#watching it away from fandom has put a lot of it into a new perspective for me

[bookcrazyace]

Dick & Jason and Why We Need to Stop Mischaracterizing Them and Their Relationship

I know it's been brought up a million times and will probably be brought up a million more times but I wanted to put my 2 cents in. Jason and Dick and their relationship is grossly mischaracterized and it hurts the narrative. Now there isn't anything wrong with a little ooc content I'm a fanfic writer and I've fallen onto some of the more fanon sides of things to make it fit my narrative better but the problem arises when people mistake fanon for canon and bring it up in serious fandom discussions.

Dick was the first Robin so we'll start with him first. Characterizing Dick as the happy-go-lucky Robin is very distinctly wrong and actually quite the opposite of what he actually was. Dick wanted revenge for the death of his parents and that's what drew Bruce to him in the first place. Bruce made Batman to focus his anger and grief into something productive that would help people. When he recognized the same yearning for vengeance in Dick he trained him so that Robin could be for Dick what Batman was to him, a coping mechanism. In the end Dick manages to let go of the notion of revenge and it means that Robin succeeded and he then takes on a new identity, Nightwing (Canonically Dick and Bruce start having arguments and that's more the reason he leaves but from a narrative perspective Dick going from Robin to Nightwing can be seen as him getting rid of the feelings of revenge and gaining new goals. Also it's an excellent juxtaposition to the fact that while Robin succeeded in freeing Dick Bruce is still Batman.) Dick starting off as a vengeful spirit and blossoming into one of the most outwardly cheerful members of the batfam (despite the most definitely present repressed anger) is so much more powerful than him essentially not changing throughout the entire story especially when you consider that multiple times in canon Bruce has said that NIghtwing is better than Batman and what Batman was meant to be.

Jason ever the fan favorite and probably the person in the batfam that is misharacterized the most (in my opinion) is the next topic of discussion. Jason being the angry Robin takes so much away from his story and honestly I'm not vibing with it. One of Jason's notable lines as Robin is the phrase "Being Robin gives me magic!"you surely can't hear that and picture a violent criminal in the making. Jason being a street kid that jacks tires for a living but still being kind and childishly innocent makes him as Robin so much more interesting. Jason's drive to help people is obviously heavily influenced by his mother and how he took care of her up until her death. The tragedy of his mother's death is what drives Bruce to him. Of course Jason's process of becoming Robin wasn't immediate like a lot of people believe, Jason was actually sent to an all boys school for a short period of time before realizing they were a front for a crime ring he then helped Batman take down their operation. I feel like after seeing all that one would lose their faith in most people but Jason didn't remember he wasn't Robin until after this incident and he still was so happy and bright. The big turning point in Jason's story (from what I remember I haven't read the comics in a while) Batman suspects he pushes a man they were chasing off of a roof (I don't remember if it's ever made clear whether he did or not) this puts a pretty big strain on their relationship. Soon after all that goes down Jason finds out that the same mother he grew up with, the same mother he took care of, the same mother he watched die isn't actually his mother. The tense atmosphere between him and Bruce in combination for his yearning for answers leads him to run away to find her. When he meets her she sells him out to the Joker who subsequently beats him with a crowbar and leaves him to die in a warehouse that's rigged to blow up. Jason's mother is in the warehouse too and he does everything he can to save her. In the end they both die but when Batman questions her Jason's mom tells him that he tried to save her. In most modern iterations of Jason's death story his mother is written out and his death is pinned on him and his "impulsive and brash decisions". When Jason comes back to Gotham after his revival he seeks vengeance and is incredibly violent a very stark contrast to the bubbly kid that was just happy to be there. Two of his most notable actions as Red Hood are decapitating the lieutenants of the top crime lords and delivering them in a duffel bag and attacking Tim Drake the new Robin in Titans Tower. Jason's main drive for attacking Tim and becoming a crime lord is the fact that he died, he died as Robin and he didn't think that children should have to take on crime in the way Bruce did Jason decided that the best way to get rid of crime was to control it. The way Jason went from sunshine personified to a gritty crime lord who was willing to kill is what makes his story so interesting. The way an innocent child that got exposed to the darkness of the world and got swallowed by it is what makes the story so meaningful. In comparison to Dick, Jason is Batman's greatest failure he became the very thing Bruce tried to prevent him from being, a vengeful spirit that kills. In some ways Dick and Jason's stories are opposites and parallels.

Now for Dick and Jason's relationship. Despite what a lot of people think Dick didn't hate Jason when he first appeared (I think there was a point where Dick wanted to adopt Jason but I don't remember). Making Dick hate Jason as Robin sort of ruins both of their character arcs Dick evolved past his hatred and need for vengeance and thus adores Jason, Jason growing into someone so angry and hating Tim as Robin despite the fact that Dick showed him so much kindness makes everything hit so much harder.

In conclusion, this isn't really a huge deal but I've been thinking about it a lot recently. I've written and read fics where Jason was an angry Robin and Dick was a happy one. I've written and read fics where Dick hated Jason at first. Fandom is all about what fans do with a piece of media they like and at the end of the day the characters can be whoever you want them to be. Don't let this post uninspire you or make you feel called out if you enjoy the more fanon dynamics and personalities of these characters. Fee free to point out any inaccuracies to me it's been a while since I've read the comics.

#batfam #batman #jason todd #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #dc universe #batfamily #canon vs fanon #fandom #fanfic

[fairypowerful]

Before I begin, I just wanna throw these out:

• “ ‘Missing out on love’ isn't something that matters as much when your society isn't amatonormative.”

• “When the world around you doesn't emphasize marriage and romance and all that, then wouldn't you view cultures that do as a tad odd? Not weird in a bad way, just different.”

• “[…] People cannot fathom the concept that other people might experience romantic attraction, and do so intensely, and yet value something else above romance.”

• You just don’t have those feelings of “I need romance, I need marriage” when your society isn’t broken by being amatonormativity. You just don’t have those feelings when you’re already fulfilled in a community. You just don’t have those feelings when you have a purpose in life.

• “Call me crazy, but I know for a fact that I would not want a romantic relationship if I was a Jedi […] […] […] I honestly don't understand the assumption that ‘the Jedi are miserable because they can't get married,’ I really don't.”

• There’s romance and marriage in every single media and literature, so why should it be inserted into a fictional monastic culture? If you don’t think entire groups of people could choose to have no romantic commitments their entire life, then there’s over a thousand-year nonfictional accounts of monks and nuns and priests choosing to live a single life in an environment that, too, forbids them from romantic commitments, and they lived in contentment and peace.

————————————————

I wanted to show all that first, like a little preview, because this post is not only about why the Jedi are not wrong for disallowing romantic commitments and marriage, but it’s also about amatonormativity which has always been an enormous problem in the real world, and it clearly impacts how people view communities like the Jedi within fiction.

———

“So why can't Jedi marry? The Jedi believe that children and spouses deserve complete attention. They believe that people deserve present parents and involved partners. Being a Jedi isn't a job. It's a lifestyle. How dare they preach compassion and fairness and justice whilst leaving some abandoned child somewhere? How dare they teach kindness and love and self sacrifice while having a neglected spouse?” — @popupguidetothegalaxy (original post here)

This right here! It wouldn’t stop the criticisms within that part of the fandom, it’d just redirect it to a different one.

Even if the Jedi did marry and have families, y’all (Jedi antis) would then criticize the Jedi for prioritizing the galaxy (which is literally their vocation, their aspiration, and their lifestyle) over their spouses and children.

On top of their daily galactic duties that « take them away from the temple on assignments or missions, away from the planet that temple is located on, and always on the move interstellar-wise » ,,, antis think the Jedi should/could be able to marry and raise a family properly with zero neglect of either spouse and child?

Forget about being burnt out like a nurse in a severely understaffed hospital, it’s just simply an impossible commitment!

———

I watched “Tiger Cruise” rather recently, because it’s one of those Disney movies I never watched growing up, and one conversation in the movie puts this into even more perspective – because the teenaged main character is sick & tired of always only seeing her Navy commander father for a few weeks every few months, begging him to quit the Navy and come home for good.

Maddie: Dad, when are you coming home?

Commander Dolan: What do you mean? We're gonna be docking on Friday.

Maddie: No, I mean… When are you coming home for good?

Commander Dolan: Is that why you came on board? To ask me that? [pause] Look, this is my job.

Maddie: Then get a new one. You've got the degrees, you can do like anything you want.

Commander Dolan: This is what I do.

Maddie: [pause] Must be nice .. travel all over the world, no responsibilities.

Commander Dolan: I'm responsible to a lot of people.

Maddie: To strangers, Dad. What about us? [pause] We’re strangers too. We move all over the place, see you for a few weeks every four or five months, or whenever the Navy says it's okay.

Commander Dolan: The Navy is a way of life. I mean, you go into it and you know the sacrifices you have to make.

Maddie: Well, you’ve done it for my entire life.

Seriously, is this what Jedi antis want? It’s misery, and not necessarily on the parent’s part — he’s HAPPY and LOVES his job. He has the degrees to do anything he wants, as Maddie pointed out, but he doesn’t leave the Navy. It’s the same with the Jedi, as they have the best education and biggest library in the galaxies. And yet…

(some Jedi-Critical) and Anti-Jedi fans think the Jedi are miserable and why the Order is “wrong” for disallowing it [which is just projecting their subjective view of “what a fulfilling life is supposed to look like” onto a monastic people who value and find fulfillment in something other than romance], but it would actually be miserable if they did have families.

Pushing aside the fact that the Jedi are a monastic (and not only martial) organization, there’s a legit reason for disallowing marriage and committed relationships. It’s not fun and games. You can’t combine two enormous commitments and think you can handle it without neglecting the other. There’s no such thing as a part-time Jedi, it’s not a job title!

Jedi are able to leave the Order peacefully, they aren’t forced to stay, but on this specific topic, you just don’t have those feelings of « I need romance, I need marriage » when your society isn’t broken by being amatonormativity. You just don’t have those feelings when you’re already fulfilled in a community. You just don’t have those feelings when you have a purpose in life.

How dare they be happy and fulfilled by being Jedi? How dare they show their commitment to the Order by making the active and daily choice to be Jedi, when they could leave any time? How dare they stick their middle finger up at the no-romance/no-marriage rule? How dare the Jedi not conform to the “education → graduation → relationship → engagement → wedding → 2 kids and a dog” trajectory that only an amatonormative society expects of you? How dare the Jedi be monastic and live like it too?

———

(Words belong to @phoenixyfriend)

• “ ‘Missing out on love’ isn't something that matters as much when your society isn't amatonormative”

• “When your culture is one that emphasizes compassion for all [...] Don't you think that people might just not think of marriage as something worth striving for?”

• “When the world around you doesn't emphasize marriage and romance and all that, then wouldn't you view cultures that do as a tad odd? Not weird in a bad way, just different.”

I just keep thinking about the real world and how so much of the obsession with marriage and so on is a sociocultural thing. You don't want a big white dress because it's a big white dress: you want it because it is the symbol that your culture has been pushing on you since you were two. Girls are taught to fantasize about weddings and marriage and to like A Certain Look for it, sometimes to such a degree that they can spend decades in denial about things like their sexualities.

And we're unlearning that as a society, people are being more critical of the institution and how they engage with it, are starting to question what it is that our media teaches us, asking 'why is marriage the most important thing in a girl's life, or in anyone's life' and generally moving towards a world where marriage exists but is not treated as a universal life goal.

But the Jedi are just. Already doing that.”

