#I was going somewhere with this in terms of characterization but I think the real moral of the story is

[caseopened]

I've been thinking about the ways in which we see the trio become protective of one another, and how it fits with their characters so well.

Della can be fiery, both in her movements and with her sharp tongue. She is quick to display visible anger and expressive movements, and even quicker to call someone out for threatening either Paul or Perry. I have always seen her expressions as the embodiment of releasing years of her own (as well as inherited) rage against societal expectations for her (and all women)--- the kind of expectations that demand her to absorb behavior quietly instead of expressing it outwardly. In other words, in a world that demands her to smile and be polite, Della is quick to remind others that she will not go quietly when someone is committing a wrongful attack or accusation. And when it comes to protecting her boys, Della doesn't hold back. It really blends well with the way Della always makes a path for herself as she defines it, and not how others define it.

Paul almost has this lethal calm to him. While Della is full of movement in her protectiveness, Paul becomes a foreboding rock. He will stand up (if not already standing), square his shoulders, and give you a look that could kill, but he will remain resolute and calm throughout. It goes back to Paul being so unflappable, calm, and collected (see here), even in the face of a threat. And while he absolutely can and will disarm someone, Paul only resorts to such defense when the threat becomes physical (i.e. someone lunges at Perry, and Paul throws that person to the ground). Everyone can see that Paul would be a physical threat-- he's a big, strong person!-- but I think the fact that he will just stare you down in this collected way that suggests 'don't you even try' speaks to the detective in him. He sees you-- he's clocking you-- and he's certainly not going to let you get away with threatening or attacking Della or Perry-- but he's putting the ball in your court. If you want to make a move, then he'll be right there, but his stance alone makes people think twice.

You can really see both traits in Della and Paul in the gif below:

Perry is, and always will be, in a position of defense. He is first to physically put himself between Paul or Della and whomever is threatening them. His protection will always be sacrificial, in a way, because it is in his nature to put himself out into the fray for others. He does it every day in court, throwing himself fully (and sometimes at his own expense health-wise) into situations that others might deem hopeless. Why, then, would he not throw himself in front of the two people he loves more than anything, even if it meant putting himself into a precarious position?

Of course, below is a prime example of Perry's physical blocking, but you can also note Paul's reaction here-- he turns resolute.

#&. paul headcanons #&. della headcanons #&. perry headcanons #paul has had enough in that first gif #and you know what? he's had enough in the second gif too! #I was going somewhere with this in terms of characterization but I think the real moral of the story is #if you try going after one of the trio... you're going to have to face the other two #paul drake #della street #perry mason

[spiderpussinc]

are the 2099 comics THAT bad in terms of racism plus other weird writing choices??? i'm starved for miguel content and would like to read the original comic run but i keep seeing the debate of the original comics being problematic and/or downright just BAD bad (not to mention miguel is supposed to have mexican heritage but he's straight up a white redhead lol)

Some people may disagree but speaking as a latinx writer; it's bad because it is racist, yes! On multiple fronts!! And beyond that, it's also bad as a complete failure of comics structure and compelling narrative.

Longpost, on readmore;

I say this as a long-time capeshit reader, as politely as possible: Miguel's comics are a *paycheck* book. As in; a series a writer does monthly to be paid for it, but with middling aspirations and downright negative characterization depending on where their mood is.

The first few issues of his 1992 run are relatively complete and well-balanced, may even trick you into thinking this story is going somewhere; but that's only because they're the /character pitch./ Ill skip to the end and tell you upfront. That 1992 series ends with the implosion of the whole "2099" line of comics (an universe that included other books, like ghost rider, doom, etc, by other writers) due to dwindling public interest and mass cancellations. The end of that run is basically meaningless, since the whole thing got retconned - and even before that a guest writer had came in and made mistaken character reveals pdavid wasnt happy with and wanted to erase before the finale. The event book that wrapped up that universe was unironically, literally called -- "2099: Manifest Destiny."

Now, I don't like Peter David's writing. I think he's obsessed with the idea of building harems out of his female characters (when he's not fridging them, or making them act ~crazy~ to further alienate them from the protagonist) and it is the kind of grueling, joyless reading experience I can only describe as making you feel Oily Inside. This goes as far as multiple stalking plotlines, the inclusion of a guest appearance from AU s/x slaver Hulk in later years, Miguel's mother being strongly implied to have been forced into conceiving him by his real dad who's the evil CEO of alchemax, general torture painporn. His broader supporting cast is so interchangeable and disposable that they were literally disposed of.

In terms of the racism; I have mentioned how he uses cultures as tokens and does 0 research whatsoever. The way it feels and the way it is deployed is through a lens of Exoticism - tourism. Miguels suit is allegedly "a dia de los muertos costume" b/c pdavid seems to think that holiday is mexican halloween. In the orig book, you'll see plenty of broken japanese and stereotypical orientalist caricatures - after killing his first love interest, pdavid introduces a japanese girl who is unironically, literally named "Xina" (that pretends to be chinese on occasion) to fill in the vacant role. Miguel himself falls right into all the usual latino stereotypes — short tempered, drug addict, sex magnet "latin lover" (this last one also applied to his brother Gabriel, who for the longest time is characterized by just Going Through A Lot Of Girlfriends). And it's kind of insane bc he's still being drawn as a deeply deeply white man, but not even that takes off the burden of the racial microagressions!!! They're the only times pdavid seems to remember that heritage! Then there's the commemorative hanging page. Since you mention the redheadedness; thats another insane thing to me. He has 0% of irish in him. His dad is Blond. Who is this man?

Most of the info in the 2099 run is either revealed to be a lie midway thru (miguel is not mr o'hara's son, nor addicted to rapture) or completely retconned away to be rewritten in new runs. Different writers have tried to come in and do miguel in other team/event books but frankly nothing stands out and most of them get marked as alternate-miguels. Unfortunately, every time marvel decided to give another shot at spider-man 2099 they also brought pdavid back. The newer books were never a success, and theyre just as filled w/ the garbage i mentioned earlier (wow! Steampunk spider-woman is given to pdavid for *ONE* issue and instantly tonguekisses gabriel before leaving, so novel. More fridging ensues. Stalking. Etc.) 2099 as an *universe* has been retconned so many times Nothing is consistent and Nothing is set on stone and frankly i think they should make it an AU separate from main canon and build a whole new world already.

The art in the 2015 + runs consists mostly of tracing, and more of that oily weird feeling applied to fem chars. Perhaps you have noticed in this entire hate review have never once spoken about Miguel's heroic plots and memorable villains --- he has none. At least nothing I can remember or distinguish. (Interchangeable, disposable, etc) There is a vague inkling of "this is an anti-stabilishment spiderman, he fights against The Public Eye, the Corporation Cops!" at the start but much like his cultural illiteracy pdavid has no real insightful politics commentary, so that dissolves into the background in time. Its all buzzwords. All of his plotlines are solved in circuitous or soap operaish extradrama ways; and while some of this is present in other superhero comics, what stands out to me MOST is how utterly fucking joyless Miguel's comics are. It's like going through a slog on obligation. They genuinely gave me a headache every time.

ATSV does a great job of reinventing Miguel and rebuilding the parts of him that showed real promise. Being a different tone-swapped spiderman, futuristic, being more on the tech-science side of crime fighting. Him being a single dad with a daughter is also new. (And he is single! There is no singular mention of marriage or a wife anywhere, he's a geneticist, multiple spider-men we see in this movie were literal clones made in tubes - i am fond of the idea he's a transmasc dad but even if you think he's cis he could have made that baby himself. Adoption is also always there.) I think its very clear ATSV didn't want to bring any of pdavids major weird shit w fem chars to the big screen on the hopes that miguel gets rebooted eventually. I think he's gay. Nobody can prove me wrong.

On that note, Steve Orlando (queer writer, also wrote for DC's midnighter/apollo) did some of the latest 2022/2023 Miguel miniseries. Another reboot! Those were "2099: Exodus" and "Spider-man 2099: Dark Genesis" - i think its campier/trying to tackle superhero plots more head on and trying to do something wide wacky cast focused at Marvel's personal request, but Miguel's future is very up in the air rn. I do really hope they reboot him into something closer to ATSV with latines at the center soon.

