to fix it is getting super powers lol"
Something that really makes me hate Mandy even more is how she mocks Starfire’s attempts to speak english; As to why? My mother’s first language is spanish; she’s Mexican. There is very roughly a few things she says that is right in terms of grammar when she speaks to me in English. At no point even if we were arguing would I EVER mock her speaking patterns of a wonderful woman who tries her best to speak her way and this goes the other way around too! Mandy is horrible to starfire and she doesn’t deserve anything she gets! 😡
Him being the dad is just impossible without talking about her personnality they're physically so different like dick is 5'10 and star is 6'4 do how could mandy be so short and round
The whole point of the comic seems to be that people would put a lot of expectations on the children of heros. I think there's something in the concept. A lot of the people going like "it's impossible that she'd be starfire's daughter" kinda prove the point
@@goby1764the point of the comic was to shit on “expectations” of society, change nothing about yourself, and win everything you wanted for doing absolutely nothing to self improve.
4:15 this scene is literally the one from Meet the Robinson where the depressed guy is walking through the hallway and two boys ask him to hang out after school and then he says that they all hated him
This is what happens when the "gets bullied/is nice/is rich/half demon/half wolf/god/eyes get red when angry/strong/has many secrets" kid doesn't change.
This isn't the story of a struggling young adult with a superhero parent, it's a story about a middle-aged woman's unresolved mental illnesses and hatred of society. It's also completely impossible that Starfire's daughter would be short, fat, and full of hatred.
@@cranburrey i still cant believe an author who gets paid to make a book just ends up shitting on the DC franchise and still gets paid. ngl it kinda makes the velma show look decent
It is physically impossible for Starfire to have a child to look like that. Mandy should have Tamaranean physiology, since she’s the child of one and we don’t know who the father is. And according to Teen Titans, Starfire has 9 stomachs, which means that it is impossible for Mandy to be heavily overweight. Tamaraneans also can absorb stellar radiation (aka sunlight), which provides them strength, flight and vitality. We’ve seen Mandy with them at the end of the book, but what doesn’t make sense is why Mandy never had them at the beginning of the book. Mandy shouldn’t have had skin issues because the sunlight gives her vitality and would give her smooth and clear skin.
I REALLY think Mandy doesn't deserve the happy ending she got. Thank god this isn't canon. Starfire's one true daughter is Nightstar (Mar'i Grayson) with Dick Grayson. If Mandy WAS their canon daughter I REALLY don't think either of her parents would've let that behavior slide.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm usually desensitized to shit like this in media since I've been exposed to it so much, but Mandy slut-shaming her crush after her she took a selfie with the teen titans actually stunned me. I don't know understand how Mandy is supposed to be anything other the villain if this story; she's absolutely vile to everyone around her for no reason.
This author is just really bad about slut shaming. Mandy does the same thing to her mom even though her superpowers literally come from the Sun and she dresses that way to expose herself to as much sunlight as possible. Also, when the big fight with Blackfire comes around, she’s dressed more revealing than Starfire is, I guess to show that she’s the villain and only the bad guys dress that way. It’s just not cool in any way.
@@one-onessadhalf3393 Yeah, the author has some serious issues with internalized misogyny. I wouldn't be surprised if she was one of those girls who constantly made fun of "fat" girls when she was no Marilyn Monroe herself lol
Most terminally online Leftists are also vile to everyone around them for no reason but see themselves as heroes. It makes sense that that's how they portray themselves in fiction.
How is she more bratty than beast boy? Someone who watched his parents die. Was abused in Foster homes and was kicked out teams for dumb reasons before having his love interests betray him and he's still kinder than her? She literally got mad over a picture of a girl and superheroes!
@@zombietramp666it's one thing to think "they don't understand me" which is pretty common among angsty teens (even a true emo kid hallmark I dare say) and thinking "being understood is bad and overrated".... Where tf do you even get that from? Like what the hell is that point? Writer's train of thought is a roomba.