• “Marriage is not an inherent human/sapient want. Companionship is! We are biologically wired to be social creatures! […] But marriage? A signed sheet of paper? That's not...inherent. Fidelity and monamory? Sure, maybe. Plenty of species mate for life. But... humans have been proving that's a choice for most of history.”

— (original post, here)

Even without the galactic scale of their lifestyle and duties, is it really so hard to understand or believe that people wouldn’t be miserable in a society where romance is not considered an important thing at all?

If you don’t think entire groups of people could choose to have no romantic commitments their entire life, then there’s over a thousand-years history of monks and nuns choosing to live a single life in an environment that, too, forbids them from romantic commitments, and they lived in contentment and peace.

They’re not only connected to other Jedi through the Force, they are connected to the rest of the universe through the Force; they find joy in their selflessness, in helping people, in trying their best to do good in a universe permeated with corruption. They love being a Jedi, there’s nothing a romantic relationship can give them that’s as fulfilling as being Jedi.

Just…stop projecting your amatonormative misery onto the Jedi.

———

If millions of people around the world in real-life can choose not to ever get married and have children (without even being a part of a close-knit community like the Jedi), despite being bombarded with amatonormativity in media and literature almost everyday, then what’s so weird about a fictional group (who are literally warrior-monks and whom have all of their companionship needs met within their non-amatonormative community) choosing to be single in favor of a higher calling and lifestyle that’s far more valuable and fulfilling than having a romantic relationship?

———

(Words belong to @jedi-enthusiast)

• “Call me crazy, but I know for a fact that I would not want a romantic relationship if I was a Jedi.

If I lived somewhere where I was a part of a community of people that I considered my mentors, my friends, my family; if I lived somewhere where I was encouraged to learn, to travel, to help people, to enjoy life as it is, and better myself; if I lived somewhere where I was supported and loved and cared for by the community, and I did the supporting, the loving, the caring for other people in the community as well; if I lived somewhere where it wasn't constantly implied, or sometimes outright stated, that my worth was tied to me marrying a man, popping out children, and making money...

...if I was a Jedi, I can honestly say that the thought of pursuing a romantic relationship probably wouldn't cross my mind at all---not unless I met someone specific whom I felt that sort of connection with, but even then, I probably wouldn't give up being a Jedi to be with them because I'd feel more fulfilled as a Jedi than I would in a romantic relationship.

I honestly don't understand the assumption that the Jedi are miserable because they can't get married, I really don't.

If you feel like you wouldn't be able to be fulfilled without a romantic partner, then that's fine! Everyone's different! We all have different wants and needs! But just accept that you wouldn't be fulfilled without a romantic relationship and stop acting like it's impossible for anyone else to feel differently.

The Jedi all seem perfectly happy as they are.”

— (original post, here)

I also wanna add, because I don’t know where to put this statement … there’s romance and marriage in every single media and literature, so why should it be inserted into a fictional monastic culture? They’re not only warriors, they’re monks too.

It’s a rhetorical question…but I think either they’re so marriage-obsessed that they hadn’t thought of this. Or they are consciously aware of the over-saturation of romance within media when they talk about how the Jedi Order are wrong for disallowing romantic relationships, but they don’t care because they think higher callings are stupid and anything else is inferior to a romance/marriage.

———

(Words belong to @tookas-have-teeth) (original post here)

• “There is a difference between people saying that everyone feels romantic attraction and that it is necessary to being human [arophobia] and the comments a lot of people make about the Jedi.

Oftentimes, when I see complaints about the Jedi, it's because people are angry that people who DO feel romantic attraction might not choose to act on it, or might be part of an organization that requires its members to give up romantic relationships and marriage. People cannot fathom the concept that other people might experience romantic attraction, and do so intensely, and yet value something else above romance.

People consider this to be a cruel denial and repression of one's feelings, rather than seeing it as a choice people are making to prioritize things they value. People have SO bought into the idea that romance is the Ultimate Form of Love, that romance is necessary to live a fulfilled life, that they cannot imagine folks finding other forms of love more fulfilling, especially if those folks experience romantic attraction.”

—

[a comment within the post linked immediately above] “By claiming that people who experience romantic attraction *must* act on it or else they are oppressed, one is functionally insulting every priest, monk, nun, or any number of members of a religious order who choose, of their own free will, not to pursue romance in favor of a higher calling.” — @supersaiyanjedi14

———

There’s only two other fictional worlds that I can think of off the top of my head, that are non-amatonormative. Blissfully fulfilled and happy …

… Equestria (My Little Pony) and Pixie Hollow (Disney Fairies).

After learning the word, I could now put a name to why these two worlds are my top favorites: It’s a non-amatonormative society where everyone’s happy with just a community and a purpose in their life, where romance is 100% not an important factor.

“But in Pixie Hollow, there’s no reproduction, so of course there wouldn’t be any relationships.”

There’s still love and attraction.

Rosetta gets a crush on Sled in Secret of the Wings, Queen Clarion and Lord Milori reveal they fell in love in the distant past. And Terrence has a crush on TinkerBell (although that might just be the printed media, ‘cause I don’t remember it being obvious in the movies).

Is it really so hard to understand or believe that in a society where romance is not considered an important thing at all, and people have (literal) power and a job that they love and a whole damn community for companionship, then those people wouldn’t be miserable?

So, again, stop projecting your allonormative and amatonormative misery onto the Jedi. ‘Cause that’s all it is: your projection.

It’s so sad that the real world can’t be like the aforementioned worlds. Our world makes it so hard for people; a majority don’t have jobs they love, or they don’t have time or money to pursue and grow their talents, and there’s no true community among us. It’s literally dystopian, and we only see it as “this is normal, it’s real life” because we don’t know any other way. But that’s quite a different topic, so…

—

I just wanted to add these, unrelated to Star Wars and fandoms, to point out how destructive it [amatonormativity and allonormativity] is in the real world. ‘Cause I do see tweets on my timeline, from time to time, where a user will be torn over not having a relationship at a certain age or their life not following the ‘right’ trajectory.

[posts by people outside of the Star Wars fandom]

— @uncanny-tranny (original post here)

• Amatonormativity has destroyed so many people's understanding and acceptance of themselves, and it's heartbreaking.

Yes, it is normal to be in your 20s, 30s, or older and not have lost your virginity, had a first kiss, or a partner. It is normal to say that you aren't ready for those things, too! It is normal if your life doesn't follow the "college graduate -> engagement -> buying a home -> 2.5 kids and a dog" trajectory that so many people have idealized.

So many people associate maturity with losing your virginity, or having a first kiss, or a serious relationship, and I think that's a dangerous association. Maturity isn't gained through those things, and you don't have to have those experiences to be considered "mature" or "grown." It is not a bad thing to go at your pace. Nobody else can live your life but you. If you end up having those experiences, that's great! But it should be done because you want to experience them, not because you feel "broken" and "immature" without them.

— @/acegirleatscake on Twitter

• Allonormativity and amatonormativity normalizes ableism: the “you must be cold, sick, delusional” or “there’s something wrong with you” if you don’t have sexual or romantic attractions or don’t want those types of relationships. Being single is seen as “being unwell.”

@/0p4l3sc3nt for this one (below)

• […] single people are constantly questioned about the legitimacy of our happiness […] In an Amatonormative society, our romantic relationships will always have ulterior motives (often subconscious) – which arise from us being conditioned to see romantic relationships as the means to achieve personhood, happiness, and TRUE purpose.

———

Sincerely, everyone in the Anti-Jedi circle needs to go outside, touch grass, and reflect on it.

If our society wasn’t amatonormative (if there was no such thing as our idealization of romance and marriage, if romantic relationships weren’t seen as the most important thing at all in our society), then nobody would have an issue with the Jedi Order disallowing it — for many legit reasons, might I again remind you! Their reasons make so much sense, yet your amatonormativity floods in and turns your brain into worms.

• “Fiction doesn't necessarily map onto people's real life opinions, but the statements people make about this topic are often very broad "the Jedi are bad for forbidding marriage, because people NEED romance" type statements that definitely sound like they're general worldviews rather than just opinions on fictional characters.” — @tookas-have-teeth (again)

This post was left in my drafts from a month ago (early August 2023), but seeing the topic come up again just made me kinda snap; and I don’t want to just scream into the void, so I’m posting it.

And I don’t care how repetitive some of it is, because that was very intentional. They’re like little reminders, so you don’t miss the point and might actually reflect on it.

HAVE A GOOD DAY!

#star wars #amatonormativity #pro jedi #fictional monastic cultures do not need romance or marriage when every single media is non-monastic and oversaturated with romance #in defense of the jedi #long post #allonormativity #this was in my drafts but I’m taking it out ‘cause I’m just sick and tired of ppl acting like the Jedi are miserable over the Order’s rule #I’m taking it out because I’m just so sick and tired of ppl acting like the Jedi don’t make the active daily CHOICE to be a Jedi #I’m sick and tired of allonormative and amatonormative-minded ppl in the fandom #thank you George Lucas for creating the Jedi #sw meta #star wars meta #I wish our society could be more like Equestria and Pixie Hollow and the Jedi #Our society is a dystopia

[randoimago]

Watching the Sunset Together

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Character(s): Rolan

Type of Request: NPC Winter Event Thingy

Note(s): I literally saw this post earlier today and decided I wanted to write drabbles/oneshots (whatever I have inspo with at the time) for various characters. Except I wanted to specifically do it for NPC's.

Since this is so very last minute, I'm only really seeing what NPC's you guys want to see stuff for and if I think it fits (or if I vibe with the NPC) then I'll choose which of these days to write for them. I went with Rolan for number 1 because I love him dearly and this idea came very easily to me.

If there was one thing Rolan could say he loved about Ramazith's Tower, it would be the view. Standing outside the tower and looking down at the city below him, seeing how small everything looks from this height, it really puts things into perspective. Not only that, but seeing the ocean of the docks in the distance and watching the sun begin its descent over the water gave him a sense of calm, of peace.

"Well, it was peaceful," Rolan says aloud, an amused smile on his face when he hears the noise of the portal behind him.

He half expects it to be one of his siblings, mainly Lia, wanting to try one of the "weird Wizard things" in the tower. When he glances back, there's a pleasantly surprised look in his eyes as he sees you.

"And what brings you here? Was my illusion downstairs still no fun?" He asks, smiling a bit as he remembers the conversation you've both had about his little illusion and how you grew bored with making faces at it due to not getting a reaction. He had told you that his siblings say the same thing.

"Not quite, it just doesn't have the same smugness you do," you reply and Rolan rolls his eyes playfully before stepping aside on the balcony so you can join him if you want. He just barely suppresses the happy smile when you do stand next to him. Rolan makes sure his damned tail is coiled around his leg so it doesn't go to yours.

"Oh? Then what brought about this visit?" He inquires, a tad curious as he tries to not be too hopeful about whatever reason you might have.

"Just decided to visit and see how you're holding up," you answer and he suppresses the contented purr that wants to pop up. You've heard his purr before and teased him for being exactly like a cat, to which he defended himself profusely before pouting. The laughter that escaped your lips afterwards almost made him purr again, not that he'd admit it.

"Busy. I've had to deal with a lot of Lorroakan's former associates. Some of them being very happy that the place is under new management while others, not so much." Rolan noticed the concerned look on your face and he gave you a teasing smile. "What? You don't think I can handle myself by now?"

"Considering what a piece of work that bastard was, you can't blame me for being worried about what his friends might be like."

"Aw, you're worried about me?" He teases more and chuckles happily when you playfully shove him in response. In the past, he might've been insulted that you worried, but now it makes his heart beat a bit faster.