What I always reccomend for people curious abt miguel: read his first 3ish 1992 issues, get a general feel and close the book as soon as you feel annoyed. It won't get better. Remember none of it is canon nor has been relevant in over two decades. If you want to know the wider context of his messy chronology, check out some of the 2099 "all comics" type of youtube videos, theres some pretty easy to digest summarizations if u dont wanna waste ur time reading stuff that just got retconned again lol. Most writers now are operating on vibes and that is a freedom you should also allow yourself in your own fanwork.

Putting his panels out of context can be very funny though. (For further curiosity or tangents, there's always my meta tag)

#meta tag #asks #miguel o'hara #miguel ohara #spiderman 2099 #spiderverse #spider man: across the spider verse #atsv #my spider stuff #atsv miguel #miguel atsv #marvel comics #spiderman #itsv #2099

[gnomeniche]

i'm thinking so hard about the dhmis trio's characterizations and how interesting i find all of them. let's start by framing this discussion with a quote from this interview

i want to talk about them in terms of their surface levels and their hidden depths. you can see the roles that they're supposed to play on the in-universe "show world", but then you dig deeper and you find something more real.

...

yellow? plays the role of the innocently stupid one who's always the butt of the joke and can't see that his friends are jerks.

but we find out that he's the one with the most awareness of their situation and that his knowledge was literally taken from him. and he knows full well that his friends are jerks! throughout the show that is made clear. and even after he's functioning at full power and he admits that he thinks his friends are trying to control him, he still loves them enough to bring the book back to them so that they can all escape. he's shown to be genuinely kind, not just unwittingly innocent. and even when he's at low power he displays some memory of their situation, but he just can't express it.

red? plays the role of the chill and laid-back one who's always handy with a sarcastic comment and doesn't care very much.

but we find that he cares quite a bit about many things. he seems to have a rather sensitive heart, is prone to existential dread, and is distressed by the nonsense of their world. he wants so strongly; he wants something better, something more gentle and more sincere and more real than all this. he wants to feel comfortable somewhere but can't quite find that in either this life or any other. he's curious and imaginative but repressing it due to arbitrary standards, whether it's by the show world's rules or social rules (original 6's "real world" and new 3's illusion of a family).

duck? plays the role of the the high-strung, fussy one with an overinflated ego, dramatic emotions, and a sharp tongue.

but we see that, even if he can be cruel, he finds comfort in being with his friends and loves their daily life together. he sees them as a family! he can't just be by himself, and he genuinely doesn't want them to be separated. and pedantic as he is, he seems blind to the inconsistent nature of their reality. it's only when the status quo of their daily life is disrupted that he really freaks out, like when yellow goes off-script in 6 or when red disappears in the original series' 5. but this also makes him grounded in who he is; he just does not assimilate into new roles as well as the other two, and as dramatic as he is, he's often the most stable.

...

and it's their inner traits that lead to their downfalls, when they do occur. yellow's love leads him to go back downstairs and lose his memory over and over and over again. red's curiosity for more strands him outside of his world with no way back in besides intervention from a higher level, in both the original and new series. duck's stability makes him unable to deal with some lessons and thus liable to be violently removed or changed (perhaps this is why he seems to be so often replaced?), in both the original and new series.

and they all have their deeper personalities masked by the roles they must play in this tv-show-world. yellow's is most easy to see, because he is literally forced to lose all memory and return to his role as lovable idiot, but the abrupt shift in demeanor that red and duck experienced in 6 when a ray of stage light came back into the dark is also notable, as was red's sudden reset from desperate in 5 to apathetic in 6, right after the group came too close to knowing what was going on.

and on a level wider than the individual characters... you can see it with the undercutting of any almost-sincere moments by gags. you can see it in how full of holes their memories are. there are moments where their selves beneath the roles shine through anyway, but the status quo is always god. nobody can grow or change or be anything other than what they are supposed to be. and that's the tragedy of it

#dhmis #dhmis red guy #dhmis yellow guy #dhmis duck #dhmis theory #not really this is more of a character analysis. but #it's 'dhmis is a tragedy' hours with am #am.txt #dhmis analysis

[icarusbetide]

why it's okay that hamilton the musical is terribly inaccurate

i'm feverish so none of this will make any sense, but i wanted to get it down somewhere before i lose all train of thought. a lot of hamilton the musical's discrepancies with the historical record make sense if you remind yourself that it's inherently meta. it's equally about our perception of these figures and their legacies than the figures themselves. not sure how much of that is deliberate - i would argue a fair amount, since the play is literally haunted by history. "history has its eyes on you", "history obliterates", "who lives who dies who tells your story". and that's going to bleed into their musical characterization and relationships. the musical exaggerates and caricatures them, and is self-aware of its tamperings. the way burr as a narrator expresses the same frustrations we feel, not being in the room where it happened. how it puts words into eliza's mouth and speculates that she burned the letters because of the reynolds pamphlet, and she wanted to keep it from us.

alexander hamilton was not jumpy, awkward, and incredibly abrasive in real life. he was all accounts charming, and apparently even aloof in certain situations. but his writing was aggressive, heavy-handed. we all know when that led to disaster. his written work aka his largest legacy informs the character we see.

same thing with burr. it's really funny because musical burr is so shy and quiet compared to his real-life counterpart who was charming, popular with the ladies, and very hilariously unhinged. but it makes sense. because when we think of burr, we think of a guy who doesn't believe in anything, who quietly slipped through the political parties, etc. and that's the personality he carries.

and that's why washington plays a different role in hamilton compared to washington in turn. we aren't supposed to get close to him, seeing his temper or his flaws. washington in the musical is always above everyone else, spectating. he's even in the background of "my shot", watching hamilton contemplatively before nodding and slipping away. obviously he wouldn't have been aware of hamilton during the new york pamphlet era; most likely he wasn't serving as a father figure during hamilton's wedding, fixing his collar. but historically, washington's quiet support did allow hamilton to move forward with his political goals - in the musical that bleeds into their personal relationship and physical staging. he's often looming over hamilton in some way. i'd even say that some people very convincely argue that in hamilton's perspective, washington is the most important person in the musical. he's the person hamilton is most often watching. and washington probably was the most important relationship hamilton cultivated.

probably the most egregious example would be jefferson, whose shy personality is not explored at all in the musical. but the cock-fighting, taunting, flamboyant jefferson next to hamilton on stage? that's their political, newspaper rivalry for sure. they have to be seen as equals, and in a musical format, that means jefferson needs to be hamilton's equal in rapping, fighting.

i mean, the entire plot follows the relationship of alexander and aaron burr over the years in a parallel doom situation. it's probably wildly inaccurate! burr wasn't hamilton's first friend, and though they did work together and were apparently on good terms for some time, i doubt burr lived his life obsessively following hamilton's career. but our understanding and speculation on their relationship is heavily influenced by their end - and so the musical versions of the characters seem pre-ordained to reach weehawken. burr has to be in hamilton's shadow, burr has to believe in hamilton's greatness more faithfully than any other character; their fates have to be tied together, because they are tied together in death. you'll never be able to separate alexander hamilton from aaron burr.

and musical burr knows that. he knows history obliterates, and the picture it will paint. hamilton's so much a play about how we try to rationalize/dig into these human people that we unfortunately will never really know. i still think there are flaws that weren't deliberate, but that's another story.

i'll probably elaborate/edit this later. it's already a shitton of run-on sentences lmaoo.