The punk daughter of Starfire struggling to find her place in the world while living in her mother’s awesome shadow, with Raven being both her fashion icon and mentor could have SLAPPED
Yeah, an actually good writer would have had Raven be one of the two main characters and actually helping to guide Mandy through her sullen teenage years and channel it into something actually useful. Again, that writer would not have been Mariko Tamaki
@@haniasha008 Yeah, but someone was too chicken shit to include any of the Titans, save that one Space battle scene that looked like it actually belonged to a cute little backdrop for your bathtub or bedroom for your 4-year-old who likes DC Heroes I can't even really get mad at the artist, she did her best
Imagine training your entire life and convincing an entire army to follow you to conquering your home planet and dethroning your sister who had more time with her powers to then getting defeated by a trash bag who never trained a day in their life and just randomly got powers
Massive oof, I haven’t really watched an anime that deus ex machina’d that hard, but I heard that they existed. DBZ Gohan’s rage boosts were nice, but they never carried THIS hard! Nowhere near, so much as to finish off the enemy!
In theory the plot could've been good. Having a daughter that doesn't have powers and living in the shadow of her mother etc. But making the character so unlikeable was the death of the book. Like so what if she's bigger and edgier, at least make her have a likeable personality.
Totally this. The problem isn't her being fat and edgy, the problem is that Mandy is an ungrateful brat who cannot appreciate her mother's efforts and spends the whole book acting like a spoiled brat, the author clearly peaked in high school and still in their "i'm not like the other girls leave me aloooone" phrase
It also could have been interesting if Mandy was actually Darkfire’s daughter but abandoned her, and Starfire took her in. Maybe there could have been some kind of disconnect or strangeness in how Starfire interacts with Mandy because the girl reminds her so much of her sister, who has done nothing but abuse, manipulate and torment her. Maybe she could have been afraid Mandy might start exhibiting those traits, which could give Mandy a legitimate reason to dislike her mother, because she can just tell Starfire dislikes something about her that she can’t figure out. And then Darkfire comes back for Mandy, nobody will explain anything, Darkfire reveals she’s really Mandy’s mom, makes this big talk about giving her a grand destiny and being able to outshine Starfire and make her regret ever hating her. And it ends in a big heart to heart to heart wgerw Starfire confesses to Mandy why she always held her at a distance, but apologizing to her and saying she never thought any less of her and always saw her as her own daughter, and was just terrified for her future and if she’d fail her as a mother and lead her to become more like Darkfire.
So lemme get this straight. In this masterpiece of a book, we follow the brattiest teenager you've ever seen throwing hissy fits for 90 pages before she becomes famous and succesful. Incredible, 10/10 would read again.
@@collectorking6204 That's the main thing I hate about this book. I don't have much to say on the fact that she's unfit, or doesn't look like Starfire or any of that. She just gets to sit back and tell everyone in her general vacinity to fuck off and she STILL gets awarded in the end.
@@collectorking6204I feel some satire comedian like John Oliver is gonna make fun of it by writing a book with a terrible protagonist and then making them diverse as an ironic defence against criticism.
@@Alpharelic "John: The Best" a book where John burns down an orphanage and everyone forgives him and if you don't you're racist because he's black and also white people suck
If Mandy is supposed to be part Tamaranian, how _can_ she even get fat? Don’t Tamaranian’s have several stomachs? Making their metabolism on par with a Sayian or greater?
Isnt that the equivelant of mocking the way someone from a different country speaks english? Because that's basically what it is. Starfire was born and raised in another place and spoke another language.
This was so horrible, I was rooting for the heroes to come save the day after Mandy's death. No funeral whatsoever, and for Starfire to mentally recover, not from losing Mandy, for having her as a daughter.
I could see Starfire being lenient with Mandy's body, but Nightwing? He'd make an athlete out of her for sure, if only for when the situation calls for it.
Knowing how great of a mother Starfire is, she wouldn't let Nightwing touch the daughter (I forgot her name 😂). But certainly after she joined the Titans, she would be forced to lose some weight
At least if the joke was that she looks EXACTLY like her mom but without the main abilities of flight, super strength, and starbolts but inherited only the odd ones like self sustenance, durability, healing, and kissing someone to learn a language, and because of that people often mistake her for her mom and call her Starfire junior even though she's actually named Mandy.
I would love that! It could be a nice, lighthearted comedy with a lot of miscommunications and some intense fight scenes. It could have Mandy being attacked by villains who think she’s her mom, and having to evade them using her wits and the useless superpowers she have! Lots of great one-liner opportunities!
