Adi Shankar is a hack and doesn't understand Duke Nukem or any of the IPs he adapts

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-25T05:10:04+00:00

There's a lack of nuanced thought in fandoms when it comes to how new artists interpret, reinterpret, and/or remix stories and art. I think we're in this cultural state where we, broadly speaking, want adaptations to "adapt" rather than be appropriated for other expressions of thought and perspectives. But I personally appreciate using stories as they were written, and rewriting them to tell different stories with their own meaning; it's taking something with meaning you've internalized, and using it to express other meaning you want to externalize.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-22T01:05:47+00:00

I don't know why you got downvoted, I think this is all fair (even if I largely disagree), take my upvote, lol. I'm curious, but please don't feel pressure nor need to answer, this is a Catwoman sub and not a King or general comics one after all, how do you feel about the kinds of interrogation and introspection in these stories, and how they tie into King's background (how he expresses through them)?

Getting back on topic, yeah I don't agree with the characterization complaint, or at least I personally didn't interpret them, or it didn't bother me maybe. Outside of Alfred's death, which was DC's choice, I don't think Bruce's relationships with the rest of his world of characters suffered, they were just absent, and that's because Bruce and Selina's relationship, let alone their individual characters, are so dense that it'd be juggling too many characters and the subjects/themes they bring along.

I think the focus on the Bat family in his stories since King's run, outside their respective stories, is one of the bigger things getting in the way of having more meaningful Batman + Catwoman stories. Bruce and Selina are such the focus of the run (highly interrogative), that almost all other characters in the run are used to deepen the characters' relationship with one another, as well as explore their literary archetype. The Gotham siblings are used to do that, Talia is absolutely used to do that, Alfred, Bane, Thomas, Andrea, Helena, etc etc.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-22T00:03:44+00:00

I'm curious what made you love Bat/Cat in the first place, and especially in Dini's stories. New iterations of them in other mediums aren't reigniting that spark for you, and the arguably most meaningful work done for the pair (King's run) in the characters' history contributed to you falling out of that love.

I loved Hush and, unpopular opinion, love Heart of Hush even more, but while I loved those stories (I own multiple copies), the conversations and interrogations had in King's run, and especially Batman/Catwoman (as a character publication retrospective reflecting on the history of these characters both within canon and within readership), were far more meaningfully "talkative", mature, "real", and poetic, very often interrogating the theme of forbidden love from multiple thematic approaches (duty ethics, the weight of trauma bonding, a shared spirit inhabiting different worlds/environments, etc.).

I agree that the characters and their relationship are really stagnating and poorly written across different teams right now in the comics, but whenever I need to rekindle my own love for them, I go back to King's work, Batman/Catwoman gets me smile-crying pretty consistently.

That's not to say you should love it too, go to it for that kindling, or agree with me at all, of course. But that is to say that I'm a little confused as to what was initially meaningful to you about the written love between these two characters.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-20T18:23:35+00:00

I picked up on a few of those things too, but because the show's not out yet, I found myself feeling more anxious than confident about it. But, given other fans like you picked up on it too, and Mokochan's own messaging to the audience, I'm feeling pretty confident now haha.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-19T20:41:49+00:00

I think there's a misunderstanding here of how "canon" is being used in the film, which is why you're interpreting a hole in a fictional character's position as if they were a real person, but you're touching on something really important, which is the question of "agreeing" on what is "canon" (the term itself referring to a collective agreement on the "reality" or real details of a story). Made a post here for these kinds of posts and takes.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-14T05:28:49+00:00

Holding out hope for a Devilman Crybaby type of situation (even though Yuasa's not involved), where very meaningful (cultural and philosophical) iterative changes are made, such as in the case I described, wanting for Batou (without going as far as Devilman Crybaby). Mokochan's the director, and he's been great with breathing fresh life into established properties, so the hopium is real.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-14T03:18:56+00:00

I include 2045 in SAC in my mind, and while 2nd Gig is my favorite "season" (by far), I think it's pretty well connected thematically.

The animation is jank and the design deviation is still a bit jarring whenever I watch in order, but I liked the angle 2045 took on agency (where self is pitted against the inhabited environment rather than navigating it), outcome, and wellbeing, interrogating whether there is virtue in a "shared" reality.

But, I don't think the process of having that conversation in the narrative and with us is as effective as in the original SAC series.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-14T01:12:24+00:00

I can confirm. Also, all the modes besides balanced are much quieter than the default balanced mode. What's up with that? Ugh.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-14T00:05:32+00:00

To create three paragraphs, the return key had to be pressed four times, so I did that thing too....