#amrev #hamilton #hamilton the musical #meta analysis

[rollercoasterwords]

why are you invalidating people’s real concerns in this fandom? you’re naive if you think that “the fandom” doesn’t have opinions they all agree with that become popular. sure people have their own opinions, but honestly that’s very rare and not seen. you and i both could list popular headcanons in the fandom that people mostly take as canon. remus and sirius have turned into a straight couple, especially with the headcanon that sirius is now a girl. as a woman myself i love sirius as a girl but i hate how the fandom treats feminine sirius. sirius doesn’t have any depth anymore besides being remus’ love interest and sirius is always in the wrong and sirius is always the bad guy - just like society always blames women for everything and men always get a pass. literally look at the fanart. remus’ disabilities have been completely erased. remus is drawn as this huge super manly guy towering over little dainty feminine sirius. in fanfics remus is verbally abusive to sirius bc oh he’s a man and has anger issues. remus is a slut who everyone was in love with but eventually settles down with sirius. these are all stereotypes. idk why you’re trying to tell people this isn’t a thing in the fandom when it literally is.

assuming this is about the two anons i responded to two days ago, one of which was saying they did not like my particular characterization of r+s in a fic and asking me to rewrite it and the other of which was responding to it. both of my responses were focused around saying that my characterization didn't even fit the dynamic being complained about and saying the terms in which that complaint was being stated were odd in the first place (assuming one character being shorter than another automatically makes them feminine, calling a gay relationship heteronormative, asking to making a non-canon-compliant fic more canon compliant, etc). if someone has a real concern with my specific fic that is not premised in gender essentialism then i have yet to hear it; otherwise, i'm not sure how you want me to "validate" that concern unless you are also asking me to rewrite my fic. in which case, the answer is still no lol

and i genuinely do not think "the fandom" is monolith in which everyone agrees on everything; calling me naive is not going to change my mind. i agree that there are popular hcs, sure, but even those are not monolithic in their application and can be filtered and avoided--i know this because there are many popular hcs that i filter and avoid to the point that they are virtually nonexistent in my fandom space. i suggest others do the same with hcs they dislike because i genuinely think that's the best way to approach fandom: curate your space for your own peace of mind.

your experiences with fandom are not singular and are not representative of everyone's. from where i'm sitting, writing sirius as a girl is not a super popular hc--i've seen the hc from time to time, but overwhelmingly i've seen it in the context of r/s femslash, not people writing them as a straight couple. and even then, i still mostly see r/s written as gay men in the vast majority of fics i read and like...posts the people i follow make on tumblr.com. i don't use other platforms to interact w marauders content nor do i stray outside my small circle of mutuals' posts, so if this is some mega-popular hc elsewhere i am simply unaware. from the actual fics posted on ao3, though, gay r/s still seems to be dominating the wolfstar fandom. and to then say that sirius has no personality past being a love interest and always being blamed for everything--again, this is genuinely not something i see. i have never read a fic where sirius is a one dimensional love interest or where it's just sirius-bashing; i'm sure they exist out there somewhere, but i have not found them to make up a majority. maybe i've gotten lucky and miraculously managed to avoid the numerous fanfics where sirius is this caricature you're describing, but personally i think it's more likely that this is an extreme representation of the way people write the character. if you'd like to send me some of the many fics where this is happening to illustrate what you mean, though, feel free.

remus's canonical disability is lycanthropy. that has not been erased in any of the fics i've read that are set in the magical universe. in every non-magical au i've read, he has been written as a disabled character as well. there are plenty of people in this fandom who are not erasing disability as an aspect of his character. if you're not able to find those fics i would be happy to recommend some, and i'm sure others would as well.

i have not seen the fanart you're referring to where remus is drawn as a super manly guy towering over dainty feminine sirius. i'm sure it exists out there, but most of the fanart i personally see doesn't portray them that way--it is definitely not the only way these characters are drawn.

none of the fanfics i've read have had anything that i would characterize as verbal abuse between remus and sirius. nor have they had remus as "a slut," (not crazy about your tone here, tbh) though he is sexually active in some fics i've read with people other than sirius. personally i don't mind characterizations where the two have had or do have sex with other people before getting together. in fact, i prefer it to fics where they only ever sleep with each other, as it more accurately reflects my own experiences w the world (ie, most people are not virgins until "settling down" with one person etc).

all of the things you're describing here can be stereotypes, sure. but i personally have not seen an overwhelming number of fics characterizing r + s this way. i'm not saying it doesn't exist; i'm saying that i have curated my own space to avoid any such one-dimensional portrayals and encouraging others to do the same, because there are tons of people who are not writing the characters this way. "the fandom" is not a monolith, and if you feel like there are certain hcs that are super popular it's possible you've become stuck in a feedback loop where you're seeing them over and over again when in other parts of the fandom they are virtually nonexistent (case in point: i was blissfully unaware of all of this discourse until i started getting these asks). personally, i find it more useful to just block and unfollow people who are posting stuff i don't like, because i don't really see a way to try and police what people are or aren't allowed to write about when it comes to gender in fanfic that doesn't eventually devolve back into gender essentialism. if the concern is that you're noticing what appears to be a certain standard of femininity or masculinity elevated over others, then i personally find it more helpful to have conversations breaking down gender roles + gender essentialism more broadly (as opposed to sending people anonymous messages about how everyone is writing sirius too feminine and remus too masculine), which is something i already do pretty frequently on my blog.

this is the only ask about this whole discourse i'm going to answer; any complaints that "the fandom" as a whole is doing something are not something i'm interested in entertaining because the fandom isn't a monolith and 90% of the time the complaint in question is not even something i'm seeing based on how i've curated my space. i really don't know what to tell you beyond that--if there are things bothering you about what you're seeing in your fandom spaces, coming into my askbox is not going to fix it and will most likely just end with me blocking you, because i have better things to do with my time than deal with other people's discourse.

#ask

[gkt-tummyaches]

you said in that bratubbles ask that you could go more in depth into ur bubbles characterization, it would be cool if u did!!

bubbles is a bit of a social chameleon. being somewhat of a public figure makes meaningful friendships difficult to achieve, and her love-life complicated.

i think as she gets older she tries to be a friend of the world, so to speak ? but isn't really fulfilled by only having acquaintances like boomer is, and strives for a deeper connection with so many different people that it eventually spirals into people-pleasing.

pleasing people means acting a certain way, conforming to a certain code-switch, and if you do it as intensely and wholeheartedly as bubbles does, it can mean changing who you are fundamentally. as she grows, so does the number of masks she wears for different people. along the way, she sort of forgets who she was or who she wanted to be; completely absorbed in being what everybody else wants - or what she thinks they want.

the unfortunate reality is that you can't be friends with everybody. it's not something bubbles really learned because of how outgoing she was as a child; people who didn't get along with her were either 'evil' or monsters, and it created a super black and white worldview until she was exposed to the gray areas in middle school.

and,, middle school is middle school. she probably had a couple people comment on how unerringly optimistic and forcefully positive she was all the time, eventually internalized the above message into more of a 'if people don't like me, there's something wrong with me' mentality. it's middle school. it's the start of teen hormones and feeling like a fraud and hating yourself, it happens - except most of us have a decent support to maybe grow out of it, or some other way of coming to terms with who we are.

bubbles is a literal superhero. she is famous, along with her sisters. from a young age she has been held to a much higher standard than other kids her age (in some parts, rightfully so. in other parts, not so much.) a lot of what she says is aired on tv, quoted in the local paper; as technology grows with the generation, she's viral on social media and clips of her circle faster than she can break a sound barrier.

it's very isolative. people only like her if she's bubbles: the joy and the laughter, and when that falls out of style, she's then criticized for being exactly who the crowd wanted her to be.

so she starts changing. and changing. and changing. until she's graduated high school and entering college with no idea of her place in the world, her social standing, whether people even know the real her - or if, in the mind of every person she's ever spoken to, she is some different, distorted version of herself. like looking into a shattered mirror.

her sisters,,, grew up, lived their lives, matured. blossom and buttercup have - in bubbles' eyes - known who they were and stood firmly in those beliefs. buttercup is unapologetic, blossom is unwavering; they don't fold under the pressure of strangers, and their title as superheroines or the weight of responsibility has never appeared to weigh them down.

and somewhere along the way, bubbles became a stranger to them. it's a little frustrating to think that her own sisters only remember her in the image of their childhood, but more than anything she's almost guilty that she drifted so far from them for it to happen.

there's a lot of things about interpersonal connections that bubbles tends to fixate over. the obvious is being friends with everybody; it's a very idealized, one-dimensional goal to have, but it stems from a place of wanting to belong, to have a place in the world - and moreover, for that sense of belonging to not relate to her status as more than a regular citizen.

this view definitely carries into her stance of romantic relationships too. especially with the burst in 'red flags' and 'green flags', the 'normalize x', and various other trends on social media that expose the difficulties in relationships, set certain standards of what an 'ideal' relationship looks like, and essentially make being content with what you have impossible. bubbles is connected to the world through media. this is what she knows best.

on paper, her wants aren't that extreme. as i stated in the bratubbles post:

"whereas bubbles is a very social character. goes through a dozen different phases on her opinions about the dating world, but ultimately is after the 'perfect match' - somebody devoted, open to negotiation and communication, with a healthy balance of social/love life. it's not a big ask, but for somebody like brat it very much is. (especially with the hidden caveat that bubbles, in practice, tends to want a liiiittle more than the average person can afford to give her."