You know, when I first started the comic I was like “Okay, she’s a teenager. She’s gonna have tantrums and anger and confusion and be lashing out cause she doesn’t know what’s going on with her body.” But what I was NOT prepared for was for the entirety of her personality to be “Tantrum mode” and “I’m edgy why don’t people like me”. Starfire is trying, she’s being a damn good parent who actually gives a crap about her kid, nasty personality and all. She’s balancing heroics and motherhood and is actually doing a great job at it. Mandy can screw off, Starfire is a great mom.
1 more thing: starfire's powers come from solar energy, hence the skimpy clothes. HOW was Mandy in baggy clothes and armor able to manifest any new powers at all? What a terrible message too. "I hate everyone until they adore me and I'm famous." Narcissistic shit. She clearly doesn't have a problem with fame, or the ending would've been HORRIBLE for her. No, she had a problem with her mother having fame and herself not, despite that she was unremarkable and did nothing to deserve it.
No. Since Mandy grew up around people who could speak English fluently(namely at school), Mandy would be able to also speak English fluently. It’s like when you have an immigrant parent and they have a specific accent but when ur born in the US most of the time u wouldn’t have that accent.
For someone who’s an ally of everything under the sun she sure does have a way of creating something that makes it so hard not to hate on the exact things she so dearly protects.
My guess is that she's not interested in anything but her won well-being. A lot of people that claim to be "allies" or things like that turn out to be narcissists that are looking for gratification and praise.
Meh, that statement is just generalization. Is just the idea as "if you are a while male then you support bullying against minorities" Let's be real and address that some people look for their personal gain regardless of their ideology, political spectrum or just their social security number. At this point, it just seems as if everyone is pushing a narrative. There are also strawmen trans people, for example. And many other things so. Let's just judge her very bad job, not who she is.
I seriously feel so bad for the artist. Their art style is so unique but then it was used it in such a horrendously written story and in turn makes their reputation worst.
That's why some creators end up putting aliases like Alan Smithee on works. They want the paycheck but dont want the turd in a punch bowl that is the end result ruining their reputation.
This art style sucks so how can you not realize it's trash when it's so obvious? It seems good because it's new and unique if this was norm you would agree that it's trash
So let me get this straight, this is just like the Velma show where the auther just inserts herself in the book. Just like Velma but instead of using a existing character she makes one herself. Has friends even tho she sucks as a person and doesnt want to hide it, portrayes her mom as a bad person even if shes caring, effortlessly got a gf, and beat Blackfire with no effort, even tho Blackfire had her powers for a much longer time, is more powerful than StarFire and is a trained warrior. Thats a recipe for disaster
I literally also compared Mandy to Velma. Her cynicism and straight up being a dick to others has no consequences, and when you think they’re about to get any consequences or real character growth, it just doesn’t happen
Honestly, I think that Velma is worse. Neither are good, but if you take a preexisting character and completely change it just so that said character is basically you, it’s worse than just making a new character. Mandy still sucks either way
@@one-onessadhalf3393 i would agree. Atleast Mandy wasnt a existing character. The Velma show literally ruined these already established/loved characters
Why do you think a representation in media important? You can make all white straight Males story yet Likable engaging and most importantly Relatable regardless of race or gender. In my opinion leave politics in politics
am i the only one that thought this? the book itself could actually be redeemable if it was rewritten to be from Starfire's perspective and her daughter was framed as a villain that gets taken out by a worse villain? i mean think about it, the struggle at the end of wanting to love her daughter, but having to acknowledge that her daughter was a horrible person and got killed because she (her daughter) didn't listen to her mother?
I’m with you on the first half, but kids go through rebellious phases. I’d change it so she doesn’t fully understand what she’s gotten herself into, until it’s too late. not full on killed, but a lesson was definitely learned.
I would just completely change the story. I’d make her rebellious but not an ass to everyone around her. I’d also make it so she’d have powers, but those powers are either lesser than stars, or considerably weak compared to the average Tameranian. I’d also just make her a little taller. That had nothing to do with anything but it just bothers me that she didn’t get any of her mothers attributes. So I’d change that.
I thought the idea of a powerless child of a superhero had potential, and would have been better is her daughter didn't gain powers but simply learned to be a hero without them. Like, you know, her dad, Nightwing, does?