"Seems you enjoy me worrying, judging by your purring." His chuckling stops momentarily as he makes a face when he realizes that at some point he did, in fact, start purring at the banter between you two. A scoff escapes him and he rolls his eyes when you start laughing this time. His "annoyance" fades easily as he takes in your happy features and how they're accented from the rays of the setting sun in the background. He has to look away to glance back out to the cityscape, glad that his skin is already red enough to hide any blushing he might be doing.

"Things have been rather peaceful lately," Rolan says, changing the subject. "It's nice being able to finally relax after everything and just look at the sunset."

He hears a contemplative hum from you and he glances over for a moment, your eyes locked on him.

"The view is rather lovely," you agree softly and he feels his heart thrum faster. A slow smile crawls onto his lips before his eyes move back to the sunset, as do yours. He's glad you don't mention his tail that has wrapped around your leg gently as he stands a tad closer to you, his eyes glancing back to you for a moment more.

"That it is."

#baldurs gate x reader #baldurs gate 3 x reader #bg3 x reader #rolan x reader #bg3 rolan x reader #randoimago npc event thingy

[coraniaid]

Of all of Buffy’s (many) retcons, I think the one I’m most conflicted about is the introduction of the Watcher’s Council in Season 3.  

That this is indeed a retcon – and not just the show gradually revealing something it had always secretly factored into its world-building – is, I think, pretty hard to dispute.  We’ve known of Watchers other than Giles for a while – Kendra’s Watcher Sam Zabuto is named but unseen in Season 2’s What’s My Line?, and Buffy’s original Watcher is seen but unnamed during the flashbacks in the same season’s Becoming – but it’s only in Season 3’s Faith, Hope & Trick that we start to be told that these other Watchers have any sort of internal structure of leadership, let alone one that sidelines Giles himself.  And the (retroactive) existence of the Council raises obvious questions (How did Kendra and her Watcher not know Sunnydale already had a Slayer?  Why was Giles not told that another Slayer had been called?  What do all the Watchers who don’t have a Slayer to train actually do all day?) that the show is rather typically uninterested in answering.

On the one hand, I think this retcon has some potential – Quentin Travers in particular is quietly one of the show’s better human villains –  and I’d stand by what I’ve said in the past about the show not really utilizing the Council enough after Season 3.  They show up a few more times, of course, but one gets the impression the writers grew pretty tired of the concept and found it pretty limiting from a story-telling perspective.  Notably Buffy herself insists that “there’s no all-knowing council” in Season 7’s Selfless (and this is before the Council gets blown up).  

After Season 3, the Council primarily exists to occasionally show up to try to kill Faith (or Buffy in Faith’s body) and otherwise stand around being pompous and useless in the face of any actual supernatural threat.  I do kind of wish the show had done more with the idea than this.  As it is, the Council is one of those many parts of Buffy’s worldbuilding that seems to have a position in the fandom that is not quite proportional to the relative lack of attention it is given by canon. 

On the other hand, the mere existence of the Council does slightly odd things to Giles’s established backstory.  In particular, he goes from being somebody a lot like Buffy – somebody who was told at a young age he had a destiny which he had no choice but to comply with – to … well, having an employer.  Having a job, the very thing we’re repeatedly told that Slaying isn’t for Buffy.  And unlike Buffy, Giles even gets paid, at least if Season 5’s Checkpoint is to be believed. This makes Giles a little less sympathetic than I think he was intended to be in the first two seasons.

Yet equally -- and in the opposite direction -- the Council as a concept tends to be used – both by the writers and the wider fandom – to represent the more negative aspects of the idea of a Watcher, often in a way that means pretending that those same aspects aren’t present in Buffy’s own Watcher.  

The most blatant example of this, I think, is the way that, in Checkpoint, Giles’s own complicity in Season 3’s Cruciamentum is handwaved away, with Buffy reacting to news that the Council are heading to Sunnydale by telling Giles: “I don’t trust them … they put me through that test” [emphasis added].  I mean, you just have to watch Helpless to realize that this is a very odd spin on the events of that episode (did Quentin Travers drug Buffy?  Did he lie to her face about it afterwards?  Did he listen to her dismay at the prospect of losing her powers forever and say nothing?).

And we often see this selective criticism of the concept of Watchers in the wider fandom too, particularly when it comes to Buffy’s temporary new Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.  I mean: yes, obviously, Wesley seems pretty clueless about the reality of life on a Hellmouth and blatantly owes his selection as Watcher to nepotism.  But that was true of Season 1 Giles as well.  

In rewatching that first season especially Giles often seems incredibly ill-prepared for the task at hand.  It takes him weeks to work out who Angel is (something Kendra manages in seconds, because – she tells us – “I read about him”).  He frequently gets the dates of important prophecies wrong (in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date), or is wrongly dismissive of his Slayer’s intuitions (in The Pack, in The Puppet Show), he reacts to the discovery of new supernatural threats and dangers with a slightly inappropriate level of academic glee (“Witchcraft … it’s classic!” in Witch, in response to the news that a student has been blinded and almost killed), he is somewhat hostile to perspectives and attitudes other than his own (Buffy’s attempts to join the cheerleading squad in Witch again, for example, or his arguments with Jenny Calendar in I Robot, You Jane).  

These are all very like the ways in which Wesley himself is shown to behave, especially in his attempts to micromanage his Slayers and in his misplaced confidence that Balthazar is definitely dead.  And this isn’t a coincidence.  I think it’s a very intentional writing choice.  This similarity is the reason why the show introduces Wesley: he is very clearly meant to be a (version of) a younger Giles.  (Note, in particular, the way they unconsciously mirror each other’s glasses-cleaning routine in Bad Girls.)

And as for nepotism, well.  The first Watcher other than Giles the show talks about isn’t either of the examples I gave above.  It’s Giles’s own father.   In Season 1’s Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, Giles tells Buffy:

“I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher.  He was one [...] and I was to be next.”

Later, in Season 2, we find out that Giles dropped out of Oxford and abandoned his preparations to become a Watcher, dabbled with using magic and summoning demons for personal gain, and ended up getting a man killed.  And yet, despite this, he somehow manages to go back to Oxford, graduate, and become a Watcher.  How do you explain that level of special treatment if not nepotism?  Do the Council pull strings to get Buffy back into college after she drops out?  Did they turn a blind eye to Gwendolyn Post’s misuse of magic? Do they seem relaxed about Faith's role in a man's accidental death?

(This is, I think, largely unintenional on the part of the writers. There is a significant difference between the original Season 1 idea of Giles -- somebody who was compelled to be a Watcher from the age of ten because his father was one and he doesn't get a choice in the matter -- compared to the later (implied) Season 3/Season 5 idea of a Giles who got a (paying) job as a Watcher because his father was one but is, in fact, ultimately replacable and can be -- and eventually is -- fired from or rehired to do this job.)

And note that I don’t think any of this makes Giles a bad character (or even a bad person, if you care about that sort of thing): he has to be flawed, or Buffy would have far fewer problems and far less agency of her own and the show simply wouldn’t work.  He gets better at acting as a mentor to Buffy over time (well, until he doesn’t).  He obviously does care a lot about Buffy’s well-being, right from the beginning, even if this affection is shaped and constrained by his own upbringing and the fact he believes himself responsible for the fact she will very likely be killed in the pursuit of the Calling he has trained her for.  They do both have destinies, but Buffy’s destiny is to die and Giles’s destiny is to watch.

But it’s very odd to see, for example, people convincing themselves that the Council sending Wesley to Sunnydale, despite his inexperience – and apparently for no better reason than because his father is a big deal and the Slayer he’d be monitoring already managed to get her first Watcher killed and nobody more senior wants the job – represents some big change in how the Council operate (well, retroactively operate, that is, if we agree to pretend they existed in Season 1).  

This has to be why they sent Giles himself, doesn’t it?  He can’t have been their first choice if they were picking on merit and experience.  If he was, why do they so regularly keep him in the dark?  The difference is, of course, is that the audience finds Wesley very irritating and he is treated by the show as an antagonist, or at least a nuisance, but we are already predisposed to like Giles (and yes, to be clear, I do like Giles).  And in Season 1, the audience is just as ignorant of the show’s later worldbuilding as Giles is, so his omissions and errors seem less obvious.  It’s only after the show starts building up the idea of the Whirlwind as a huge deal (in Checkpoint, again, we see that there are Watchers who wrote whole theses on them), that Giles not having the first clue who Angelus or Spike were until after Buffy met them starts to seem a little weird.

But the fact that the Watcher’s Council is written to exaggerate the problems with the concept of a Watcher shouldn’t mean that we retroactively pretend those problems didn’t exist before then, or that Giles is somehow blameless or unaffected by them.  And I think it’s a shame that both the writers and the fandom often act as though it does.  Those flaws and contradictions are what makes Giles interesting!

(Actually, while I'm on the subject I guess I'll admit I'm still a little irritated years later by the fact that the hosts of Buffering watched Revelations and somehow decided that, of the two people claiming to be Watchers in this episode, it was Gwendolyn Post who was the face of the patriarchy.  Because, sure, Rupert Giles is a man who works for a largely male-dominated and centuries old organization, an organization that has traditionally given itself the job of telling young woman what to do, and canonically he only has this job because his father had it before him, and none of these things apply to Gwendolyn Post at all -- she isn't even a real Watcher anymore -- but ... uh.  Well, we like Giles and she's kind of rude to him, so I guess none of that matters and words don’t mean anything.  The patriarchy only benefits people we don’t like, doesn’t it?

After all, that nice Mr Giles can’t possibly be a representative of the patriarchy.  Why, he’s Buffy’s Dad!)

#btvs #worst Buffy retcon is the Normal Again Joyce one #best Buffy retcon is that Drusilla sired Spike

[mdhwrites]

What do you think about the four most popular ships in Amphibia (Sashanne, Sasharcy, Marcanne, and Sashannarcy)? Even if shipping and romance aren’t that important and only used to teach a lesson or for a comedy episode, it’s pretty obvious that the relationship between the girls can be seen either as platonic or romantic.

So I'm going to first give my one sentence thoughts on each by concept and then canon before going in deep on this:

Sashanne: A unique dynamic that is actually very context specific so hard to actually recreate and I'd argue most people don't even try or get close in fan works (myself included)/I do like them but I 100% think they needed a couple years to figure out their lives away from each other or else post Amphibia they would have likely become toxic in a new way.

Sasharcy: Classic nerd and popular pairing/FUCKING NONEXISTENT.

Marcanne: A bit more nuanced since it's much more the slacker and the passionate one as far as a dynamic goes but not in the way you expect./Held back by a lot more tell don't show, especially in the first couple episodes that Marcy is introduced but it's cute and you can EASILY see how this whole trip will have made Anne be able to appreciate her oldest friend more.

Sashannarcy: In concept these are actually a GREAT polyamory trio and I love that it has such mainstream appeal with a fandom/I don't think it works from the show's perspective because of how well defined Sasha and Anne's relationship is while Marcy struggles to have a presence.

In case you didn't notice a running theme, these ships have essentially the same problem as my greatest problem with the show: Marcy. Her weaker writing compared to the rest of the cast and the fact that she serves a narrative role more than she acts as her own character makes it hard for me to be compelled by her canon self in ships. It's akin to why Willow and Hunter don't appeal to me from a shipping perspective. I like characters, not plot devices. Yes, Marcy is better than both of those characters as she actually has a firmer character than either but that doesn't fix that her narrative utility comes before who she is most of the time.