it sounds simple enough. just a nice partner who cares about her enough to be honest and loyal, open to discussion, who doesn't cage her but doesn't neglect her. something just right !

the caveat is that bubbles doesn't know how to actually get that, or even really know what that looks like. she doesn't know what she looks like, doesn't know how to envision her wants and desires. does she have a type ? boy ? girl ? other ? for all she knows, she could just be looking for a pet rabbit.

factor in that bubbles isn't really sure what her core identity is anymore, and you get a long line of dysfunctional relationships that didn't work out because, more than anything, bubbles just wanted a lot more than what's written down in her hinge bio.

you get somebody who presents herself in several different personas like she's playing a character; there's no authenticity to her at all. she's playing into what she thinks her partner wants, and it worked once or twice, until it stopped being enough.

she could've had some really solid partners in the past. the ones that want to know her beneath the joy and the laughter, who want to share her troubles. and bubbles just… can't do it. can't break the wall down. the relationship gets stale, doesn't work out; she wants, but doesn't give anything in return - the relationship becomes unfair. usually the partner leaves.

other cases have simply been that she doesn't like who she pretends to be for some of her 'matches'. bubbles may not know who she is, but she knows who she isn't. some things simply cross a line and she's the one to break things off.

it's almost like she's never satisfied. the proper thing to do would be to stop spree-dating and do some soul-searching. figure out who she is. what she wants. be a little honest with herself. but she won't, because that means being alone; bubbles is already so alone, in a sea of people with only fake, meaningless pleasantries being all she has to show for her efforts.

instead, she dives into relationships head-first with several different methods of approach at the ready to win over her next match. rinse and repeat.

separate from that, i think bubbles does have a lot of moments where she's showing her true self. for example, the constant carousel of hobbies and interests she picks up are entirely her; there are so many things she wants to do, learn, create - simply for the sake of doing it. for being happy.

her sense of fashion is godawful. when she walks around in the ugliest, gaudiest, most feathery and sequined outfit you can imagine ? bubbles at her most comfortable. she definitely kind of takes on homemade fashion as a hobby and an artistic way to experiment, find her niche, express herself in ways that she struggles to do with words.

when bubbles is dressed in something reasonable, or something actually fashionable/stylish, it's usually something she's thrown on to fit in.

a lot of her other habits are like that, too. even tho her ingredient is sugar, she's not very fond of desserts. bubbles is a fan of spicey, savory foods, and drinks with rich, herbal notes to them (ie; certain teas, or herbal smoothies.)

she tends to accept sweets and other treats people give her because it's what they expect her to like. it's rude to waste food, and it's usually well-meaning. and if it's particularly sickly, sharing is always caring !

if she just took a second to evaluate i think she'd find that there's a lot from her childhood that didn't carry into adolescence/adulthood. but she won't, either out of fear of what she'll find, or fear of what's changed. fear of what's become unrecognizable.

// i do think bubbles understand that there's something wrong with this way of living, deep down. she can't continue to live off of the scraps of dopamine that she wrings out of every social interaction. it's not fair to her, it's not fair to the people she 'dates' - essentially uses them to make herself happy, and when it fails, she just drops them. it's not fair to her sisters. nobody said growing up is easy. out of all 9 characters, i think the change and the growth is something that hits bubbles the hardest. second maybe to berserk depending on how you look at it. being young and whimsical creates a narrative of naivete that colors the world a specific way that usually has no room for adjustment. there was no preparation. just,, one day she learned that being 'hardcore' isn't all about being violent - one day she learned that kindness eventually runs out. each life lesson just hit her over and over until she simply stopped 'being there' to be 'hit' - stopped being herself, started being the change, so that she never got comfortable and mourned what she might lose. it's a way to protect herself, but it doesn't mean it's healthy. having intense empathy as a child can sometimes be the worst gift the world gives you. she hasn't quite figured out how to use that gift productively in this new, modern environment she lives in.

🤔 just to point out this is all also in continuity with the hc timeline/general universe i have, so it's a little extra headcanon-heavy than what a generic answer might have been. hopefully it still works out !

#powerpuff girls #powerpuff bubbles #bubbles #headcanons #hc #ask #she's my least favorite tbh #and yet i have so much to say #character intro

[jellojolteon]

Thoughts on ml movie below the cut (not really looking for any response, just to drop my thoughts somewhere, but y'know standard spoiler warning too)

Really mixed bag? Like genuinely and truly. There were parts of it that made me laugh! The humor was genuinely fun and I loved the use of cuts! There were parts that were really great! And the visuals are unquestionably stunning.

I'll abstain from an opinion on the musical numbers since that isn't really my cup of tea and I can't judge em

And I'm willing to let rest that this is a retelling, and it's a cool take on the story in terms of what got brought back (mime guy from the pv??? Amazing so glad that got given a proper use) and even the characterizations are fine in my book, especially given limited runtime.

But I think that this movie (and this seems like a common problem in the show too, at least to the point through s3 where I had stopped watching) (and the marketing too tbh) is that it tries to do too much with too little substance. It spreads itself too thin. What even IS the theme here? Is it the love over death thing? Is it self-acceptance? So much was stuffed in that it was all tell and almost no show.

It pays lip service to the original idea of trying to put another Real Girl Superhero into the spotlight and simply by virtue of the mechanism that the agreste family plays in the story, aka them as the driving force of the plot, it's hard to handle it and have Marinette still be clearly the main character. In retrospect, there's almost a bitter irony to Adrien cockily proclaiming that he's the main hero and Marinette is the sidekick. I think if Marinette had really had her growth focused clearly in one direction it wouldn't have been so bad, but the multiple themes really eat away at forming a cohesive picture about her and her growth and cementing for the audience that she's the star. I guess the "she-hero" bit just bugs me an exceeding amount.

As a result of the allotment of character complexity, it almost feels like Gabriel is the most compelling character, even though he's still sort of flattened into a two-dimensional version of himself. He's an asshole to Adrien at the beginning, like pretty blatantly, and then explains away everything at the end and boosh suddenly everything is ok. I didn't even pick up that he had any sort of atonement or one-on-one time with the French judicial system, outside of the implication of him going to jail by trusting Nathalie with the secret of Emilie. So like. I guess the things that make Gabriel most compelling are his longer hair when he was younger and his absolute scuzzy gutter dad look lmfao.

(side note, part of me lived in fear of being spoiled of the parts of the show I haven't watched, but I guess if there were such spoilers I missed em. It just surprised me that they were willing to play their hand on Gabriel=Hawkmoth with so little fanfare, but then again maybe I shouldn't be asking so much when it was already all spread so thin)

So like

Yeah

It didn't necessarily have me staring raptly at the screen, but most of my gripes are of the same flavor that I have for the show anyway.

There were much worse uses of my afternoon 😂

#i think nino and alya and sabrina get the best shake outta this one #ml movie spoilers #ml #ml salt #(just in case!) #jello's word vomit #(maybe i shoulda dropped like 20 tags in to get this out of the search function) #(i really just want blog categorization) #please ignore this im sure my media literacy is so rusty it needs to be sandblasted

[tanoraqui]

Your what if fics are so so good. I reread them often. I love the entire worlds you make out of a question

-@outofangband

Thank you! I love For Want Of A Nail AUs so much, ie, change one thing and see what spirals out. They’re such a good time for exploring the consequences in a story, the what-leads-to-what, and for examining the characters—what about them is fundamental to the character, and what is shaped by circumstance? What is part of them as characterization, and what is part of them as narrative function? What plot points will they always do because of who they are as a (fictional) person; what will they always do—or not do, in an au!—because to not do so would be to completely change their narrative/thematic place? What major plot points must happen, but it would ring differently if a different character did them? How would a certain plot point not happening change the events and the themes of the story? 

Eventually you start to realize that every story is an elaborately branching tree starting from the first words, potential paths of divergence in every character, every choice, every scene…and it’s so fun to explore what’s down a different path!

