#(being a bad parent isn't a flaw it's an abusive of power and a crime it's not a flaw)

[littlefankingdom]

I tried to read Robin & Batman (2021) and I had to stop because I hate Bruce in this so much. Like, wtf is he saying he wants to make Dick a soldier?! He took Dick because he saw himself in him and wanted to give him a better childhood, not to make him a mini-Batman, but to make him a better man than Bruce!

Anyway, here are some panels of Bruce and Dick in their early publication's history!

Bruce's crying because his boy is crying! And they say the Dark Knight has no emotions!

Bruce is so extreme in his love for Dick. He is like "If something happens to Dick, I'm going to cry so much, I will die of dehydration. Actually, I will torture myself to death. I will find the most painful way to take my own life. He is the most important thing in my life." Like here, Dick is being like "I'm running away!" and Bruce's reaction is "I would prefer to cut my arms off than lose you." He is so full of love for this boy, he is going to explode.

[leahkentwriter]

Backstories for girls and women in stories that *don't* involve sexual assault.

I beta read a lot, and am involved in writing communities of various kinds, and I briefly taught English way back in the day, and I consume storytelling media in general - and one of my biggest pet peeves is sexual assault backstories. While I think this is improving, it's still annoying to me that a lot of writers (of all genders, but particularly men) fall back on a sexual assault backstory whenever they need to make a girl or woman in a story complicated or haunted or fucked up in some way.

Unless your story is dealing with the topic of sexual assault in some way, please don't use it as a way to give a character depth or angst.

Here are some prompts, just to get you started with some ideas.

Why would a woman be trying to escape her past? Why would she be seeking a fresh start?

She hated her small town; the people there didn't understand her and she never felt like she fit in - she's queer, she has a weird birthmark, she's got unique interests, she has magical powers, etc.

She's a criminal - she robbed banks or stole cars and she wanted a fresh start

She was an addict and hurt people, and she wants a fresh start now that she's sober

Her parent is a criminal or an addict and she's trying to outrun the stigma of being related to them

She didn't get along with a stepparent and skipped town as soon as she turned 18

She had big dreams of being something else, and left to pursue them

Her childhood home was haunted, but no one believed her

She got married young then divorced, and wants to start over somewhere that no one knows her

Heartbreak of any variety - she's leaving a place that reminds her too much of someone she lost or couldn't have

She wants better; maybe more money, or a career, or simply a higher quality of life

Some other violent tragedy occurred - a school shooting, an explosion at the plant, police brutality, her best friend was killed, etc.

Her hometown no longer exists (climate change, the main factory shut down, it was overrun by rabid squirrels, etc.)

What would make a woman distrustful of others?

Heartbreak; being lied to, cheated on, left for her best friend, etc.

A big betrayal - her former best friend told everyone a secret about her, someone weaponized her trauma or her past or a major flaw she's sensitive about, etc.

She witnessed a traumatizing event as a child

Her mother was a grifter and used her as part of her scams

One parent cheated on the other and broke up the family

Her older brother isn't dead after all, he was disowned for being gay and now she's questioning everything her parents ever told her

She has problems with her memory, and is never quite sure what the truth is

She's bad at reading people and has been taken advantage of

She finds out a dark secret about someone she loves and is having trouble processing it

She gradually comes to see that someone she idealized as a child is not at all what they seem

Someone she thought was a good, kind, and genuine person is arrested for a terrible crime

Spiritual abuse - the worldview she was taught was right turns out to be exploitative, represses women, etc., so she leaves

What would cause a woman to have mental health issues?

Any form of abuse - doesn't have to be sexual

Her parents had really high expectations that she couldn't live up to

It simply runs in the family

Survivor's guilt - she survived something that someone else did not

She was bullied and no one protected her

Her parents were very controlling and destroyed her confidence

Her sibling was the golden child and she was the scapegoat

She's had issues since childhood but her parents refused to admit there was anything wrong with her, so she didn't get help

Being a part of any oppressed group of people who experience discrimination - she's a person of color, she's an immigrant, she's got a disability, she's queer, etc.

Any major trauma, either witnessed or being a part of - weather events and natural disasters, infrastructure collapse, crashes and accidents, fires, a shooting or a murder, etc.

You're a writer - get creative. There are lots of ways to traumatize and haunt a girl/woman character without having to resort to a sexual assault backstory. You can even make her the problem! Maybe she's the one who did something bad and is trying to outrun the guilt.

Let's also let go of the idea that it's meeting and falling in love with a man that saves her from her trauma. Let her have a healing arc that doesn't involve a man - a love story can still be there, but it can't be the magic healing balm that fixes her. Make her have to save herself. Give her autonomy to both make her own mistakes, and improve her own situation. Don't let your man go into savior mode - let him get frustrated with her. Let her push him away without him clinging to her in a desperate bid to show her what unconditional love is. Don't let him be a martyr to her trauma.

Women are complicated for many reasons. We have trauma for many reasons. We have mental health issues for many reasons. We may want to escape our past for many reasons. We're angsty and weird for many reasons.

Please pick literally anything other than sexual assault.

[earthbovndmisfit]

How do you think Speedwagon would have reacted to Giorno? On one hand, there's that whole mess with Dio, but on the other... Giorno acts so much like Jonathan sometimes. He even has Hamon-like powers

I love to think Speedwagon might have seen himself in Giorno too. They'd probably be friends!

(Also I replied to your ask a while back, I hope you saw it!)