The other big element that maybe has always held me back from shipping them in canon once I watched the show is actually the fact that I agree with the show: As teenagers, they were AWFUL for each other. Marcy needs her own, personal strength that she found some of in Amphibia but needs to actually put to use in the real world. Sasha brutally changed so much of herself and was clearly struggling with that, over correcting or still wanting to run even to the end. She asks if it's okay for her to abandon Marcy after all, even after she's gone so far to make up to Anne as to give up ALL power in her life which isn't healthy either. Anne is the closest to being ready for a relationship after Amphibia but Sprig's Birthday/Give a Frog a Cookie showed that her self sacrificing tendency for her friends and her desperation for approval still. She may do it for better people than for Sasha but she is still struggling.

They all just need time to figure themselves out as people because your relationships SHOULD NOT DEFINE YOU. That's kind of part of the point of the ending. Take the good and grow as a person, whether you lose someone by choice or by circumstance. That includes for the trio as friends or romantically.

Okay, but I did mention something potentially quite controversial which is my Sashanne take. See... Their dynamic in most fandom works is the overzealous, brash one versus the patient, more responsible one with Sasha and Anne respectively. That is accurate post Amphibia but it also carries NONE of their baggage and usually leans a lot more on Sasha's tomboy nature instead of the fact that Sasha is a girl who can both kick your ass and then worry about having chipped a nail. The complexities of Sashanne that make it so compelling in the show just don't show up as much except as an obstacle to get over to get together. That works for shipping but it's not why their friendship is as complicated and interesting as it is in the show. It doesn't have the punch it should and it's damn near impossible to replicate because that level of history is hard to depict. It only functions in the show as being well depicted because of how much time is spent essentially breaking Anne out of Sasha's control, which is part of it. Anne is someone who pretty much left a cult and Sashanne is her having to decide to now be with her cult leader but not slip back into the mentality the cult taught her. That's... not easy to put it mildly.

But then again, a lot of people just take Sasha and Anne working together for a greater cause to mean they have literally no issues anymore despite Sasha's Angels existing. I guess that happens when somehow the entire fandom doesn't give a fuck about Amphibia but only the trio. sigh

Let's end this on a positive note though which is that if I am so rough on essentially all the Sasha relationships for needing time for Sasha to genuinely internalize her lessons, Marcy is the opposite. While I complained about her above, the strength to the fact that she's a pretty well defined, nice character who can be used mostly to support others arcs is that she more neatly fits into a position for shipping. Her awkwardness and nerdiness is PRIME romance fodder (there's a reason a shocking amount of romantic protagonists are clumsy but that's for a different blog) and her passion makes it easy to understand why someone would want to be with her.

And I do want to say some thoughts on Marcanne. Even if they start on a rough place with more tell instead of show, it actually does kind of work in this context. A complaint I've had about other relationships is not actually knowing what the other is interested in their partner for besides "That's the hot one." There is ZERO ambiguity here. Marcy likes Anne because of her compassion, something she probably has worried about wearing out herself. Anne has always appreciated Marcy's intelligence but Amphibia has made her understand Marcy's passion far better than she did before and Anne clearly actually is into that now that she better cares about others properly. This also clearly shows their chemistry as we know the strengths and weaknesses each of them cover for the other, though not perfectly as they're both still human and the same things they admire in the other can cause anxiety and worry in themselves from comparing themselves to their partner. Marcy in Wartwood and Scavenger Hunt are all it takes for all of this to come out and it leads to more romantic chemistry, and a genuinely dynamic look at what they could be, than a lot of romance movies manage in their entire runtime.

In conclusion, I like all of them in general. In practice, I find most of them deeply compelling within the show. It's just... It doesn't drive me to want to write them during the show romantically because I agree with the show. They're complicated, both as a trio and as themselves, and they probably could use a more solid ground for themselves before they really start working on each other.

And that is honestly even better to me because it just makes them all the more interesting.

======+++++======

For anyone curious why I didn't talk about Sashannarcy at all despite literally being a polyamory writer, it's because I kind of wanted to keep it to the ships that I think are properly represented in the show and Marcy and Sasha get essentially zero time together to try and form a relationship beyond "Marcy thinks Sasha is really fucking cool while Sasha barely gives Marcy the time of day if she's not also giving attention to Anne." The theoretical would be fun to talk about but it's pretty much only the theoretical and I decided to keep the blog more focused on the practical.

Also had a moment after this of going "Huh. I wonder how much of me being demiromantic is playing a part in how I see these.?

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#amphibia #Marcanne #Sashanne #Sasharcy #Sashannarcy

[questforgalas]

My thoughts on TBB Season 2 finale

It's a long one so strap in if you enter

First, before I get started, I wanted to say that this has been such a fun season to watch, and the interactions I've had with everyone in this fandom has made my Wednesday and weeks since January so delightful. I know hiatuses see a lull in activity, and some people are going to need to step away for a bit, but I just wanted to say thanks for being such a warm and open environment (at least the little corner I've found myself in). Here's to fingers crossed that the panel at Star Wars celebration in just a couple weeks brings us confirming great news!

Love ya all. Mama Tay is here with blankets and ice cream for the Tech babes if you need it. My man is unconscious on a torture table and my babygirl is a captive so we can all cry into the containers together

I'm able to watch the episodes at 8am EST every week, it's my little weekly routine I look forward to, so I've had a couple hours to process my one watch through of the finale episodes, and, just, wow.

Warning, "The Breaking of the Fellowship" just started playing on my playlist so who knows where this is about to go lol. Let's go to feelings town

The Bad Batch Season 2

I have not been quiet about how much I love season 2. Out of 16 episodes, there are maybe 2 that could be written off, but put them anywhere in season 1 or any TCW season, and they'd be some of the best episodes, which only adds to how well written and well done this season was.

I'm a Crosshair girl, not just in a "heart eyes spindly toothpick" sort of way, in fact that really didn't develop until halfway through season 1 - which my therapist definitely doesn't need to analyze - but his personality and his subtle devotion to his squad sucked me in from the beginning. So even with how little we had of him this season (granted, what we did get was some of the best television I've ever watched), this season is up there for me.

The character development for all batchers but especially Omega, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair was intriguing and dynamic, and that's not to say Hunter and Wrecker didn't have their moments either. They did, they were just much more subtle. We saw a lot more of Hunter's enhanced senses at play and Wrecker's knowledge, not just fascination, of explosives, but that pales in comparison to the other four.

The universe expansion was everything to me. We don't have anything depicting the rise of the Empire. We've never seen it's take over and the effects that rippled across the galaxy. We've only ever seen the afterwards, so to get this eery and terrifying depiction is exactly how I'd expect the galaxy to feel during that time, and I really applaud the creators on being so detailed with it.

The Finale Episodes

Wow. Just, wow. Admittedly, I had two reactions to these episodes.

The first was as the Crosshair fan who's put a lot of my emotional stability on this group of animated misfits, and that reaction hated these episodes. Not because I didn't think they were done well (getting into that in a second) but because I latched onto the Bad Batch's dynamics as a family since TCW and I so deeply in my soul to the point it's almost a wound in my heart want them back together again. I fell in love with the TCW Bad Batch, and I want that dynamic back so I've been rooting for it since "Aftermath", and every time we were given crumbs of a possibility that could happen this season, I devoured them and clutched onto them like they were my lifeline. So yes, from that perspective I hated these episodes.

Now, from the Star Wars fan taking a step back from my fanon - holy freaking shit. I laughed. I cried. I sobbed. I oooo'd. I cheered. When they stopped "The Summit" in the middle of the action, similar to how they broke up "Spoils of War" and "Ruins of War", it hit me that we weren't getting the reunion I desperately hoped for, and I took a minute to grieve that, went into acceptance, and then dove into "Plan 99".

Again, were there points throughout both, especially "Plan 99", that I was going "oh I hope this happens" or "ok annnnnd now!"? Yeah, absolutely (cut to Omega waking up at Cid's and me going "nice this is when they reveal it was all a bad dream and Tech's gonna walk in in 3..2..1..."). Did I have 4 other endings in my head halfway through the episode? 1000%. But it's not my creation, and based off of what we were given all of season 2, it all made sense to me. Even the things that made me have to pause for 4 minutes while I sobbed into my hands.

We are set up for an extremely action packed, spy/political thriller filled, intriguing season 3, and that wouldn't have happened if the season didn't end the way it did. If it was all tied up neatly in a bow, then there would be a lot more doubt, in my mind, about 1. if we'd even get a season 3 and 2. what the heck it was going to be about.

I'm not going to get into individual character analyses, but I thought everyone was in character. There was not a moment in either episode I thought "huh that doesn't really fit does it?" All of them were on brand in my opinion, and I again encourage people to take a step back and separate fanon from canon.

So why the emotional impact?

One of the things I've really had to process and think through is why this finale was staying with me like it is. I mean, I've been a Star Wars fan since 1999. I lived through watching Revenge of the Sith in theaters. I, like many of us, watched "Victory and Death" at the beginning of a very dark time in the world. I gripped the edge of my theatre seat watching Rogue One, praying they made it out like I hadn't known the end of their story for 25 years. But none of those endings stayed with me the way TBB finale is.

Sometimes something stays with me for an hour, maybe more, but I've never had any show have a finale where throughout the day as I thought about it, I burst into tears in varying degrees, and I can feel that being the case for awhile. Honestly, I haven't put my finger fully on it yet, but I think one of the reasons why is because all of those other endings I mentioned above - ROTS, Rogue One, TCW - and really any Star Wars media so far, has not had such a sorrow filled ending in such a dark period of time without us knowing the story after already.

ROTS we knew the outcome of that 20 years before. Rogue One even longer. TCW was filling in the gaps of a story long concluded. The Mandalorian is set in a time when it's supposed to be peaceful and the galaxy is mostly living in the light, so even when Mando and Grogu are separated, it's sad to witness the pair be apart, but there's no umbrella threat that makes the separation dangerous.

We are in the darkest period of time that we as Star Wars fans know in TBB. That is the point of the series - it's not just about these clones and how they cope post war. It's we the fans seeing how terrifying the Empire is beyond just the two sith lords running it. The inner workings and how easily they squash hope within their own government. We as the fans are meant to watch the Batch and love the family but be terrified of what can be waiting for them around every corner.

And that's not to mention we have no idea what the fate of the clones is. First off, the events of A New Hope are 20 years away. Rebels and the Obi-Wan Kenobi show are the only medias we have depicting the time between ROTS and ANH, and they barely scratch the surface. Rex is canonically confirmed to survive to Return of the Jedi, and we have Gregor and Wolffe in Rebels, but where the heck are the rest of them. We don't know. We literally don't know, and we're now left to speculate what that could possibly entail for the clones (especially the Batch) on any given day, let alone when we're left with two of them as captives of the Empire and one "dead". It is, in my opinion, one of the most devastating endings to a Star Wars media because of the terror it can hold.

Tech's Fall

Why yes, this would be the part I had to pause the show for and sob over for 4 minutes.

Tech has been my second favorite member of the Batch since they were introduced in TCW. This unapologetic, enthusiastic nerd who knows what he likes and hyperfixates on it spoke to me on levels, as I know he did for many of you - especially after "The Crossing" (I personally cannot relate to the ND connection, but was really happy to see the community joyous over the moment).

I, like many of you have already said in your thought posts, had the growing pit in my stomach each time they developed his character. The constant-optimist in me latched onto the possibility that just once they wouldn't pull that shit on us, but obviously that wasn't the case.