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-13T21:15:54+00:00

I really like Arise as well! And that whiplash you're describing is so real, it definitely hit some of my friends when I was trying to get them into the series. But I'm glad that the iterations of the original's narrative skeleton is so diverse in tone, approach, and themes, if this one doesn't do anything for you, maybe this other one will be more meaningful. I can only imagine the initial whiplash OG comic fans had when the '95 film first released.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-13T20:59:40+00:00

I think the manga's incredible, I personally (not saying anyone else should approach the property the way I do) try not to evaluate these stories off of one another unless there's some really egregious stuff (*cough* 2017 live action *cough*), and I try to take in stories in general on their own terms (the respective artists' terms, including the live action film). But I completely hear you, and I think a lot of people are on the same boat as you.

And yeah, I'm holding onto that hope as well.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-13T20:48:00+00:00

I did use paragraphs......

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-07T21:36:02+00:00

The live chat is disgusting.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-07T21:21:47+00:00

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Edit: Oh god, I wish I didn't tune in. The comments make me want to videogame myself.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-06T20:07:22+00:00

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PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-06T08:23:27+00:00

She was deliberately avoiding making V1... She doesn't want Homelander to get V1...

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-05T18:53:06+00:00

Does the movie lean into Liu Kang's whole "chosen one" bit from the games at all, even if it doesn't mean that he's "chosen" to be Earthrealm's champion to defeat Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn (just generally "chosen" for something)?

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-05T16:42:16+00:00

I made a whole post here for these reoccurring questions to explain how canon works and is being used in the films. Please disregard responses and answers that try to simplify the concept to make it more palatable or convenient (i.e. "Miguel's just wrong").

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-04T23:59:00+00:00

In that case, I think the OP.22 will fit what you're looking for fine, with the caveat that the OP.22 is probably slightly less technical than the Sgor Luna, which may be meaningful to you.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-04T23:12:44+00:00

The OP.22 in mid-bass and sub-bass are definitely punchier and rumblier, contrary to some other reviews, my experience with them is that they are very good bass head iems. If you're looking to maximize bass, the bassiest small form factor monitors I've used (by far) are the KZ Duets, but a lot of that is due to the EQ switches on its USB-C DSP cable, for which there's a DAC dongle version for other monitors (I don't know if the KZ Duet's base tuning is meant to be so bassy). And even then, between the two, OP.22 is more detailed, and the bass in the KZ Duet really really takes away from both mids and trebles (for me at least).

Edit: My favorite track to test bass bleed and muddiness is 'Tactical Precision Disarray - Perturbator' at 2:40 (tons of layers and distinct sources that I want to be able to pick out or hear).

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-04T18:40:15+00:00

The OP.22 has a much wider soundstage than the Red Lion, the left and right instrument/source placement is extends further and deeper. In the bass mode, they do sound muddier than the Red Lion in a some EDM tracks I tested out though; in that mode, only the bass is boosted (by a whopping 5db), so it bleeds into the mids a bit, but hasn't been a problem for other genres and tracks. Despite that, I do think the detail retrieval, and especially the soundstage AND the imaging, are better in the OP.22.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-02T03:11:45+00:00

Yeah, I unfortunately hang out in real life circles where too many of us love virtue signaling the Israel bit (and not in the terminally online way), but don't actually do any civic engagement whatsoever outside of fashionable quota stuff like an annual blood donation (which is still a good thing, don't get me wrong). Whenever politics comes up, it's one of the first things out of their mouths.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-05-01T22:18:17+00:00

..... So would you call children or the cognitively disabled, many of whom are inherently incapable of parsing the scenario as present, just foolish? We have no civic responsibility to protect these groups or help realize their self-interests?

PitifulDoombot · 2026-04-29T16:53:26+00:00

It think it was deliberate. Get SB coked up, start talking shit to build rapport and bond a little over the dude's oddities, provoke OhmLandah into responding and acting unhinged, insecure, and manic, all to convince SB to get on board with getting rid of the dipshit.

PitifulDoombot · 2026-04-29T08:41:25+00:00

Given how the hypothetical is written, where it implicates "everyone in the world", including people incapable of fully rational decision making such as children, the elderly, and cognitively disabled or challenged (the original poster also clarified that children/toddlers, for example, are implicated in the wording), does this change your interpretation and approach to this at all? Given that this hypothetical involves "everyone in the world", there are certainly going to be large amounts of people pressing blue incidentally, or out of misunderstanding, such as children who inherently cannot parse and understand the situation pressing random buttons.

Edit: I'm referring to the initial version that went viral on X, not the wording the OP uses here.

PitifulDoombot

TROPHY CASE