Also, when writing them out, I’m always picking and choosing the most interesting paths—which is a good writing technique in general. For instance, in last night’s oh-god-I-accidentally-wrote-4k Fëanor-Fingolfin Mom/Birth Order Swap…a small example is I faced the choice of, which son of Fëanor Curufinwë should Finrod be assigned Best Friends From Birth? (Taking “Finrod gets a parentally-assigned Best Friend From Birth as a staple of any timeline, not bc it’s thematic so much as bc it’s fun, but adjusting to the fact that Fëanor and Finarfin are the full-brothers in this au, and Fingolfin is Miriel’s son who hates the existence of all his half-siblings). By my personal timeline of Finwëan births, moving the House of Fëanor forward to start at Fingolfin’s birth but leaving Finarfin as-if puts Finrod between Celegorm and Caranthir, so those were my choices. Celegorm would make fun (painful) cross-timeline echoes of What Could Have Been re: What Happened In Nargothrond, and potential future-in-this-au interesting divergence or even greater betrayal…but, especially with the limited timeframe I was writing, I decided that was less good than the raw humor of the grumpiest and friendliest Finwëans being best friends. So, Caranthir is it!

(Also, obligatory reminder that Caranthir was diplomatically skilled enough to have a thriving, very profitable trade network, and the real result of a Caranthir-Finrod friendship would be a friendly, all-consuming trade empire spanning continents.)

A more notable choice, for The Argument: I actually do lean toward the position that it’s a fundamental part of Fëanor’s characterization that he’d be the one to say, “fuck this, let’s go somewhere else!” Plus I’ve established Arakáno as so firmly settled in Tirion…but that’s why I chose to flip it, because, frankly, if Curufinwë son of Indis started agitating to leave Aman, sure there’d be a fight, but I think ultimately it’d shake out to Arakáno son of Miriel being like, “Great! Good riddance! Here’s your stuff, here’s your boats I negotiated Olwë—look, Father, I’m helping. Have fun in Middle Earth! Never come back!” Not many people would go with him, even for the Silmarils, and Melkor would have them ambushed and the gems stolen the second they set foot in Beleriand, and it just wouldn’t be as interesting a story.

…Or maybe there is potential there! But the other chief problem is: the Story has then moved to Beleriand and Arakáno himself is no longer in it, and THAT fundamentally doesn’t work bc the real trick to this au, the reason I wasn’t sure it would work and frankly I’m still not sure it’d work long-term, is that the protagonist has changed. When I saw canon!Fëanor, Miriel’s son, has a literal excess of fëa energy, what I’m really doing is creating an in-world mechanism to express his role as Protagonist. Or, as Driver of the Story? Let’s use them interchangeably. Fëanor is a well-built character, so his personality and his actions and his narrative function all tie together—he makes hot-tempered decisions at key moments! He creates world-changing gems! He rouses crowds to follow him! He drives the story, and he drives it so hard that it’s driven in the direction he sets for the rest of the First Age, and for the rest of Arda that we know! (Aragorn heir of Isildur heir of Elros, whose childhood was utterly shaped by the Oath and those who followed it! The One Ring made to master the Nine, Seven, and Three, made by “Annatar” and the Gwaith-y-Mirdain because Celebrimbor chose not to say “Get thee gone” to the Maia at his door! The star-glass!)

So, what is characterization and what is narrative function? I posited: the hot temper and creative genius are fundamental characterization, but without the semi-literal Protagonist Energy, the temper is a little calmer, or at least less enduring, and less able to sway others, and the creative genius…will lead him exactly down Miriel’s road. For Fingolfin, I posited: even with extra fire in his soul, he will always be the second to lose his temper, and the one to set his feet and his people and say, “Here I stand and defend.” But I also posit: Miriel’s child, born Marred, born Too Much, feeling abandoned and robbed so early, will never be content in Valinor! And isn’t it neat to dwell on how even canon!Fëanor had so many reasons to be aligned with the Valar? (Studying in Aulë’s halls and marrying Aulendil’s daughter; one of his sons is favored by Oromë; Varda herself hallowed his greatest work…)

But after the Darkening we get to the Oath, that greatest of plot-drivers, and okay, that should really be a Protagonist thing even though the total lack of forethought is very Fëanor… I can see Curufinwë collapsed with the theft of the Silmarils, maybe even expiring (last breath, exactly a la Miriel) in Arakáno’s arms, and then the news comes about Finwë… Arakáno reacts to all of this Completely Normally, by which I mean fire, wrath, and Oaths… (though I’m not sure which sons would swear with him, and also, the wording and sentiment would be a little different, and that all matters…) They still steal the ships and kill for them, of course they do; nobody wants to cross the Ice if there’s another option and the Teleri would always fight back. Doom, fear of betrayal and theft once more of ships…

BUT THEN, even if Arakáno did burn the ships behind him, I think it IS a fundamental character aspect that, where Fëanor leaps from fiery rash decision to fiery rash decision (Alqualdondë! Losgar! Charging Balrogs!), Fingolfin makes 1 notable Terrible Idea then grits his teeth and carefully, strategically follows the fuck through (Ice, Siege)…until he EVENTUALLY hits a This Isn’t Working despair threshold, snaps, and charges Morgoth singlehandedly… In short: I don’t think Arakáno son of Miriel would get himself killed 3 days after reaching Beleriand? Which changes…everything, bc then you still have your Protagonist around, driving the plot in person rather than with the ghost of him, and idk what to do with that bc I think practically he’d do much the same as Fingolfin in canon but that doesn’t feel enough, and…

Thus, I stopped the story where I did. Also because it was 5am.

#my fic #outofangband #i have no idea if the fic i just ranted about here is the one you were thinking of when you sent this #but please enjoy this brief ramble on character exploration and story structure #and how i write aus #plus speculation on what would've happened next in aforementioned au #ha ha can you IMAGINE the level of Coping Completely Fine With This any au's child of miriel would have #to watch their much-despised younger sibling expire just the same way in their arms just after awkward spiteful but also true reconciliation #or maybe curufinwe doesn't fully expire he just passes out and can't be woken!! yeah we know how THAT story goes #same difference!!! #fire and wrath and Oaths that shape the path of history #the silmarillion #writing #ficlet #feanor and feanor’s kin #...for the record if he DID die early in beleriand i'm p sure fingon would give the crown to just-led-his-people-across-the-ice!maedhros

[joshuaalbert]

very late but. wesley :]

favorite thing about them 

as will be a constant refrain throughout this post I have said this before but I have an overactive older sibling instinct so the most important thing here is that he is a little guy doing his best. in terms of actual traits, ik some people find him bratty but that’s always confused me bc like over and over again he goes out of his way to help people. like the whole b plot of icarus agenda stands out as being real endearing and yeah it’s goody two shoes characterization whatever but it is my god given right to appreciate some kindness in a character. it’s a harsh world yknow? but conversely i also like when he’s a bitch bc i think it’s funny.

i just. also. this requires giving credit to r*n m**re whose heart i would eat in the marketplace etc etc but the first duty is so fucking episode and the progression to journey’s end conceptually is really fascinating. execution of journey’s end? needs improvement. but the idea is SO. it’s so. like yes there are really interesting undertones to wesley’s character present in seasons 1-4 but i think a lot of them are far more meaningful when you return to them after the late season episodes. like. there’s a reason i think about the first duty-lower decks-journey’s end arc all the fucking time.

hang on this got long as shit so im gonna hit this with a read more before we continue on

least favorite thing about them

from a writing perspective they fucked up by not letting him make any significant mistakes pre first duty which is part of why first duty is so good. like that’s just not...how making a character works. i personally think it would’ve been good to have him fail the psych test the first time because there would be a lot to work with there but in s1 that just wasn’t the show they were making. from like a personality perspective. i mean i cant blame him for being the most repressed bitch alive in several key ways but please go to therapy.

brOTP

ok i gotta use this opportunity to get this off my chest (again. because i think this was in my post first duty rant somewhere on my other blog that i gotta find again) but like it’s so weird when the show tries to convince us he has meaningful friendships with kids his own age on the enterprise because like. he definitely doesn’t. his friends each show up for like one episode either for a plot point or literally just to prove to his mom or whoever that he has friends but he spends all his free time either alone or with the senior officers. he does not have friends his own age and i think that very much plays into his dynamic with the squadron later. that said i do think his dynamic with riker is fun and i also love writing his friendship with jaxa now that i’ve nailed down a vibe that was kind of eluding me lmao.