Tech and Crosshair's sacrifices punch me in the gut. Both of them are to save their family and give their family a chance. To have Wrecker and Tech bicker back and forth even up to the last minute like brothers do, and then the fucking awful shot of Wrecker watching his brother fall knowing he did it so they could have a chance. As a sibling, I couldn't handle it (I've actually started crying again now writing this). If I was Tech and that was my family, I'd do the same thing. If I was Wrecker watching that in front of me, I'd be on my knees screaming.

The scene was shot chaotically to make us, the viewer, feel panic and feel the gravity of the situation the Batch was in while seeing tiny moments when maybe they could pull it off, maybe Tech is moving faster than we think, maybe the car will come online and speed away, all to keep us hanging on while feeling the pressure of the environment they were in to then watch the fall and feel anything but relief, just like the Batch.

Now, onto what's keeping me hanging on

Is Tech Dead?

No, and I'm blaming Echo for this, but I do not think he's dead. And I do not think that takes away from his sacrifice either.

First of all, this is Star Wars. Unless you see the body, they ain't dead. @jealous-sloth77 even made the point of Darth Maul in their thought post. My dude was cut in half and fell down a supposed never ending shaft, but came back with the v-neck of all v-necks and a 200 step revenge plan, then literally became the cockroach of Star Wars.

Let alone the direct parallels to Echo Tech's fate could have.

So stay with me on this for a second, and I may be giving Filoni and Corbett and Rau a little more credit than they deserve, but follow me here.

Echo's blown up at the citadel in Season 3 of TCW. Not season 6 and then reappears a season later. 4 seasons of separation, and given the cancellations and renewal breaks, you're talking literally 10 years in between his death and his revival, which narratively makes no sense to me. And don't get me wrong, I know the Dominos were a fan favorite and Fives and Echo were a fun pairing, but all in all, Echo appeared in five episodes? Maybe six before he's killed off? And only 3 of those was he a "main" character. Compared to many other clones and characters, that's not exactly a recipe for "bring the fan favorite back 10 years later". So that makes me think that Echo coming back, especially the way he did, was setting the ground work for something. Now hang with me here.

In Mando S2E1, Mando kills the Krayt dragon by going inside of it, a monster who's stomach is literally full of acid, and blows it up from the inside out, dramatically coming out pointedly covered in the krayt acid showing that it has no affect on beskar. Then 2 minutes later we get the cameo of Boba Fett in the sunset, a character who last we saw was swallowed by a monster, supposedly digesting in stomach acid. Then in Book of Boba Fett, we see that because of his beskar armor, he survived the sarlacc, etc, etc. My point is, Star Wars has recently developed a habit of setting long-con explanations in various medias. Planting the seed you could say. So it's not far fetched to theorize that they brought Echo back from a ship explosion that we were made to think nothing but his helmet survived so they could set the ground work for other characters to be dramatically saved/scavenged and "brought back to life".

I mean, this is the world of Palpatine clones so, it's not out there.

That's not to mention the scene of Hemlock bringing Tech's goggles to Ord Mantell and making a point of mocking his death in front of them. Hemlock's entire purpose is to unlock the cloning techniques of the Kaminoans, and suddenly the literal genius is separated from them, assumed dead. If I'm an evil-scientist like Hemlock, I'm figuring out anyway to make sure Tech's alive.

So yes that's a long-stretch plan that gives Corbett, Filoni, and Rau a lot of credit for potentially thinking multiple seasons of plot lines through at the beginning, which, honestly, would be a good strategy considering the time period they're navigating around so I don't think it's that crazy to consider.

However, the main fact that I'm latching onto that Tech's not dead is the same fact that I've latched onto ever since "Aftermath" to tell myself Crosshair will be back with the Batch someday, and that's because it narratively makes no sense in context to how the Batch were introduced to us to keep them separated.

Think back to TCW S7, when the Batch are introduced. That was 4 episodes highlighting a tight knit, unique, family unit who all complimented each other to round out an unbeatable unit. Their sibling dynamic was the main focus of that group and is what made me fall in love with them, and it made no sense to me that they separated that dynamic within the first 10 minutes of the first episode and now to further separate it by taking Tech away.

I feel this so strongly in regards to Crosshair and Tech. I was sad when Echo left, and I was confident he was going to be with them again, but his departure didn't hit me the same way as Crosshair's and now Tech's. It just does not make sense to me to have the OG 4 separated permanently given how they were presented to us. It would be one thing if they went all in on the "Crosshair's evil" route and semi bait-and-switched us, but given his evident loyalty to the Batch and clear, long path of him being back with them someday, it really would not make sense to me for them to "swap one out for the other". That, in my opinion, would be lazy writing, and with how much love and care the creators have shown this series, I cannot fathom them throwing in the towel like that.

Unfortunately until the new season, I'll sadly have to accept the fact that he is gone and in our eyes right now, he's dead. And that hurts. It really does, but boy, am I grasping onto this last analysis like it's my tether over Mustafar

Love ya all. Mama Tay is here with blankets and ice cream for the Tech babes if you need it. My man is unconscious on a torture table and my babygirl is a captive so we can all cry into the containers together

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch spoilers #hunter #wrecker #crosshair #tech #echo #omega #the bad batch echo #the bad batch tech #the bad batch wrecker #the bad batch crosshair #the bad batch hunter #the bad batch omega #tbb spoilers #tbb positivity #the bad batch positivity

[magxit]

I am going to ruffle some feathers here but it needs to be said.

I am a proud POC. I’m 28 years old lesbian who grew up in a rough neighbourhood.

I will admit that when I first heard about things that this Matty Healy had said and done.. I was irate.

I reacted on my emotions first and I was there on TikTok arguing with anyone who defended Taylor and Matty. I supported the speakupNow fan movement. I used my voice to spread my anger across whatever platform I could get my hands on and with each new bit of information… I got angrier. I boxed up every last bit of Taylor Swift merchandise. I sold my tickets to the Detroit show.

Then I stumbled upon the first POC who wasn’t angry with Taylor or Matty. He was angry with the fans and the toxic fan culture. Then I found another. Then I found a handful of POC TikTokers, those who were part of the LGBTIQA community and those who follow the Jewish faith and they weren’t angry with Taylor and Matty. They were angry at the fans. This, at first, made me even angrier. I felt betrayed by them far more then I ever did Taylor - and yes, I had felt betrayed by her as well.

I believe our voices have a right to be heard and I was fighting for people to listen to our communities so I listened. Just to try and understand their perspective.

The first was an older man. He broke down the entire situation with each claim and explained how things weren’t what they seemed and I found myself wanting to put my emotions aside for just a bit and do my own research away from the media or social media influence. Everything floored me. So much of what happened was taken so far out of context that I couldn’t believe it. I’ve experienced injustice of our words not being believed or twisted or misunderstood for decades. I’ve watched my family go through unthinkable things. I know and understand just how far the media can take something and twist it to fit a narrative they want and that is exactly what was happening.

Then I saw the death threats to Matty and his family. I saw people saying that they hope he ODs or that he would make Taylor a drug addict etc etc and I watched as this hate spread like wildfire and be worse day in and day out… and if you dare spoke out against the herd mentality - then you were called racist, a bigot and more. I had a blonde, white Taylor fan call me things that she was accusing Matty of being simply because I didn’t agree with her and completely trashed me for not listening to the POC voices.

I kept doing more and more research and I was certain that what was happening to Taylor was… horrible. Her own fans went for her throat. When she made the speech that she was happier now then she ever had been before… And then watch the fans blow up on her… it was beyond heart breaking. It’s no wonder she went into hiding.

This was 100% the fans. I expect hate for that and I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t post this but that’s fine. The fans are toxic and are doing to Taylor the very thing she said she hated. Her fans are tossing her in the basement unless she does what they want. The fact that millions of, generally white woman, want to control what Taylor did with her life was just… there’s no words for it.

Then to see the celebrations over the break up? Unreal.

They didn’t even want to consider there may be more than what they think.

There’s proof that this was an unnecessary witch hunt.

Joe - the ones these same fans are begging to come home and calling him “dad”… has played a lot of horrible kinds of characters including a rapist and a Nazi. His opinion on people of that sort?

They’re not that bad. That people like Nazi’s aren’t bad people.

Let that sink in. Fans are going to destroy Taylor’s wants and tear a man apart for something that was not what it seemed in terms of the salute and other things but Joe was literally defending people who were Nazi’s and more.

But Joe has never gotten an ounce of hate about it. In fact, that same toxic fandom will blast Taylor for Joe leaving her. It’s her fault. He deserves better.

These fans don’t care about Taylor’s happiness. They want a puppet to control. They want to spend all this time and energy into bringing her and Matty down instead of being out on the streets trying to make change happen for issues around the world.

Like the abortion bans, women losing rights to their own body or mind. Or the fact that the corn industry is mostly trafficking victims and what goes on behind the scenes on websites like corn hub is a million times worse then what Matty is being accused of enjoying.

They forget that he was there for his ex FKA Twigs when she went through the whole ordeal with with Shia. Him and Ice Spice follow each other and ice spice is a massive fan of the band. They forget that he has seemingly done more advocacy then Taylor has and Taylor does more for communities then most celebrities.

Joe says Nazi’s aren’t horrible people. Silence.

Matty sneezes and is attacked.

They see Joe as Prince Charming. Not the snake he really is. Because he’s a hot blonde white man.

No. I am not a 1975 fan. Never in my life would that happen. I just think Taylor and him deserve a lot better then what HER fans did.

.

[lizzieonka]

In the manga, Reo said nothing here. But in the anime, they had him talk shit about Kunigami behind his back. People on Twitter are interpreting this as 8Bit hating Reo and portraying his character in a bad light, which wouldn’t be too out of line with what they’ve done with him so far...

I know 8Bit has sinned a lot against Reo, but when I watched this part in the anime, I had forgotten if he actually said such a thing in the manga, and my only reaction then was “Yeah, Reo’s right.”

Like, he actually sounded egoistic after saying that line? Kunigami didn’t really have much going for him back then.

If I were an anime-only, I’d think it was a good line. And since they cut out KuniReo’s match against Shidou and Igaguri, it helps add context to what happened. Shidou also confirms Reo’s words after this:

I have to agree with the Twitter fandom, though, that the line “He wasn’t the kind of person who could become the best striker in the world…” coming out from Reo’s mouth is a bit OOC for him. At this time, Reo also wasn’t the kind of person who could become the best striker.

But at the same time, looking at that line + Shidou’s confirmation from a purely anime-only’s perspective, I think it’s an attempt in making Reo a bit more egoistic, and by extent, likeable. Not because 8Bit is acting like a hater again.

The initial reaction here for most people would be “Reo over Kunigami???” before they get distracted by the new, interesting character. If Reo had stayed silent and acted like a depressed loser, people who don’t know what happened would only hate him for being weak and be even more unconvinced on him being chosen. But with Reo speaking out, it gives the impression that Kunigami somehow messed up badly during the 2v2 and that Reo somehow performed better.

So contrary to what the Twitter people are saying, those added lines aren’t to make Reo appear bad. It’s actually to put down Kunigami and elevate Reo (I’m so sorry, Kunigami).

In reality, though, both performed badly in that match. Shidou just had to pick the lesser bad. Not really surprised with him picking Reo.

Reo had left a better first impression on Shidou. Kunigami had initially ran away when Shidou challenged them, but Reo agreed immediately, no questions asked.