What got me upset was when Mandy rejected her mother's help with college applications. As a first gen college student, I wish my parents and guidance counselor had helped me
it would be fine for not wanting to go to college but like...she needs to have something else she wants to do with her life, in the begining when talkking to her friend she says she wants to move to paris......without even learning/knowing french 🤦♀
So lemme get this straight -Caring mother who makes up for an apparently absent father -Still has a friend somehow -Wealthy lifestyle -And her crush just falls into her lap instead of ditching her after she doesn’t even try to talk to her and after she acts like a complete asshole And this character is still an angry troll? Jeez. And it’s not like she has to stay fat, anyone can make the change, so she’s just lazy apparently?
Fat doesn't really work like that, some factors come in bla bla bla... but most of the time you can make the change if you work on it. Still, she's a bitch
ehh not everyone can make the change of losing weight but she doesn't seem to have any external factors (like medicine she has to take that causes her to gain weight, terrible genetics, etc) that would force her to be unable to lose weight but ig you never know for sure
I couldn't imagine being so disconnected from reality that you think your mom caring for you is a problem. This writer has never experienced hardship in their entire life
I paused to read the page abt starfire being there for this chick’s birthdays and her point didn’t make sense? She’s mad bc her mom celebrates her birthdays outside…because the sun is vital to her…so that means that her being outside is selfish? Huh? Am I missing something?
This clearly shows how the writer has never had any sort of real problem in their lifes if they think this is how a "horrible and oppressive teenage life" is
Star Fire is a hero, supporting mother, and giga-chad who managed to give birth to an emo troll-like creature. Not to mention, the teen titans are absolute legends for showing up to Mandy’s birthday after being blatantly insulted repeatedly.
I've never understood this hot new trend of making things more ugly and cynical to prove a point. It's actually kind of gross, especially for a form of fiction meant for minors.
I think if it's stylized well and the character is actually written pretty well, I do like when you've got the "ugly" character. Now, cynical is much more difficult to pull off, but a good backstory usually makes them compelling imo. Mandy has neither of those things and the art is just....too simplified and ugly.
The fact that me, a 13 year old girl, could write a book better than this while the ACTUAL woman who wrote this is an author and made multiple books! Is this satire or something?!
The ONLY explanation as for why Mandy beat Blackfire is because the initial manifestation of her powers is super strong, kinda like an adrenaline boost. Now Mandy knowing how to use her powers perfectly from the start has no explanation whatsoever.
Well you are trying to be rational about it. And in SJW comics that's a big no no. The reason why Mandy beat Blackfire and why she's controlling her powers perfectly is very simple if you are aware of how SJW writers work. Mandy is the author's self insert, she's female, gay and overweight. Because of this she can NEVER fail in ANY way. So she's "perfect". As a result she will always win, be loved by everyone, never be put in a position where she will not come out on top and she will get rewarded no matter if she deserves it or not. That's one of the many reasons SJW books suck.
she's basically just Rey from star wars. Rey was literally at the same level as Luke Skywalker, but she went through no struggle, no learning, no anything. She just happened to be perfect from the start. So if I had a nickel for every time a braindead woman decided to write a terrible character for a franchise that was already good as it was, I'd have two nickels, which isnt a lot but its weird that it happened twice
You could try to use that approach but I would imagine that for someone who is untrained that it would cause her even MORE trouble since her powers would be overwhelming and she would have even less control over them
Tbh there's one thing that I like about this book, the author is absolutely self aware of how much of a piece of shit the mc is, and ironically everyone BESIDES the mc is very likeable. how do you pull that off.
@@collectorking6204 I don't think so. She is fully aware that Mandy is completely unlikable and she purposely wrote her to be that way. There is saying that if you are itching on your seat while watching movie wanting to punch bad guys teeth down his throat- author and actor did exceptional job. Mandy is like this except she s not a villain. The whole book feels like a personal growth/ redemption arc but without any actual growth or redemption. I dunno what she wanted to pull off a deconstruction of a genre or just doing a little trolling but results speaks for itself- i can hardly recall a character so universally hated by everyone which is an achivement of sorts.