OTP

#cralbertgang but like. do i trust anyone else with it? outside of the little universe i have constructed? unsure. i just know that i watched first duty and was like hey man it’s kinda gay to forget your sweater on a ski trip with the kid whose entire civilian wardrobe is weird sweaters and then to keep it for a month after and while that is by no means the point of the episode, it was an interesting little side thing to ponder. in canon i don’t think it would have been a mutual thing but it’s interesting to explore out of canon. it’s also. like. as stated above none of wesley’s earlier friendships are that convincing so it’s wild that they did actually successfully imply this friendship with like four lines let alone set up the potential for anything else. 

nOTP

i mean. wesley x literally any of the adult main characters but i feel like the one ive run into the most is wesley x riker which is like an incredible misreading of their dynamic to me and also like. even if it’s after wesley turns 18 it implies that riker was Waiting For Him To Turn 18 which is. uh. uhhh. don’t like that! and like ik it’s not 1:1 writing a fic about something equals glorification of that thing, i understand that sometimes people want to explore a dynamic Because there’s something wrong with it that they want to examine, but a lot of times with this specifically im like oh you wanted to ship two white guys and picard was too bald for you.

random headcanon

man i gotta stop posting every thought i have the moment it comes into my head bc now im like uhh what haven’t i already said. ive already said that half his classmates definitely think he’s dead post journey’s end. i think he likes the idea of marriage because he only got to see it very briefly with his own parents but this is another concept that’s idealized to him, and whether or not he ever manages it himself is up to your personal perception of postcanon. i think he’s bad at poker because he has not accepted his queerness but the correlation there is just that that happened to younger me. i think he talks in his sleep. 

unpopular opinion

yeah like both of us have said he is not a funny gen z meme kid. and like a certain percentage of content for any character is gonna be. incorrect quotes style content? of like VERY loose very exaggerated characterization but i feel like for him that’s kind of all you get. admittedly i don’t check tags and shit that often im kind of just vibing but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of engagement with the actual character. this isn’t really an unpopular opinion ive just kind of gone off the rails. whatever.

OH wait okay i thought of something but but a bunch of the youtube comments for the nemesis deleted scene are about how like it wasn’t canon compliant that he would come back for the wedding or be back in starfleet temporarily or whatever and i have beef with that bc im like. dude maybe he just missed his friends and family and wanted to hang out with them for a while. let him chill.

song i associate with them

this is really just me consolidating every post i’ve ever made about him huh. but like kiss off by violent femmes IS the post first duty-pre journey’s end wesley song to me. just like. everything adding up over time until you’re miserable and it feels like the universe is against you and you start lashing out as a result. like it’s a depressing association but i heard it for the first time in years like a month ago and was like holy shit. wesley song.

favorite picture of them

i have a fondness for top 1 photo of wesley crusher that could also be a photo of gordie lachance

#this took so long because i am. insane. #i love to say so many words #ask game #wesley crusher #ty!!

[ursie]

There’s a lot of debate on Twitter on billyteddy and jpkyle being married and that being like marvels go to gays. With that in mind do you think Ricstar should get married?

Yeah there’s def something to be said about marvel pushing the more palatable lgbt relationships but also they certainly are not pushing jp and Kyle I don’t know why the fandom keeps on saying that. I understand not everyone wants married gays and wants more messy relationships but the answer to that is asking for more rep not like. Limiting the rep we have. Because tbh I do think Star and Julio would actually get married if writers stopped forcing ooc drama for the sake of it like xfi was bad characterization all around and detrimental to their relationship and the subsequent “breakups” are nonsensically built on writing from a dude who admitted he just wanted to write jack harkness and like. Hated Shatterstar/xforce like.. we need to as a fandom just stop treating any of them as canon or give it any merit. It was writing that was harmfully based on stereotypes and hurt their characters and ultimately harmful to real life minorities especially bi and autistic people like. If you read xforce or any good writing of them that’s actually trying to write them genuinely (and man do I hate giving Excalibur or Kox credit) they really are committed to each other and have been since they were like. 16/17 like they’ve been together for probably somewhere between 5-7? Years now (just guessing their age I’m assuming early to mid 20s now) like them getting married isn’t like. Out of the realm of possibility especially when like. Ultimately Stars storyline is about healing and stepping away from the fight and Julio is looking to make a family for himself away from the violence he was raised in. Them having a home together and coming home to each other just. Narratively makes sense in terms of growth. Also I cannot stress how funny it would be for me personally if Julio became a Summers like genuinely so funny

*anyone feel free to add on or debate here I am curious on others thoughts

#Julio is a summer’s because cable is Stars dad this makes sense to me #asks #anon #ricstar #Shatterstar #rictor #I babble

[yomiurinikei]

hi um can i ask you on how you feel about irlkado/real mikado?? if not its ok !

ofc you can ask!!! love talking love chatting love asks <33

i remember when the original debates abt him were going on…. personally im team “aikado was a copy of irlkado/was modeled after him and his psyche; they have the same sort of moral code, irlkado just didn’t expect his ai to be sentient enough to. go off and get him yeeted,” i think… aikado was prolly a bit more showy/dramatic, to fit with the whole “shsl wizard” bit, but i think that irlkado was just the same as him in terms of being driven to reach their goal, and being willing to do what needed to be done, even if that meant hurting others.

i got my wisdom teeth taken out today and just came out of my…. seventh? nap? somewhere between seven and nine naps in six hours. so i can talk some more abt how i tend to characterize him, but this was just kinda my break down of how i understand him based on canon!

#sdra2 #mikado sannoji #irlkado

[adair-kiba]

I want to think about Adair's body and gender identity today.

Adair is a chimera, he has intersex chimerism. it shows most prominently in his eyes and the tendency of his scales to be lighter than usual except when he's close to shedding, when they darken to the standard sandy beige. He's also the shortest man in his family, and shorter than expected for the tall Auri body type.

I've been mulling over how having two sets of DNA would affect him being a shard of Azem, but am still working on that idea.

His version of intersex is a little different than how it is in the real world, but I try to listen and learn from people who really do have conditions like this, and I hope to keep how I characterize him as respectful as possible since this is something that does happen to real people and may cause them troubles.

Like a lot of Au Ra havers, I like to think that despite the extreme sexual dimorphism Au Ra actually have very ambiguous and open views on gender and sex. It's not uncommon for petite ones to have traditionally male body parts, or for tall ones to have traditionally female body parts, and having a body that falls somewhere between the two is relatively common. Parents are supportive of their children and encourage them to use whichever pronouns, or lack of pronouns, they are comfortable with, and they educate them about health in a holistic manner, covering all potential body types.

Adair has always considered himself male, using he/him pronouns. He does have a uterus and ovaries, but rarely ever had any reason to believe that they might be functional (he doesn't have a monthly cycle, only rarely a light hint of it). His penis stays inside himself most of the time (dragon within mod). He is not capable of impregnating another, and he spent most of his life assuming that he was totally infertile. That he was able to conceive with Haurchefant was a one in a million stroke of luck.

Because he had never thought it possible, Adair was wholly unprepared for childbearing. It was never something he believed would happen to him and honestly it wasn't something he had ever had any desire to go through, at least not as the one carrying the pregnancy. He felt terribly dysphoric throughout the experience. But, he chose to keep the child and carry them to term despite the unexpectedness and bad timing because it was the last little piece of Haurchefant he had left. Auri babies are small because it's usually the petite Au Ra who bear children, so the bump on his tummy was easy for him to hide with the right clothes until nearing the 5th month despite it being half Elezen.

Regarding Adair's gender expression through his appearance, he usually opts for gender neutral or masculine clothes, occasionally enjoying wearing skirts of varying lengths and sometimes dresses, but never anything super frilly. He learned to use makeup from an ex-girlfriend, and has found that taking the time to do his eyes and lips every day and style his hair gives him a boost of confidence, he rarely is seen without it.

#adair kiba ffxiv #adair lore

[greenandhazy]

I've got a bit of Richard meta, putting it beneath the cut for spoilers. and just fyi, while it's not meant to be anti-Richard or anti-Barris at all, it's a bit... realist? yeah, that's the word I'm going with.

I think one of the reasons I’m not necessarily shocked about the Treatment of Richard in the new Downton movie is that… I was never 100% sold on who Richard was supposed to be in the first movie. We don’t get very much dialogue from him, a fair amount of what we do get is generically pleasant rather than deep, and some of the deep dialogue is, to a certain extent, contradicted or at least complicated by his actions.

I’ve seen people argue that he was very brave and open and therefore would never marry, citing especially the fact that 1) he rescued Thomas from the police when he didn’t have to, and 2) he kissed him in a room with an open door. Which both make sense! Those are brave and risky things to do. But from my perspective, the first one was him very much relying on a “boys will be boys” persona and the power of his position, and the second was a matter of a few seconds. They don’t say anything about what Richard would do if his position in the Royal Household was seriously threatened, if someone had real suspicions that couldn't be assuaged by his bravado, or if he had a significant amount of time to contemplate a decision that would have a lifelong impact.