#blue lock #blue lock meta #mikage reo #kunigami rensuke #shidou ryusei #mikage reo meta #blue lock manga #blue lock anime vs manga #miyamiwu.meta #miyamiwu.src

[practically-an-x-man]

Okay so fun fact- a lot of my DC OCs are Marvel fans, and vice-versa. Siv, for instance, is a Stucky shipper and occasionally compares themself to various Marvel heroes

Oh yeah, and I absolutely love that! I try to put some cross-universe references in some of my fics too, I think it's really fun, it's just hard to keep track of what would and wouldn't be made into comics in a universe that has actual superheroes. I mean... if people with powers already exist, is it still exciting or marketable to have a whole genre of superhero fiction? And would they create new heroes, or make biographical comics about the heroes that already exist?

Idk, I love seeing fun fandom references in fiction like you do with Siv, I guess it just gets twisted up in my brain a little more from a writing perspective. I mean, can Captain Marvel as a character even exist in comics in the DC universe, since Shazam and Captain Marvel had a lot of interplay in the early comics and that can't happen if Shazam is an actual person in the DC world? If a comic creator was inspired by an older comic, but that older comic can't exist because the hero is a real person in their world, does the new comic not exist either? Do people in the Sandman universe watch Logan and go "huh, that guy looks like the nightmare I had as a kid"? I mean, hell, you don't even have to swap universes for it to get confusing - did the guards at Belle Reve go "hey, did Abra Kadabra change his name or something?" when they brought Abner in? I'm just saying... there's so much rollover in comics, it's hard to decide what does or doesn't work as a reference in a fic, at least for me lol

I am the type to make some cheeky little references to superhero actors' roles in my other fics, though. Both of my 6 Underground fics have plenty of X-Men references (Quinn's nickname for Billy, Wings, is also a nickname for Angel in the X-Men comics... that's among my most overt, though I guess you have to be a pretty big Angel nerd like me to get it right away), and there's going to be a Quicksilver reference in the next chapter of Heartstrings for sure.

#in other words i'm only okay with paradoxes when it's funny. otherwise i try to keep things mostly consistent so it doesn't unravel #i mean hell it's a joke in c&r that indiana jones doesn't exist in olly's universe bc alfred molina was in raiders of the lost ark #i generally think it's funnier to joke about what CAN'T exist in a particular world than what does exist there #my friends!!! #answered asks

[evelhak]

6, 12, 15 for the anime ask ;)

Thank you for your curiosity.

6. Popular anime I didn't like... *sigh* Don't get me started on Boku no Hero Academia. As a recovering sacrifice & pushing oneself to the absolute limit addict, I have basically zero tolerance for glorifying and rewarding this behaviour. Boku no Hero Academia is like sacrifice porn. Thanks, I hate it. The whole premise is repulsive to me. There's the character with no power, who technically wins the lottery and gets more power than anyone else. Sure, you can do that, but I don't like it because it barely reflects the reality of anyone who has physical or mental limitations. In real life you don't win the lottery, you work your ass off trying to find alternative ways of doing things, and when you make a break through you nearly can't believe it. There are so many stories where supposedly underprivileged characters suddenly get handed power, and I'm just super confused, who does it represent? I HATE the way Midoriya gets chosen by All Might. All Might shouldn't be allowed to be a teacher, if you ask me. Like, oh wow, this kid's self-esteem and co-dependency issues really fire me up, let's make them worse. I don't care if it's a superhero show, this is fucking repulsive to me. As far I've watched it, (I won't watch it until the end) Midoriya gets rewarded for his reckless behaviour over, and over, and over again and bears no long-term consequences. There should be consequences, this behaviour should in no way be encouraged. This isn't an inspiring portrayal of heroes, it's self-sacrifice porn and has this vibe... like "I'm going to save you, and it's not about you, it's about me, because my ego is so wrapped up in saving and sacrificing that I don't care what is actually needed of me, I only care about what I want to give". And I hate this vibe... so much. All of this is such a mockery of what people actually go through because they know no other way of surviving life than putting their own needs away and working to their absolute limit.

Oh yeah, and the female characters get treated like shit. There are such good essays on it, so I won't start.

12. Anime that should get more attention from others... I already talked about Kaleido Star in a previous ask, so let's talk about Princess Tutu. It has a bit more of a fandom (though it's probably mostly dead by now?) but in any case, it would be so cool to see new perspectives and art on it. It is SUCH a beautiful and creative masterpiece. Yes, I'm biased as someone who does ballet, but also I'm not, because it is objectively beautiful and amazing. The use of fairytales and classical ballets is so inspiring. The characters are simply wonderful, and its visual style is so unique and creates such an atmosphere. Also, the originally powerless main character actually gains magical powers in a meaningful way, and the magic does have a price. Sacrifices are made, yes, but the characters have to face their selfish desires, and they make sacrifices because it's the right thing to do, because they genuinely care about others, and not because they get off on it, like in Boku no Hero Academia...

15. Anime I never get sick of watching... Um. Other than Kaleido Star, Princess Tutu and KnB? Hmm... Munto? There's something charming and relatable about it, because it seems like there's a lot of neurodivergent subtext. I love the visuals and the music and although the plot isn't anything super original, it's just a joy for me to slip into the world of this story. Not to mention there's a certain charm to red-headed, god-coded characters with split eyebrows... haha. Seriously, I like this show so much I simply couldn't pass by an opportunity to reference it for laughs in my KnB fics.

#anime ask

[acacia-may]

For that new ask game, can I ask 2, 4, 7, 14, 18, 19 and 27 for Nozel? Sorry if it's too many numbers.

Hi Anon! No worries at all. I'm happy to answer any and all questions about Nozel. Thank you so much for playing my game and for the ask! 🥰

Questions from this Character Ask Game

Answers & Headcanons Below the Cut [because this post got a bit lengthy]

(Warnings: Contains Spoilers for and through the Spade Arc)

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I think my perception of Nozel really began to change in the Elf Arc during the battle at Silva Castle. We learned so much about Nozel's deeper motivations and saw that he did actually care for Noelle and wanted to protect her (he just went about it in the absolute worst way possible), and he does admit he was wrong about Noelle and her abilities and actually apologizes to her there which helped paint him in a more sympathetic light to me.

All that said, I think it was really in the Spade Arc when we learn even more about why Nozel acted the way he did--that on a certain level he was really almost forced into this more antagonistic role because he literally couldn't explain that Noelle wasn't responsible for Acier's death due to the curse. Suddenly, in my mind, I have this incredibly vivid and heartbreaking mental of Young Nozel a literal child forced to carry the weight of the world alone. Not only has he lost his mother but he has also been quite literally cursed with such a heavy burden. The pain and the loneliness of that has to be unbearable for even an adult, but Nozel was only a teenager. And I think when looking at the situation from that kind of perspective, it's easy to have a lot more sympathy for him. Yes, he didn't handle the situation as well as he could have especially with Noelle, but I just started thinking to myself: would I have been able to do much better under those circumstances at only 14 years old? Would anyone, honestly? And that isn't to excuse away what he did, especially when he got older, but it does make him more sympathetic to me and I feel genuinely bad for how much he suffered and wish him good things and a reconciliation with his sister going forward.

4. How many people I ship them with

This is a very difficult question for me to answer, honestly, because I am much more invested in Nozel rebuilding his relationship with his sister, Noelle, than in any potential romantic relationship he could have. My personal view of shipping in general is as more of an actively wishing or wanting certain characters to get together with other characters, and in this particular case I'm not sure I am actively wishing for Nozel to end up with anyone in particular. There are certainly a handful of ships I like or would be okay with for him (Nozel x Dorothy and Nozel x Vanessa come to mind off the top of my head, and I also like several Nozel x OC ships created by some talented writers and artists in the fandom). Ultimately, however, I think in my mind, Nozel just has so much internal turmoil and a lot of things he personally needs to work through before I can see him really getting into a relationship with anyone (and, honestly, on some level, before I can see him even wanting to get into a relationship--but that's just my personal interpretation) so I really think I am actively wishing for him to take time to heal and to work on himself more than I am actively wishing for him to find love, if that makes sense?

If I had to put a number on it...um...I guess, since I'm not really set on any particular ship for Nozel, I'd honestly say the possibilities are kind of endless. I'd really like to see him marry for love someday, but my more practical side thinks he has probably already been betrothed to somebody and he's not really the type who'd break that kind of commitment even if he wanted to. But who knows?

7. A quote of them that you remember

I remember just my jaw dropping in this moment. (I watched the anime first, but it was also an important moment in the manga). It was such a big thing for Noelle to have her brother finally show he believed in her and suggest they fight together side-by-side. Another that comes to mind is his entire little speech at the end of the battle where he reveals to Noelle his reasons for treating her coldly were that he was trying to deter her from joining the Magic Knights and he admits that he was wrong about her and that he's sorry. It was the first step in repairing their broken sibling relationship, and though they still have a lot of work to do to see Nozel actually admit he was in the wrong and apologize for that was a big step in the right direction.

14. Best storyline they had

As of writing this, Nozel's arc in Spade and his battle versus Megicula, but we'll see if this changes with whatever Tabata has in store for him in the final arc.

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

Nozel was always an old soul--wise beyond his years, quiet, serious, and responsible. He worked hard and studied conscientiously, and he very rarely got into trouble. If anything was a bit of a stick in the mud when it came to more imaginative, raucous, and childish games, and I imagine Acier often had to encourage him to stop working so hard and have fun every once and a while so he'd remember to actually be a kid while he was still young.

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

To start with a disclaimer: I actually like this ship, but I think I'd have to admit that Nozel x Vanessa is pretty random to me seeing as they haven't ever really interacted in the canon and I honestly would have never thought of it as a pairing if I hadn't seen it in the fandom. I think imagining the potential of it and what it could be like is part of the fun of that particular ship, but I'd classify it as random even if I feel positively about it.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

So for a very silly answer, I'm going to say Rui from Demon Slayer just because my sister and I have this running inside joke that he's basically a Nozessa love child since he has this thick, angular silvery-white hair like Nozel and a thread-based magical ability (blood demon art) similar to Vanessa's magic (Rui also has an attack called "Murderous Eye Basket" that looks very similar to Nozel's "Silver Star of Execution"). He is a villain though, so I guess you'd have to ignore that... 😅😂 Still I could see Rui wanting to adopt Nozel into his "Spider Family" and Nozel just having no patience for these kinds of shenanigans which could be a fun mashup. (I also wouldn't mind watching these two battle too, so either way, I think it might be an interesting meeting).

#nozel silva #nozel silva headcanons #black clover headcanons #thanks for the ask! #character ask game #answered anons

[fascinationex]

Would love to hear some of your criticisms of earthspark. I have my own gripes but totally agree, the animation is amazing!

Mmmmm, okay, well I'll put this under a cut haha. I do know there's elements of fandom that really don't like to tolerate criticism of things they enjoy, and that's not a bad thing for them. If I knew what to tag this to avoid upsetting those people, I would add those tags. I've put this under a cut and tagged it "tf earthspark critical" and that will have to do.

To be clear, I quite like Earthspark. I think it's doing a lot better than many of the recent audiovisual TF media. This is the most interesting Bumblebee has been in perhaps a decade, each new episode builds upon contextual information provided in previous ones, and although the long history of the war hangs over the whole plot (with the obvious mystery of "what is happening on cybertron?" occupying a space that could be later explored) it's *not* so up its own arse with flashbacks that it makes you wonder why they bothered setting the story in this part of the timeline. Information and context is being delivered in an engaging, thoughtful way.