I'm gonna clarify this first since it's gonna play a role in my answer but, despite the fandom often considering Giorno as "Jonathan's son too", in reality and canonly, Giorno is Dio's son. Araki has confirmed this in some interviews, and also every canon Giorno bio also specifies that he is Dio's son (he is biologically a Joestar since Jonathan's body was "used" merely as an instrument, and also officially/legally because Dio became a Joestar when he was legally adopted by George I in PB).

With that established, I feel like Giorno and Speedwagon would get along incredibly well! Speedwagon would be SHOCKED at first because, well, it was thanks to Dio surviving again and stealing Jonathan's corpse that Giorno eventually came to exist. He would be very wary at first too due to Giorno being Dio's son and all the potential implications of that (I mean, the Brando family isn't precisely known for being friendly and kind). Sooner than later though, Spw's acute nose would tell him that, unlike Dio and his rancid vibes, Giorno seems to be a good kid. Once he learns about his background, the fact that Dio """"surprisingly"""" never was part of his life, Gio's relationship (or lack thereof) with his mother, and etc, I feel like Speedwagon would come to feel sympathy for the kid and, like you said, he'd come to see himself in him to some extent. I headcanon that Speedwagon was orphaned as a child, so he definitely knows the pain and suffering that comes as a result of missing one or both parental figures, being thrown into the world on your own and having to grow up quicker than most and having to fend for yourself from such a tender age. It is also implied that he went through several bad experiences with people from upper classes, loathing them to the point where he doesn't mind cutting a bitch down to shreds for something as "simple" as setting foot in his territory and etc, so its safe to assume that different forms of abuse have been a constant in some points of his life, similar in some way to what Giorno had to face since he was a child as well from his neglectful mother and step-father, feeling like he was all alone and no one to look after him.

Then there's also the fact that both have resorted to crime as a result of their less than fortunate backgrounds and also their approach to that as well. Survival of the fittest is one of the best ways you can describe what living in Ogre Street is like, and it was kind of a similar scenario for Giorno despite the latter growing up in a less hostile environment in general. Giorno and him both seem protective of those who they hold dear, showing a deep sense of gratitude towards those who selflessly help them and, eventually, using their acquired power to ensure the wellbeing of others, usually their loved ones. They are also both very determined guys, hard working, coming across as friendly/amicable if you're on good terms with them but having this "no shit taking" policy that they stick closely to, ready to throw hands if they have to.

And lets not forget that Speedwagon would definitely remind Giorno of a very special certain someone....

Not only because of their general looks and appearance, but also in some aspects of their personality, traits and flaws, the fact that they're both some gang lords and etc.

I really feel like the connection would be almost immediate (once they get past the "shocked" stage), not forced, and 100% organic. They would get along really well, and I can see Speedwagon going fucking bonkers once he sees what Golden Experience can do (and I can't help but think it would be a similar case with Jonathan lol), if he somehow manages to see stands as, sadly, only stand users can see stands, but heeeeeeey, it's a bizarre universe so, who knows? Maybe they can find a way?? There's the stand arrow after all...

@untitledfredd8

[theopolis]

Hello there 👋

I've been having lots of nostalgia towards practically everything and since I got ps5 and Miles Morales game for a birthday present (yesss) I started scrawling through Tumblr for Spiderman content. And well, I found you! Your posts and memes are excellent, thank you. I didn't know that there's so much Harry Osborn appreciation on Tumblr and damn, that's cool and sweet. Plus, I LOVE the black humour of some memes, that you guys post.

In this case, since you take asks may I ask what are your thoughts on the depiction of the Osborns in the Spider Man ps4 game? I know there wasn't that much of them, (especially Harry, though hopefully will get everything in the second part) but I thought that the game got 99% of the characters perfectly, even with some changes along the way. Plus, the moment, when Otto was threatening to kill Norman, unless he would confess his crimes, which resulted in the latter telling the former to go f*ck himself in spite of the situation, had me going "Heck yeah, that's the bastard, that I know!".

Damn, it got longer, than I expected, sorry. In any case, thank you for answering in advance ❣️

Thank you!!! I'm happy you like my content enough to send this ask 🥺

I will say I haven't finished the playthrough of the game that I'm consuming it through yet, but with what I've seen until now + the numerous spoilers I've encountered - I enjoy the Osborns in this universe a lot so far.

I like that Norman is depicted as evil even without being a supervillain, but isn't flanderized into being the devil incarnate. Especially appreciate that he genuinely loves Harry while still being a toxic and abusive parent. I feel it's such an important (and nowadays overlooked) part of their original dynamic that Norman does care for Harry and believes what the way he treats him is ultimately to Harry's best. It adds realism and nuance.

Now Harry? He's just a gem. There is so, so much potential there. I love that they're re-employing some interesting concepts from tasm2 - Harry being terminally ill, Peter's childhood friend, and already more estranged from Norman - but replacing the bad parts of that adaptation with something really, really good: Harry being an environmentalist, and because he's following his mother's legacy no less. I like that they are emphasizing his kind rather than bitter, petty or outright villainous side for once. (Although I hope they don't go overboard with that and end up erasing his flaws) I like that he actually knew his mother and she was clearly a positive influence on him. I like that they're making him Venom because it's perfect ground for juxtaposing the brutish power of the symbiote against Harry's own frailty (which I can imagine is only amplified by his condition) and spin a narrative about his deeply rooted insecurities. Well, at least I hope that's the direction they're heading into.

All in all I'm very excited to see more of these Osborns in the future!