And there were also moments in the first movie that suggested he was a more cautious figure than fanon interpretation. From my perspective:

1) the fact that Thomas didn’t seem sure that Richard was flirting with him until after the police station, even though they had an entire afternoon together—including a 20-mile drive into York.

2) “You’ll have to be more circumspect.” That’s a very different line compared to, say, “We’ve all been there,” which suggests a less careful personality, or even “Your secret’s safe with me,” which is somewhere in the middle and would still have worked with the gesture, if the writers really wanted to keep that.

3) “Well, we all do what we must. But, yeah.” (emphasis mine) This is in response to Thomas expressing frustration at having to fit in—and it’s Richard hedging. Saying “we do have to fit in sometimes, that’s just how it is.” Max Brown’s delivery of the first line is rather soft and there’s a little pause before he continues, which also reads as a bit resigned to me. Even if he agrees with Thomas that it’s nice to not have to, he’s more pragmatic about it than Thomas is.

And in terms of the cut wife from movie 1 reappearing in movie 2—we can debate about whether that’s a good or realistic idea, and I totally acknowledge people might justifiably dislike it. But I think a reasonable argument can be made that this plot point was cut because of what it did narratively (giving Thomas a downer ending with no relief, as opposed to movie 2 which gives him a downer beginning and hopeful ending), rather than in terms of character. (And narratively speaking, we could also call it a cop-out that this was tacked on to the next movie, instead of one where it might have been placed better in a character arc, but I digress.)

Looking at the last two things I cited in particular, it seems perfectly plausible that Richard was still written as The Kind of Guy Who Might Get Married in the first movie, even if they didn’t seal the deal on it. There’s also the contrast built into the narrative between Richard and Chris, in which Richard is put up as the safer, more conventional choice. Again, making it not surprising that he would choose a safer, more conventional life.

Of course, all of this is only my interpretation, and I understand if people have a different interpretation! Fanon characterization of Richard built up a lot out of relatively little, as it had to for a movie with this many characters, and people can disagree on to what extent certain things are emphasized, or should have been emphasized, or make for a good/well-written/interesting character and plot. But I’ve also seen a lot of shock and feeling that this came from out of the blue or that it is completely inconsistent with first-movie Richard and… I don’t think that’s true. I think there was a lot of ambiguity in Richard’s individual personality, as well as what his relationship with Thomas would be—it was promising, certainly, and it might have gone in a better direction, but we barely saw it. We saw Day One of their established interest in each other, Day Two if we’re being generous, and there are a lot of different ways a relationship can go off from the first two days. And whether or not it was well done or satisfying, I do think the writers gave themselves enough leeway to make this version of Richard at least credible. We are meant to assume things have happened offscreen that pushed him in this direction, sure, but it's not as shocking a development as it would have been if, say, Thomas was the one deciding to get married, which would in fact have been wildly inconsistent with a well-developed character.

#da2 spoilers #downton abbey spoilers #downton abbey 2 spoilers #richard ellis #downton abbey

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

This is a bit of a long rambly mess, but I just to vent somewhere! When I was at first getting annoyed at JC’s depictions, I thought fanon JC was painted as similar Mu Qing, right down to JC being given MQ’s secret care for children. But I then realized that even that comparison was inaccurate.

Even MQ apologizes (more than once across the story!), says that XL was right, and says he wants to be his friend. And if JC did that in most fics, that would at least be fine. But fans don’t even do the courtesy of giving JC that arc! Instead, it’s always JC being right -- whether about the GC transfer, or he’s suddenly become a person who’s willing to help the Wens and WWX is just a stupid idiot for doing it on his own -- and WWX has to admit that JC was right.

And where MQ becomes more comfortable with the fact that he used to be a servant, accepting and overcoming the insecurities, JC’s arc in fic could be learning to overcome his insecurities that WWX is better than him at many things even despite their class differences. But no, fanon JC has to be AMAZING at something, or even SEVERAL things, SO much BETTER at them than poor stupid WWX. That’s the BEST solution for Yunmeng bros reconciliation, obviously.

At this point, I honestly wish JC was actually given MQ’s character arc in more fics, because at least he could be said to have one, and not just have always been a perfect person, best brother, best jiujiu, bestest sect leader. Ugh.

It kind of feels like another side of purity culture from the people who should be against it. If JC and WWX reconcile,if JC loves WWX, then JC can’t have ever been a bad brother. Instead, it’s Wei Wuxian who has been the bad brother (the character who’s more easy to change since he a) has already gone through this characterization in all versions of the canon, so his development can be reversed for the fic and brought back up to speed by the end, and b) has actually had character growth, unlike JC, so it’s easier to write that growth). It’s Wei Wuxian who needs to change to match where JC is at. It’s fine if the “bad brother” is the character who tried to do good, but fucked it up because he “doesn’t know how to ask for help!” or “is too stupid to know other people care!” or whatever other excuse. That’s easy to fix! But it’s not fine when it’s the character who never really cared about people outside of his sect and is terribly low on empathy/mercy/compassion/caring. JC has to have been secretly good all along! He loves his brother, so obviously he never did anything terrible to him! Or to other people in the name of hating him! Love cannot be unhealthy or messy or crystalized over by and wrapped up in hate!

(I mean, if we’re comparing characters to JC, Severus Snape also has an unpleasant personality yet was actually revealed to not have been evil all along, and the discourse around him is more interesting than the stuff surrounding JC. It’s still often stupid discourse, but at least it’s based on evidence from the text and not a made up secret narrative where JC hasn’t been a bad person this whole time so fans can just make up whatever characterization they want.)

Instead of dealing with JC’s and WWX’s canon relationship and trying to find a way forward from where they left off in Guanyin Temple (if they’re ignoring the extras in MDZS, or going off CQL), fanon JC is just retroactively made into having always been a good person to justify the ease of their reconciliation.

And as someone who loves delving into fictional complex, complicated, messy, ugly relationships, I find it so...bland, boring, childish, and exhausting.

"As someone who loves delving into fictional complex, complicated, messy, ugly relationships, I find it so...bland, boring, childish, and exhausting."

Hello there anon, the above as well as what you said about reversing Wei Wuxian's character to be on par with how awful Jiang Cheng was to him is especially resonating. As a person Jiang Cheng himself for all intents was considered at least above average from the normal cultivators.

Yet his downfall always relied on his hate of Wei Wuxian (as a person, in talent, socially) it is a core part of his character that is woven into the work itself and the catalyst for Wei Wuxian's death itself. Jiang Cheng if anything, is coldly upfront on just why he refuses to help Wei Wuxian out of his predicament as well as framing Wei Wuxian. The text itself says he puts little fight in pretending to even speak for Wei Wuxian's behalf when Jin Guangshan begins to sully him and conspire about him wanting to be a sect leader. He is meant to be the complete contrast in Lan Wangji and Mianmian trying to speak for his good-will, in fact he contradicts this by saying that Wei Wuxian has always been tiresomely reckless and uncontrollable, something that holds little truth as Wei Wuxian worked in trust for Yunmeng Jiang's benefit for years. Their actions simply are not of comparable fault and the end of the work (in the least the novel) makes this message clear. Jiang Cheng, as a character, like MXTX said is a product of following what his environment made him as well as him putting no fight on his end to amend that to be better and learn. Love is very complicatedly explored in this work in all it's ways and that's what is very beautiful about it. It does not shy away from the forms it manifests in. Including Jiang Cheng's who at the base of it, the rivalry there was as much one-sided as Shu She's for Lan Wangji, the layers of irony are the best part of the novel for each of it's characters.