@@Steir12 except that doesn't sell, make a parody of a comedy, where there are no jokes, think that would sell? it's not an exceptional job when you make the audience hate the product, one thing is having an asshole character, like Dolores from harry potter, Micah from red dead, Drago from rocky, their purpose is to be either hated or some kind of passive antagonist that progress the story by creating conflict having a trashy creation may mean you broke an achievement, an achievement that no one would be proud of
How to make this story better without changing the core values: 1. Make Starfire a bit worse of a mom, maybe by having her struggle with the balance of superheroing and parenting and not always being able to be a mother to Mandy, explaining why Mandy hates Starfire so much 2. Make Mandy's character actually make sense. She looks *nothing* like Starfire and as other commenters have pointed out, it should be impossible for Mandy to look the way she does. 3. At the end where Mandy gets her powers, make her not very good with her powers and instead needing her moms help to fight blackfire. This moment could be a change in both of these characters and how they're finally able to work together. Starfire can't beat her sister on her own but with her daughter, she might stand a chance (especially with a bit of teamwork plot armor). 4. The resolution of the story could be that Mandy and Starfire now have a better relationship and now that Mandy can join Starfire in being a hero, they get to have those parent child bonding moments. (Kinda like Invincible but the parent isn't a psychopath.)
Just on point 2 generally Nightwing is considered Starfire's boyfriend, so Mandy's black hair and that skin tone instead of looking like Starfire might be possible if he ended up as her father. That said it doesn't seem like it, however, I strongly agree with the other points.
YEAH SEE? Thas what could have happened, if the author wasnt a absolute fucking idiot and actually asked other people with other world views to proof read her pile of shit of a book, but nooooo. We had to have a shitty book about a fat, spoiled lgbtehdhfuf crybaby that hates her awesome mother for.....what reason again?
They could've had her start to lose the fight and have the teen titans jump in, and do some more delicately phrased moral of "being a hero is about doing what's right for everybody, even if the person you're saving's a dick"
I get it. Mandy is all of starfires repressed feelings of trauma and negative emotions she shuts away whilst dealing with evil everyday. And since she's so powerful all of her negative traits literally took physical form and became the most pathetic and detestable creature ever
Yeah, I know this was a self insert, but they really wrote the most bland, annoying teenage girl who has everything but still thinks she's oppressed because she doesn't like that her mom is famous and has superpowers. Starfire isn't just beautiful on the outside, but the inside as well. She's honestly one of the kindest, and compassionate comic characters, and never feels forced or cringey. Mandy is very obviously projecting her disappoinment in not having powers onto everyone else except for Lincoln and Claire. With the way the story ends, I think that's pretty obvious. I haven't read it front to back, but I read the plot in a wiki, and it honestly sounds like something written by an edgy teenager for edgy teenagers and was finished after the edgy teenager had something good happen to them. I'd like to take this moment to ask everyone to go look up nightstar for a better daughter of Starfire and Nightwing.
As a queer person of color (yes i know what this sounds like but trust me) it frustrates me when stories with 'diversity' kinda hammer it in your face that it's 'diverse'... like why can't we have someone who loves pink, is friendly, but just happens to be queer or not white? Promoting stories that portray these people as different or using it as a way to promote personal politics just makes us look like a joke.
I think when media calls attention to and points out these choices it undermines the message, essentially saying it's the exception and not business as usual.
so you are just a queer person. There is no "a normal person" and "not a normal person("a person of color". Everyone has their color, there is no a default color)". You are just a normal queer person
making it relevant is what makes those type of stuff irelevant, john stewart is the black green lantern and hes a very dope character, because they dont even make relevant the fact that hes black, he does outstand without the need of having to say "HEY HES BLACK OMG LOOK AT THIS", John constantine, he is so fucking great as a character, and he's pansexual, its obvious because he fucks every living being, but he doesnt slap it in your face, there is characters that are queer, or of color, just search for yourself.
It’s like I always say, when creating a character race, religion, gender and sexuality should always be secondary. If you can’t describe the character without using any of these you’ve failed. People say “oh it’s progressive it’s progressive.” What’s progressive about boiling down complex issues and complicated people into stereotypes?
As another queer person of color, I concur. I’d also like to add one. I hate when stories or characters try to sell this idea that their the absolute best and anyone who does anything outside what they think is write is horrible. Example? Velma. Especially coming from a feminist perspective. I find that a lot of series and books like this will have a ton of “feminist” or “non racist” banter, and totally turn the tails on it by shut shaming other women, saying they dress for men, or hating on white people or even other people of color. When that is not at all out intent. It sucks cause then people believe this is what these movements are, and their not. They completely shift and change the narrative and it’s frustrating.