So like: this series is doing interesting things, it's not badly executed, and I think it's got fun, novel content that's being well supported with fun, novel animation. I love Soundwave’s new design, Megatron's accent, Frenzy's hair (what the fuck!!! I love this), the story's very soft interrogation of an Optimus Prime characterisation that has become pretty common... there's a lot to like!

My major criticism of this series is that the emotional storytelling is weak. They phoned it in and, to me, it makes it really hard to connect with the characters. Each emotional response is rote and it gets pushed through as fast as possible so we can get back to the plot which is driving the story. Characters have feelings because the writers know the audience expects that, but they don't feel like they're really driving any part of the plot?

It's very, "Gee that makes me feel bad." Pause. "But now [X thing has happened] and I feel happy again!"

So, an example of what I mean:

From the very outset we get stuff like... Episode 1 has a strong theme of the kids adjusting to moving for their parent's job, right. We get the argument at dinner, the "running away," all that stuff. So then Dot discovers what she refers to as her "dream job," that she's uprooted her whole family for, is a lie made up by a disingenuous government organisation to lure her to Witwicky and have her participate in their dodgy military stuff.

She is mad for about one line, and then she sees Megatron and decides maybe it's not so bad. Like, from an external perspective, obviously she has to engage with GHOST because it's a shady government organisation that's going to create problems for the plot. We get that. But the way this has happened has completely subordinated her emotional responses and character to the demands of the plot driven story, which to me, renders it... flat.

This is only one example, but there's other ones. Like, another one: The workings of the cyber-sleeves. Giving the kids a special way to say 'I am sensing you are... SAD?' is really short-cutting any emotional storytelling the series might otherwise be obliged to engage with—unfortunate, because the animation is more than equal to a more engaged and emotionally expressive storytelling!

So I think that, despite the manifest inducements to continue watching Earthspark, it is hard for me to actually be very into many of the characters so far? (I say "so far" but 10 episodes is still like about 40% of the way into season 1 and I would very much expect that the tone, storytelling and major inciting events for the season are well established at this point.)

I do acknowledge that I'm not the intended audience and I'm not necessarily meant to engage so strongly with characters written for the enjoyment of eight year olds. But I think other TF media definitely incorporated elements of characters' emotional landscapes more deftly into their stories. And I don't think that had anything to do with its proposed audience being quite young. I think shows like Rescue Bots and TFP did a pretty good job of engaging with characters' feelings (I don't necessarily like RB but it's well executed and it's definitely intended for a young audience), and so far Earthspark has not.

That doesn't mean it's not good. I think Earthspark is good, so far. But I have here provided this one criticism of a show I otherwise quite like. I think most of my other criticisms are really just things liiiike "show intended for 8 year olds isn't secretly for me :<" and "my preferred characterisations aren't here :<"

#tf earthspark #tf earthspark spoilers #earthspark spoilers #tf earthspark critical #ask #anon #bumblesobee incredible typo

[aaghht]

Usagi Chronicles and reviews

I'm watching Usagi Chronicles reviews and there seems to be this general misconception around the internet that netflix somehow took the idea of a usagi TV show and muddled up the possibility of a direct adaptation? Or are people just mad that it's not their idea of a Usagi series? Like of course youtube reviews are going to be full of strange outrage and misplaced cricicisms over cartoons so I can't take those seriously, but even just fandom chatter sometimes has this idea going around that it's somehow a bad series for not adhering to the comic 100%. Or sometimes I’ll see other viewers’ comments like “it had so much potential but it could have been better”. I thought I’d collect my thoughts on this using references I’ve seen around before, such as interviews and articles with Stan Sakai and others. I don’t really agree with this view that the show has to be bad for not getting a “perfect” vision or adaptation and I don’t really believe that it squandered any “potential” either.

Like I think this show is super interesting to look at from a “how it was made” kind of perspective. The story and art are actually pretty good imo and the music really feels like it ties it all together by adding to the mood and setting + for carrying a lot of the series from an emotional POV. Yeah, it falls a bit short on some aspects but overall it’s a pretty fun series. Whatever you might personally know about animation or tv series making, it looks like a lot of care was put into this Samurai Rabbit cartoon.

EDIT(10.02.2023+27.03.2023): under a readmore bc this got way too long, but u should definitely check out these interviews if u still think the show didn’t respect Sakai’s original world and vision, or if u wanna write your own review one day but don’t know anything abt how the show was made.

Interviews/articles:

Filmschool Rejects (article), April 2022 The Popverse (interview), May 2022 Stan Sakai and the Usagi Chronicles | Comic-Con@Home 2021 Comic Book Couples Counseling (podcast interview), May 2022 Traversing the Stars (video interview), Jul 2022

Stan Sakai has said in at least 2 interviews that what got him on board was the view of Neo Edo painted by Khang Le (art director on series, check his work out on his website) - when no other idea suggested so far appealed to him. So this means he was on board with the show and approved of it. even if the concept is essentially a spinoff/alternate universe to older fans (it started off as based on or taking ideas from Sakai's Senso miniseries). What I like most about the series is that it seems to be respectful about both old and new japanese culture albeit being set in a semi-futuristic Edo-style re-imagining of the feudal japan that Sakai writes in Usagi Yojimbo. Stan Sakai was involved in the making of it so it cannot be in any other way. I've seen some american animated shows in the past which have approached this "culture inspiration" differently, sometimes even in ways where it feels weird or disrespectful. This show even has an all-asian english main cast, and japanese-american composer Aiko Fukushima has made the soundtrack for it, which I feel is a little rare to see. But hey, I'm european asian, not US asian so maybe I'm seeing all that in a different way here.

Like it kinda feels like ppl got stuck on previous animated versions and their own idea of what an adaptation/series should be. I know many were probably looking forward to a faithful animated adaptation but things are what they are and feels a bit unfair to say that what we got somehow took away from that chance. Like it is just one show.

yeah ok, it's aimed at children and it sorta pulls its punches on the tone and seriousness. but that doesn't have to be a bad thing? Having a "media tent" for younger viewers can mean that there'll be new readers introduced to the original comic series through this cartoon. It's also obvious to see that the people working on this are also fans of Sakai's work and wanted to make something fun, despite any tv animation limits, so I sorta wish people saw that more.

Or even more down the line is people saying it mucks up Sakai's vision about the comic series. Like. He is listed as "executive producer" and every design, script and decision went through him first. From interviews it sounds like he had a lot of trust in the team, to make something he would also like. It's ok to dislike the show for various reasons, as we do with all shows but at least respect that the comic author himself has approved of the series.

like im not saying people are saying all this directly, just various sentiments I've seen in reviews, boards and social media etc, but I feel like this misunderstaning is behing the reason why ppl dunk on the show and characters so easily? Of course, as someone who is still reading the comic series (have read a few comics, but not enough to know everything about it), maybe I just have a very limited view on this as someone who happens to like the tv show itself too. I love the art and storytelling in the comic but I also really like the animated series just for what it is.

Maybe it's also that we as internet-goers have become even moreso accustomed to seeing, reviewing and thinking about our media in such a superficial critical way that we can't really share honest opinions without feeling the need to add "real criticisms" to what we say. I feel like that's a bit connected to the "outrage culture" mentioned at the beginning too but honestly this has been a problem abt cartoon/media reviews for a longer time already. Like it's valid to not like stuff but at least don't make stuff up about them

man... I should try writing my own review faster but I really want to see other reviews first (they are a slog to get thru bc I have trouble watching video reviews)

anyway.... lol just some semi-collected thoughts.

at the end of the day, for me personally, I just genuinely like this series and it brings me joy to see that the crew and cast and Sakai himself seemed to really enjoy making it too. It’s nice to see both from interviews and the show itself. maybe it just makes me a bit sad that I keep finding shows where I see that there’s goodness in it and then the majority of viewers I come across online find it different.... like yeah, it had potential for “more” but also what we got was good. I’m happy the show got made.

#usagi chronicles #srtuc #yeah i am too lazy to tag anything else rn its 3am while im drawing #aghhtposts #aghhtjournal #random thoughts #this is only mildly annoying bc juniper lee got way worse reviews so like. i assume people don't google more about shows to see interviews #or other interesting things #i guess this sorta qualifies as a rant even if its mild #rant / #texty #long post #me writing and editing this on tumblr at 2-5 am: #fully awayre that tumblr might just bungo it up and delete everything

[tngrace]

Letting Go Ch 4 The Mission

I’ve had a pretty shitty weekend so have a new chapter bc all the comments make me happy and this movie/fandom/story make me happy. I have their talk written it just needs another edit so expect it in the next few days. Enjoy!

Read on A03; Letting Go Masterlist

The next few days are a blur. They’re given time off from training, and Bradley hides out at his house. He knows he needs to go see his aunt, but he knows Mav will be there too. Between the two of them, he feels Maverick deserves the family time more than he does, especially after the awful words Bradley said to him. He drinks a lot, he cries a lot, but by the day of the funeral, he is the picture perfect version of a sailor. He hides his emotions, he stands with his squad and just watches. Mav looks like he’s seconds from crumbling, and Bradley just wants to hug him, but he doesn’t. He speaks to his aunt once the team has started to disperse. He holds her close whispering words that he means but know sound meaningless right now. He sees his teammates that haven’t made it to their vehicles watching him closely, but thankfully no one stops him to ask questions as he finally breaks away and heads for his Bronco. He skips going to the Hard Deck with the crew and goes back home. 

The next day, they’re back to training; business as usual. He’s waiting in the classroom when Hangman comes skirting in saying he heard Mav had been benched. They’re all a little skeptical about that news, but none more than Rooster. He knows why Ice called him back for this, knows no one besides Mav can prepare them for this mission. He’s not sure he wants to fly it without Maverick after hearing and seeing what all the mission entails. Losing Uncle Ice has put a lot of things into perspective for him, and he really wants to talk to Maverick. He’s lost too much holding onto his anger, and he knows it’s time to let it go, that Ice was right. 

When Cyclone addresses them, setting new parameters and new training, Rooster wants to walk out. He can tell the other fellow aviators don’t believe a word the admiral is spewing, but he’s not sure what they can do. Cyclone seems dead set that this is the way it’s going to be, and besides quitting, Rooster knows he’s stuck. Quitting feels like giving up, and while he desperately wants to find Mav, he also doesn’t leave his seat. 

It’s not until Maverick comes online and flies the training, albeit by pissing off another Admiral, do any of them believe it’s possible. Honestly Bradley is amused at getting to see how easy it is for Maverick to piss off the Admiral, and he’s proud of his uncle, but he hopes the point gets across. And it does; they’re on the carrier before Bradley can blink twice. He still wants to talk to Maverick, but they don’t have time. Everything is moving so fast, and he’s honestly surprised when Maverick picks him. He expected to be left in reserve, to protect him in Maverick’s mind and punishment in Bradley’s. He tries to tell Maverick everything he’s feeling before they leave, but Maverick promises they’ll talk later. 

Later almost doesn’t come. The SAMs freak him out; all he can see is all of them dying. It makes him cautious, and he almost screws up. When it gets too much, he says “talk to me dad,” almost reflexively forgetting everyone would hear him. It’s not until he hears Mav’s voice telling him to “don’t think, just do,” does he realize he really was asking Mav to talk to him. It’s been way too many years since he referred to Mav as dad, but he knows he never really stopped being his dad. 

The mission was a success; they got both drops and destroyed the plant. The fight home was another story. Their voices interlaced over coms; it was utter chaos and Rooster felt on the edge of panic. It was intensified tenfold when he realized he was out of flares. He had a split second to make peace with the fact this was it; he was done for and he and Mav were never going to get to talk. What he didn’t expect, and he should’ve, he really should’ve, was Mav taking the missile for him. 