As for fandom. I do think a lot of it is petty stupid discourse (oh and I have never said I am particularly immune to it, I am far too sarcastic for my own good and have a bit of a loud mouth when I see something particularly ridiculous for this fandom and I do not know when to shut up my filter). But, so much of it is coated within personal resonance towards certain characters which leads to feeling personally hurt, especially when the block features exist on this site. Multiple tags have been implemented to block for this exact purpose, yet their comes the takes that you can not use these sarcastic tags that are blockable because "it's not the right ones". Fandom is ever shifting and as such it is curated as much as you want it to be. Being ordered to not use these tags or to avoid posting all together is a moot point as well as demanding others to read how you want them to, even when the work textually supports or does not certain interpretations. As lovely as the thought is that "all interpretations are valid", logically it does not work quite so well when you attempt to push that on so many others with little helpful evidence other than flimsy fanon popularity (Ron the Death Eater And Draco in Leather pants are infamous fandom tropes that are despised for reasons). JC is not a case of questionable good for selfish reasons as in the comparison to Snape, he is simply a show of selfishness who has an ambiguous opening to do better, in terms of those in the future. Too much clout though is put on that idea when the work itself is not shy to say real good, kind, supportive people are hard to come by.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #canon jiang cheng #jiang cheng #I love him but he is very much a trash racoon king #fandom also needs to chill with is elitisism and faux intellectualism

[shihalyfie]

With Digimon Ghost Game starting, I thought about how different it is from previous Digimon series, though it's still undoubtedly Digimon... and then I realized all Digimon series are like that. So I wonder, what do you think sets each Digimon series apart from the rest?

I think both Ghost Game but also the reboot have been a wake-up call for people in terms of realizing that likes, dislikes, and tastes are subjective, and I think it's especially important in terms of this fanbase that is so obsessed with this idea you can objectively rank things by quality -- especially when each series is often deliberately trying to have its own identity, so it's arguably apples and oranges -- and forcing this idea of what's Good and Not Good on everyone else (especially when there's a nasty double standard phenomenon where Adventure and often Tamers get to be so impervious to criticism that people conveniently forget they're perfectly capable of being scrutinized for a lot of things they're weaker in). Very frustrating to see everyone who likes less popular series treated as if they have to accept that they like a "badly written series" for some things and everything else is a guilty pleasure, which I find to be incredibly dumb.

The most important take-home here is that the fact each series has its own identity is always going to be the main factor in what makes it "good" or not to you, not some arbitrary bar of comparison that's based on some narrow-minded view of "good writing" (which is usually unreasonably based on Adventure). For instance, the reason why 02 is so important to me is because (see below), to me, it has the highest amount of meaningful, important life lessons and themes that it wanted its audience to remember, to the point that I frankly do not care about where the plot goes in comparison. That may not be the case for everyone else, and that's fine, but should my tastes be called unreasonable for that? I think we're also coming to realize that because of Adventure (and kind of 02)'s precedent, so many people have been judging series purely by how intimate their individual character development style is, but this is unfair because Adventure and 02's ridiculous level of character depth to psychological detail is extremely unusual and unrealistic to expect of others; Adventure and 02 only achieved this by practically considering the plot utterly subservient to its character arcs, and it's arguably why they have some of the weakest "plots" in this franchise. It's so bizarre that I can see character development in other Digimon series that outstrips even most kids' anime on the market, but it's not as much as Adventure's so apparently it's bad. And, moreover, as it turns out, some people have priorities other than characterization; just because Adventure had that as its strength doesn't mean that's the only thing anyone should care about. Is the plot fun? Is there a meaningful message besides characters (also important to me)? Do you vibe with the tone being dark, or being silly? How much do you care about resourceful usage of Digimon lore? That kind of thing. Everyone is different, so that's why everyone has their own priorities. If you’re someone who prefers darker content, you may not realize that writing good and well-timed comedy is actually a very, very difficult task, especially when said comedy simultaneously has meaning (in comparison, it’s surprisingly easy to write “dark” but shallow content).

I think it's fair to like every Digimon series for its own thing, depending on your personal tastes. I can't speak for everyone, but my impressions are that it has to do with the following:

Adventure: Significantly easier to understand than 02 due to its more straightforward plot, and focus on individual character development ("individualism" being a strong point here). In terms of characters, it goes a lot into some very real social problems (the divorce around the Ishida and Takaishi families and the pressures surrounding Jou, for instance) in a very realistic manner. Also, it has that sense of mystique and absurdism to the Digital World that's both whimsical but also mysterious, and while 02 has it too, Adventure's the isekai story that has it the most.

02: The first is its focus on the importance of human relationships and the compelling group dynamic unparalleled in this franchise, and the second is its important themes and life lessons that I think are some of the strongest in said franchise. I have a whole tag for the ridiculous amount of nuance packed into every detail and dialogue line for this series, and I think every time I've rewatched an episode I've learned something new about it because there are so many things that clearly wanted to be said in each line. The entire series is basically an unpacking of the feelings of insidious self-hatred and the crushing feeling of being subject to society's expectations, and ones that are so deep-seated that you often don’t even have a single answer to how to unpack it (for instance, Miyako hardly has a tragic single event in her backstory, but she says and does a lot of things that'll be painfully familiar to those who have experienced chronic anxiety). Almost every plot point can be said to connect to each character arc in some way, and the mantras for appreciating and treasuring your own life and living life the way you will make this, in my opinion, the strongest series in terms of speaking to those who struggle with this kind of existential crisis for reasons of depression or otherwise. (Oops, I think I went too passionate about this; my biases are obvious...)

Tamers: I think it forms an interesting study and unpacking of the kinds of things you take for granted in Digimon or the monster-collecting genre in general, and an examination of how they'd work in a real-world context (although 02 had a focus on daily life, it didn't quite merge the Digimon and the real world factors until very late in the series). Also, probably the second highest on "hard sci-fi" (the only one that outstrips it is probably Appmon, but Appmon has a very different, more simplified take on it).

Frontier: A series that lies somewhere between Adventure's scale of individualism and 02's scale of group dynamic, and one more discussing the feeling of having your heart hardened from being an outcast, and what it takes to accept the idea of opening yourself up to others again. Recommended for those who like transforming hero and magical girl stories, too. From the Digimon perspective, also the one with the most detailed and consistent Digital World mythos.

Savers: I think this is the series that most drives home "life is complicated" (i.e. there isn't a single mastermind behind everything) in the most tasteful manner, because while it drives home the point that you can't just simplify everything into a good side and a bad side, some bad things really are evil (hi, Kurata), and it doesn't change the fact that everyone's responsible for cleaning up the fallout. The portrayal of the evils of government bureaucracy is probably the most realistic out of any of these series.

Xros Wars: For those who like fun, most of all! For those who like seeing Digimon finally get more of the spotlight and individuality since so much of it had been geared and biased towards the humans prior to this. For those who really like worldbuilding, and, after all, this is called Xros Wars, so it's interesting to see shakeups on the usual formulas in the form of the different factions and their priorities. Hunters is very different in tone, but I do think they have some of these aspects in common; that said, it being closer to having single partnerships brings it a bit closer in line to conventional Digimon partnerships, and it also has more of a picture of daily life. Also, as much as Tagiru is probably your-mileage-may-vary since he's not exactly a very nice kid (I get it if you don't vibe with that), which may also rub those hoping for not nice kids to become nice the wrong way, I do have to say I find him to be one of the funniest characters in this entire franchise, and you'd be surprised how hard good comedy is to write.

Appmon: Probably one of the strongest theme narratives besides 02, since it has a very clear and obvious theme about the importance of kindness in a world where technology is dominating and we're almost encouraged to strip the feelings out of everything. (Bonus for more straightforward plot than Adventure or 02 while still retaining a lot of its elements in terms of how to characterize them.) Also the first series to be speculative about the near future instead of taking place around the time it airs, and it's very obvious it wants to provide important and necessary commentary about what we need to do in the incoming era, especially as a lot of what it has to say becomes increasingly relevant.

Reboot: For those who like Digimon mythos and null canon -- this is probably the only series to show it off in this level of detail -- and the kind of cool action fights that would usually be saved for the climax in prior series (and animated in much more intimate detail with battle choreography than prior series would have). There are a lot of people into this franchise who felt like it genuinely was not making enough use of its Digimon roster and its potential because it kept going back to the old standbys (especially Adventure-based ones), so it was a huge relief for that crowd to see attention finally being paid.

#digimon #shiha's ask box #demonoflight #digimon multi series talk

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.) 

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl: 

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason. 

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman. 

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick: 

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason: 

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim: 

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.) 

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time. 

Red Robin #1

Damian: 

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back: 

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray! 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

#lay it on me papa bob #batman #bruce wayne #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #damian wayne #robin #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #idiot duckboy #cassandra cain #black bat #batgirl #stephanie brown #alfred pennyworth #darkseid #final crisis #battle for the cowl #dc comics #batman and robin #soho reads comics #get your comic references kids