This could’ve been a really cute story where Mandy’s LGBTQ struggling to come out to Starfire with Star being fully supportive because newsflash tamaraneans are all about love romantic, platonic, familial, no matter what gender you are so it would be really in character for her to be supported. Like Mandy could’ve easily been on the cover of vogue, like who cares if ur mom is a superhero! Thats cooler! You have so many opportunities and connections that other kids your age don’t have so use it
No it would have been trash because how many times do we have to see that narrative over and over and over and over again about a gay person coming out to their parents? Also Mandy is just a unlikable miserable tw@t. Don't try to defend this crap nothing about this story works.
I still can't get over the fact that the conflict with the girlfriend started because of one dumb selfie. We are in the digital age, social people are going to be taking pictures a lot of the time. I don't like it myself but I deal with it whenever my family or friends want to take a pic or two whenever we hang out. It's not like she gushed over the teen titans the whole time they were together to study and I get that she was probably the type to post that for her friends and family, not for clout. They even revealed that her friends are the ones who made her take that picture which doesn't really make much of a difference, what do you want your girlfriend to just stop taking pics altogether when she's with you? They even made the girlfriend be the one who needed to bend over backwards and come crawling back to Mandy's good graces despite Mandy herself loudly telling her off and shooting her the fingers in a very public place causing quite a scene. Yes, I get that it sucks that a lot of people are coerced to go to college after high school despite not having a clear goal on what they want for the future yet. But to call everyone who wants to go to college sheep and then mock them for wanting to do so is just as bad. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you're going to have to pass a difficult examination and colleges are one of the best ways to prepare for that. This comic is just something else.
I still can't get over the fact that the girlfriend liked her in the first place. Mandy was rude, crass, moody and constantly throwing hissy fits. She did not show any likable qualities and she is not attractive at all.
As Someone who was forced into college when she wasn't ready, I still think her views are annoying. I'm still trying to go to college but when I'm ready and I think I know what I want to do. This doesn't make me a sheeple
The only explanation I can think of is the fact that perhaps she thought her girlfriend was using her to get to her moms superhero friends. However, she acted wildly inappropriately and could’ve just idk talked to her lol
11:27 What the hell is she wearing? Not only does a hoodie with a bra window look stupid, but it's not even the same top she was wearing when she jumped out of her window!
Have yall never seen shrugs?? Theyre not a hoodie with a bra window, its like...an ultra cropped hoodie. The bra and the shrug are separate. Its typically worn with a gym set! ^^
I would also like to add that for all her declarations of homophobia and fat-shaming, she sure did shame Starfire’s wardrobe for being minimalist with coverage. It’s not like she’s crazy indecent, she just doesn’t need to wear Full Coverage, and that’s fine! But oh, because she’s hot and thin, her wearing- what, “a yard of fabric” is an okay thing to shame her for? I feel that is trending towards the idea of slut shaming, simply because she doesn’t fit the social-political narrative that the author has in her mind- and with her clearly internalized biases against feminine (and probably more specifically against straight/cis) women who have their own personal views on their looks that might not ever be extended beyond themselves. It seems to me through this character she judges other people for not conforming to Her Standards, Specifically. Biases towards women who either have a naturally slim or muscular build from having a different body type by nature’s grand design, or women who take care of their health and work hard to stay fit in any capacity. There’s lots of gals who take care of themselves and are on the bigger side for lots of different reasons, and those who do the best they can yet often (because of medical issues like a medication’s side effects or struggles to move around even normally from another health issue) and I think representation with Mandy could have been better with her having a condition like that to more reasonably contrast her with Starfire’s- and perhaps explain sensibly her struggles with Starfire’s shadow/image. Much better than her just Not Giving A Shit and being a nuisance to her classmates in PE and generally just lazy/over indulgent. Mandy struggling with being in someway disabled and having that show so obviously- like, say, anti depressants that make you gain weight, stunted growth from some issue- maybe a result of being a mix of human and alien- maybe totally typical of a different condition- I don’t know. Something! Anything! Instead, it’s just… Mandy doesn’t do shit! And if you call her out on it, you’re a bigot and fat-shamer! But like- please, Mandy is implied to be good and healthy, she COULD run well for all the shit she gets herself into, she COULD train up in some way and still be full in figure if that’s the correct phrasing. She