It almost sends him over the edge; he knows his voice is panicky, knows everyone can hear it. But he just lost his Uncle Ice and Mav is the only family he has left. He’s not losing him too. “Don’t think, just do!” keeps repeating in his head. He’s turning back, defying orders, before he can even think about it. He doesn’t even think when he takes the shot; it comes naturally as breathing, and then his F-18 is being hit with a SAM. He pulls the ejection handle, and wonders if this is it again. His emotions have been on a roller coaster on top of all the G’s he’s pulled. He feels exhausted, but he knows he’s running on adrenaline. The only thing on his mind is finding Mav. He hit a couple trees on the way down, but he doesn’t even feel the pain. He quickly rolls up the parachute, determined to trek through the snow until he finds him. He can’t think about the fact he’s probably looking for a body, and he’s mid-thought of how he’s going to get them both home, when he sees Mav running right into him. 

The relief that Mav is alive, is ok, would’ve been enough to knock him on his ass if his dad hadn’t first. They have their little spat, it feels like a precursor to a larger one, but Bradley is thankful they lapse into awkward silence instead. He knows now isn’t the time to get into it with Mav. They still need to find a way home. He thinks his dad might have some head trauma after hearing his idea, and it seems like “holy shit,” is the only thing he can now say. However, they’re airborne before he knows it, and he knows Mav will be the reason they make it home. 

Flying with Mav again is almost like when he was a kid and his uncle took him up for the first time. But he knows they’re in life and death, this isn’t another joy ride from childhood, and there’s still so much left unsaid between them. The dogfight they face is relentless, and he feels like Mav’s personal cheerleader. He knows Mav can do anything, and seeing it first hand is something else. But listening to his dad panic when he can’t eject, hearing Mav apologize to his biological dad for not keeping him safe, it’s enough to bring tears to his eyes.

“Mav…” he starts wanting to say everything they haven’t before they die, but before he can get further, the enemy is destroyed and Hangman is coming through their coms. He can hear Maverick’s breath of relief when Hangman appears out of the clouds, and Mav is leveling them off to head back to the carrier.  All he can think on the way back is they’re going to get their second chance. The landing isn’t exactly the smoothest, and they bang around a bit more. They both just sit there for a minute, catching their breath and letting their bodies realize they are safely back on the carrier. “You good?” Mav calls out when Bradley hasn’t said anything since Hangman appeared, and he hasn’t moved. 

“Yup. Yup I’m good.” The top releases and Maverick jumps up spinning around to look at him. Both of them have lost their helmets, and smiles grace their faces. They jump down and are instantly surrounded by the crew and their fellow pilots. Everyone is celebrating their safe return, so it isn’t until Hangman is in front of Bradley does he realize how not ok he is. 

He hears Hangman yell out for a corpsman and Bradley feels his hands come around him. “M fine,” Rooster grunts, to which Hangman just tells him to hush. Maverick is at his side in an instant; “What’s wrong?” 

“He was fine and then he started crashing.” Between Maverick and Hangman they get him down to the infirmary, not waiting for the corpsman. They strip his flight suit off quickly and find several cuts and bruises. They’re afraid of internal bleeding so they push everyone out into the hall. Maverick can’t help but pace up and down the hallway while his pilots just prop up along the walls watching him. No one says anything, no one knows what to say as they wait. Thankfully they don’t have to wait long before they’re told Rooster is going to be ok. The bruising was superficial and they’re thinking he started passing out from low blood sugar combined with his adrenaline rush from the mission. He also has a severely twisted ankle, but overall he’s going to be ok. 

“He’s asking for you Captain,” the corpsman says, which none of the other pilots are surprised by, but Maverick seems surprised. He gives them a nod before dipping into the room. Rooster is reclined in the bed, flight suit around his waist.  “Mav,” he says softly. 

“Hey kid. You ok?” 

“Told you I was.” 

“That was before you almost passed out on the deck.”

Rooster gives him a soft chuckle. “Touché. I’m ok. Just crashed hard once we were safe.” 

Maverick understands. He feels his own crash coming, but he’s had longer, more experience at holding it off. “We’ll be back stateside tomorrow. I hear everybody is getting a minimum six weeks leave.” 

“What about you?” 

Maverick gives a soft chuckle and shakes his head. “I’m done kid. I wasn’t even supposed to be here. If it wasn’t for Ice…” he trails off choking up. He’s still not used to the fact his wingman isn’t here anymore. Bradley reaches out and squeezes Mav’s arm giving him a sad smile. “Your uncle saved my ass more than he should’ve. I shouldn’t have even been on this flight, but…” 

“Mav…” 

“Nah. It’s time. Ice told me before this mission I needed to learn to let go, and he was right. It’s time.” 

Bradley doesn’t know what to say to that; he can’t imagine his uncle without a plane. He also knows there’s so much unsaid between them that he doesn’t know where they stand. He can tell Mav is feeling it too. 

“Get some rest kiddo.” He turns to go but Bradley reaches for his wrist stopping him. 

“Stay,” he whispers. For some reason he doesn’t want to be alone, doesn’t want Maverick to leave. “Please stay,.... Dad.” 

Maverick turns back to him with tear-filled eyes. He takes the hand not in Bradley’s hold and runs it through Bradley’s hair. He tries to swallow around the lump in his throat. “Let me go get us something to change into and I’ll stay. It’ll be good to let the others see you while I’m gone, but I’ll be back, son.” 

Bradley gives him a nod and relaxes back against the bed. Mav ruffles his hair a bit, knowing he was given the greatest gift once more. He wasn’t going to let his kid down this time.

#top gun maverick fic #tgm fic #top gun maverick #tgm #my writing #father-son relationship #bradley rooster bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell

[locktobre]

If you could travel back in time to warn yourself about how the Barbie brand/merchandise would take a turn for the worst, would you? (Like… basically to save yourself from joining the fandom due to how crappy the brand has become over the last 5-6 years) feel free to ignore this if you want, I’m just curious. Cause if I could, I definitely would tell my past self to get out before I got too attached.

I would not. Firstly, I just don't believe in changing the past, there's too much butterfly effect stuff and no way to guarantee things would turn out any better if you changed them.

Secondly, I would not be the person I am today without barbie movies. They helped me unlearn a lot of internalized misogyny, first and foremost, and led to my friendship with my best friend, as well as all my other current friends (either through my best friend, barbie fandom, or getting into other mattel franchises). There's just too much good that came out of it for me to ever really regret it, even if I'm unhappy with how things are now. And to that end, I'm not even sad for my own sake, I'm mostly worried about what messages are being sent to the kids watching this stuff, since they're the target demographic and far more impressionable than I am. But that's kind of a separate thing.

Things sucking now doesn't take away from everything that I liked before. And if it gets too much, I can just walk away. I don't have to dwell on this stuff, and taking a year away really helped put it all in perspective. I'm only really angry in the moment, or when I remember things, or when I think about the kids growing up with the new stuff who might not ever know the older stuff existed (bc it used to be better). But overall I'm fine. Mattel can drive itself into the ground if it wants but that's not going to take away from everything Barbie has given to me over the years, that I still love and appreciate and wouldn't trade for anything. It sucks, but I mean, it's not the end of the world.

#mel irl #barbie babbles #anonymous #thanks for asking

[ilistentogirlinred]

ramblings

because i watched too many kpop music videos and dance practices and now youtube thinks i want to know about lee know's cats

i think a lot more people would hate kpop less if the fans weren't generally a bit less insane.

a lot of the music is actually rather good, but if you want to watch the music videos then youtube will forcibly send you down a spiral of fan edits and other off putting frightening things. the music videos are good, though, and the dance practices.

people do tend to be put off by the fans because even the average fan is a LOT. quite a few of them treat being a [insert group] stan like it's a sport, but not in the sense that they're a highly invested LA lakers fan. being a kpop stan seems to be a sport in the sense that the stan is the player. streaming, voting, spamming hate comments, that is the sport, although i don't think you can actually win.

kpop stans are frighteningly dedicated, i feel like they could probably take down and reform an entire government if they felt like it. although there is a lot of infighting between fans of different groups. that being said if they teamed up they could do quite a bit. i stand by the fact that if they unified they could easily overthrow the australian government. not the USA government but definitely the australian government.

did you know the greater kpop fandom has a word for people who stan multiple groups? the fact that there are so many people who are aggressively fans of one group that they need a word for people who like multiple groups is astounding (and furthers my point that being a kpop stan is a sport). MULTISTANS. as in stans of multiple groups. aka people who listen to music like a normal person.

i do feel like another turn off for people who might like some of the music is the industry itself, which is deeply fucked up. the training is dreadful, the culture is cruel and the idol-fan stuff is just off putting. (oshi no ko does a great job at showing this and its so funny to me that all these kpop idols were doing dance challenges to the oshi no ko theme song is so funny cause like... that song was written from the perspective of an idol. like you. who gets fucking stabbed by a fan. which is a thing that has happened in real life.)

ooh you know what else might push people away? the SHIPPING. those are REAL PEOPLE. yeah they could be dating but you realise they're probably a) acting a fake/exaggerated dynamic BECAUSE the shipping draws views and b) probably only like that on camera. idols are pretty much acting when on camera or in public. they are playing a character that is palatable, likeable and appealing to the general public. some of them might be more like western celebrities and be more like themselves on camera (generally the idols who were born/raised/spent at least 5 years of their childhood in the USA/canada/australia/new zealand usually) but they're still acting. they've done a fair bit of media training. when they're on camera they aren't people. they're idols, celebrities, characters, personas. BUT THE SHIPPING. fuck i hate the shipping. sometimes the idols might have a good friendship and then they'll stop interacting because of the shipping. it makes them uncomfortable sometimes! probably generally, it makes them at least mildly uncomfortable. and the odds are, they probably aren't dating. there is like a 1 in 1000 chance that two idols from the same group are dating, in that 0.1%, there's a like 1 in 10000 chance that they'd ever go public with it. AND STOP THEORIZING ABOUT REAL PEOPLE'S SEXUALITIES! it's invasive, it's gross, it's rude and it does absolutely nothing good.

another thing that might turn people off music they could like is the generally poor vocals. there are very few kpop vocalists (not korean vocalists, just kpop idol vocalists) that are on par with western singers. solar (mamamoo), lily and haewon (nmixx), wendy (red velvet) and belle (kiss of life) are the few i consider to be as good as your average western vocalist. lots of idols generally mediocre vocals are overhyped because, usually, they have good control over their higher vocal range (cough cough han from stray kids). the thing is, lots of the idols in this category could easily be good vocalists with more formal training! THE IDOLS DON'T GET ENOUGH VOCAL TRAINING BECAUSE THE INDUSTRY VALUES LOOKS OVER SKILLS!

the industry is basically: looks > dance > personality > sense of rhythm > vocals > rap > actual skills pertaining to creating music and performance i.e writing, producing, composing, choreography, etc (don't yell at me ik there are self producing groups and those are usually my favourites but my point still stands)

if you read all of this, i do highly recommend watching some music videos and dance practices because they are honestly phenomenal. the editing in the MV's is top tier and the dances are usually just so fun to watch.

#ramblings #ummmmm idk like a very vague essayish thing about kpop and the kpop fandom maybe? #like one of those journals that people would write about their travels to ''distant foreign lands'' in #like the weird old ones where they talk about how strange they find everything #and it comes off as a bit offensive #thats the vibe of this but take out the offensive bit