doesn’t really have a good excuse for not being able to jog even a half mile, presumably. Not even a run. The schools try to help people stay healthy alongside the academics for a reason. Fascia issues are a good one! It ain’t all about Being Skinny, it’s also about making sure your body doesn’t atrophy and cause you lots of pain! Anyways- back on my initial point: Why include even a hint of shaming on Starfire’s clothing if she’s so “forward thinking” and “progressive”, right? This thought wouldn’t even have occurred to her if she were genuinely a believer in freedom of self expression, regardless of body type. I think there’s a lot of insecurities there that the author isn’t catching in herself, and fails to actually have her self insert find or make any meaningful efforts to move past them. Mandy would probably see her mom as a good example of a woman wearing what she wants to for herself and her health, and not necessarily for men or anyone else (unless she chooses to make it so, the choice, the power, is always hers!). The author should see it the same way, right? Also, the constant “causes problems from nothing and then runs away from the consequences” thing just KILLS me. It just shows she has absolutely no backbone, no integrity, no respect for her fellows. If she ran away at a pivotal moment, after days, weeks, years, of building internal pressure from staying and dealing with unpleasant, hard things for her to handle, I could understand if even a small, simple thing might just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Or if she always runs away from stupid shit she either starts or gets drawn into, seeing her standing her ground to protect herself for once, or her mother, her love interest, a stranger even! And seeing how terrifying it is to face evil and corruption with power so often and almost not make it out, could make her understand better her mother’s experiences in life. Her rightful fame among the people she protects. How hard it can be to be gentle in a harsh universe, and how Earth, her life with her daughter, is her safe haven. Even through all the struggles of parenting (and teen drama) by her lonesome with a high stakes career. The story could slowly come to a close with Mandy wanting so badly to hug her mom and they can talk about this scary experience, about all the things that have been piling up, about what it takes to take a stand and hold your ground for your life, for what you believe in, for what’s right- or even just because if you don’t, someone will kill you for sure. It could really have meant something by adjusting and tweaking little things here and there, but it just feels so ridiculously self absorbed in the Author’s kind of warped perspective and social-political views that it really doesn’t Go Anywhere except Nowhere. It’s all about Her and her honest incompetence, not teen drama, not super heroes, not family drama, just Mandy’s Drama Over Nothing She Couldn’t Talk About Over Dinner One Night. That was the gist of my frustration, and thoughts, while watching for the second time. Great video!
It's clear that the author has no interest in superheroes or writing a good story. This book could have been interesting. Instead it's just Tamaki writing a fanfiction about herself. She pushes her personal politics at the expense of everything else. An empty virtue signal. It's also very ironic that people like here claim to fight bigotry and intolerance or fight for diversity, inclusivity and acceptance but they turn out to be exactly what they claim to fight against. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. I'm glad you liked the video.
@@TedEhioghae Who says it's not ok? There are multiple male character that have skin tight outfits or are half-naked. Hercules, Hulk, Colossus, He-Man, Conan the Barbarian, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer and The Thing for example.
@@collectorking6204 Imagine the dad was in the picture. The dad wearing only shorts (short shorts at that) and nothing else. Also, was referencing real life situations.
Holy shit that ending. Character treats everyone like a total piece of shit for admiring superheroes, then she just sells out and goes "yeah, I just needed to be a superhero for people to like me." That's some bad light novel level of writing, like bad wish fulfillment isekai garbage. Somehow the character managed to take a step back and become even worse than she started, I don't even understand how that's possible unless it was intentional.
How I'd end it: Starfire and Mandy have their moment. Starfire gets a call. It's the hospital Mandy was born at. A nervous voice on the other line informs Starfire that there was a "mixup" at the hospital. Camera cuts to a dumpy short couple trying to explain to their tall, orange, beautiful daughter with flowing hair why she really shouldn't fly to school.
The wild thing is, my 22 year old sister is turning into Mandy. Shes lashing out at everyone who doesn’t agree with her, running away from responsibility, out of shape and overweight. She has a loving family but she just wants to do whatever she wants, and nothing at the same time. Can’t pay her bills, won’t hold her job. It’s amazing but that’s why family is there, we still love her and help her when we can. Starfire seems like an amazing mom
God putting you on her path to guide her. To at least be nice to others or not making things harder for other people. Either you teach her that or the real world will shock therapy her into realizing it...
As a fat bi woman, this protagonist deserves nothing 😭 her attitude and the way she treats others is so awful and suddenly everything goes right for her? I wish she got some consequences for the way she treats people, even something small like her crush and her friend at the end having some hard feelings against her despite her become a superhero because she's kinda awful towards them, thereby proving that they aren't the shallow superhero chasing fanatics Mandy thought them of being (seriously, what awful assumptions about people who actively care for her)
Jesus died for you. We are wretched, evil, depraved sinners, who deserve nothing but to burn in hell, but God gave us a way out, in his son. Jesus died so we can have eternal life. Repent, before it's too late.
1:30 Even "Teen Titans Go" made Starfire look awesome, and kept her totally in character (which is unusual for TTG). When they visit Tamaran, she talks about how the atmosphere itself has spice-like flakes that weed out the weak, and the entire episode focused on how Starfire's unbridled joy and happiness made her thrive in the warrior and brutal lava climate. For instance, when the Teen Titans was eaten, she tickled Cyborg in order to cause him to lose his built-in cybernetic inhibitions and allow his machinery to smash out of the monster. Frankly, any child of Starfire would have the best mother in the world: she is a loving, whomesome, and faithful friend. Every iteration of her focuses on her kindness and goodwill, her love for everyone, and her boundless optimism. She does not deserve a sad, ugly, miserable child that hates her.
This is just Velma in comic form- Unredeemable pessimistic character who just decides to be overly rude and/or upset about things that really don't matter. This is one of the very few cases where I think that just choosing to be happier would benefit the character's growth because it just seems Mandy is trying to be upset over everything. It just seems like a self insert where the author is trying to justify her own awful character traits and pass off toxic behavior as perfectly fine. If there was some work on Mandy's part to connect with her mom and find a common ground to stand on with her and the other people she pushes away this comic could have been so much better
Starfire being a good mom is probably the best part about this comic, I love my parents they would do this stuff if I was in a bad mood, like coming home after a bad day, and being a teenager it happened a lot lol. But even now with the stress I'm going through my parents are doing their best to help me get through it. Teen titans is my favorite hero team anyways hate how this gives them a bad representation unlike other comics or graphic novels.
There is nothing wrong with being gay or a feminist… but this book is one of the reasons why ppl hate us. They give us a bad image. I promise you… NOT all of us are like this.
I don't think you even have to say that. Not because it's not true. Because you can't realistically lob everyone that's not straight IN THE WORLD in the same group and expect anything except chaos. And these types of movements inevitably attract more extreme people the longer they exist. We are at a point where feminists are wondering how thing went from wanting equal rights to outright hatred of men. And gay men and women getting called transphobic by lgbtq groups for not wanting to date transgender individuals. It's a mess to say the least. So long story short I believe you. On a side not I could not care less how many of the people I know are gay because that's not what I judge them on.
Bro shut the fuck up. You're arguing over pronouns in a youtube comment section when the youtuber themself tried to word things nicely.@@applesforpears6243
@@applesforpears6243he say that because these days some people uses pronouns tend to be extreme activists and these activists really pisess me off because their insane logics
I love how the writer wrote Starfire as a good mother… like it’s a bad thing and the “protagonist” is the “good guy,” but is the most unlikable, non-relatable character in the book. I think the idea would be cool. A daughter overshadowed by her mother and being smothered by the secondhand fame would make a good story; a daughter, taking her mother for granted, even though Starfire is a good mother, the daughter can’t get over being in her mothers shadow, but she gets rebellious and Star doesn’t know why and is genuinely confused, but enters Dick Grayson who knows about poor parenting explains all the things she has that he only wishes Bruce would have done and to cherish. She dismisses him as most teenagers would, but by the end you find out that the reason her powers never manifested was because of her resentment towards her mother and you have a nice mother daughter moment. Blackfire is in there somewhere, she is defeated by the mother/daughter duo and that right there is a better story than this heap of garbage
What you mean Dick Grayson knows about poor parenting?! Batman is always presented as being a good father for him, unless you count the recent comics but by the time Bruce acts like a dick in these Dick is already Nightwing, so it wouldn't be a good example anyway.
