#*˖ ⊹ meta. ╲ blog update. ⋅

[casscainmainly]

Cassandra Cain Meta List

Ones without a credited author are from me!

Disability

Cass' Disability Throughout the Comics by dailycass-cain

Cass' Ableism Towards Barbara by but-a-humble-goon

Why Disabled People Gravitate Towards Cass by but-a-humble-goon

Something To Be Proud Of by but-a-humble-goon

Cass and American Sign Language by fantastic-nonsense

Cass Using ASL Might Be Ableist by jupitermelichios

Cass is Not Mute by fantastic-nonsense

Gender & Sexuality

Cass and Asexuality by aingeal98 and mysteriousbeetle

Lesbians! (Ft. Kon) by aingeal98

Gender/Sexuality in Batgirl (2000) 1

Gender/Sexuality in Batgirl (2000) 2

Gruff With a Heart of Gold by theflashjaygarrick

Race

Cass and Asian Stereotypes

This is Not a White Saviour Story by theflashjaygarrick

Race and Perception in Batgirl (2000)

Cass Needs Asian Writers by deadletterpoets

What Ethnicity is Lady Shiva? by dragcnlady

Morality & Beliefs

Batgirl #19 is About a Hate Crime by lilacsandlillies

Nobody Dies Tonight by aingeal98 and magnetoeisenhardt

Punishment Vs. Redemption by magnetoeisenhardt

Might is Right by but-a-humble-goon

Remorseless Killers by but-a-humble-goon

Cass is Pro-Crime by but-a-humble-goon and littlemissonewhoisall

Mothers & Fathers

Parental Love and Batgirl #37 by aingeal98

Cass' Devotion to Bruce by fantastic-nonsense

The Person Or the Mission? by aingeal98

Cass and Her Mothers by but-a-humble-goon

Cass Has Two Mothers by teleportationmagic

Cass & Jason

Let Things Be Messy by fantastic-nonsense

Murder Victim and Murderer

Cass and Jason Are Foils by celestialdevils

An Extension on Jason by aingeal98 and tumblingxelian

Parallels by trust-and-jump

Miscellaneous

Why Batgirl (2000) Was Cancelled by dailycass-cain

Why Dick Was a Dick in Batgirl (2008) by dailycass-cain

"Stop!" by anniebuddy

Cass and Helena by gracefulplant

Cass and Tim by bitimdrake

Cass and Dick

Cass, Damian, and the Batman Mantle by marinsawakening

Cass and Onyx by mysteriousbeetle

Cass in Gates of Gotham

The Batgirl Mantle by franollie

Thank you to @sasheneskywalker and @but-a-humble-goon for helping me find a lot of these!

[jesncin]

I hope Superman fandom as a whole will one day understand that if you truly want to commit to the immigrant allegory, scenes like Lois shooting Clark with a gun or her jumping off a building to prove he's Superman pair really badly with that allegory.

I know some fans like to say "Superman was always an immigrant allegory" and while I get the sentiment of retroactively looking at how the lives of his creators inform the character they made, we also have to acknowledge that the allegory was never consistent to begin with. The original Superman comics were fun gags and shenanigans. Superman Smashes the Klan wouldn't stand out so much if his immigrant identity was consistently integral to his character.

And if you're going to commit to Superman being an immigrant, then you've got to be open to changes on staple Superman lore. So much of this fandom is dedicated to nostalgia, references, canon events, "but Lois does that in the comics! It's not Lois Lane if she doesn't do crazy things to prove who Superman is!" without considering how that is contextualized in the allegory.

I still get so many comments on my Clois comics but especially the Private Interview comic saying "I've never seen Superman this way before" from even longtime fans of the character. Honestly, I never saw him that way until I read Smashes the Klan. Since then I want people to have that recognition of themselves in him too. But that means being brave with changes! Maybe it's okay for this version of Lois to respect Superman's boundaries. Maybe an Asian Lois can be more than an aesthetic shallow retread of white Lois.

These characters are more than callbacks and references. The reason they persist throughout many versions is because they hold themes. Lois isn't just "stunt girl reporter obsessed with Superman and THE TRUTH", she's also a jaded reporter hardened by life who finds hope again in Superman. Superman isn't just "save cats from trees" guy. He's an alien immigrant, and you can make a ton of new stories from that lens alone.

[kirby-manga-translated]

It’s Kirby Time - Book 9 English Translation + An Update on Blog Happenings

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! IT'S HEEEEERE!! A truly adorable story about Kirby and Meta Knight deciding to spend some alone time and the activities they like to do during that time. Featuring beautiful illustrations painstakingly cleaned up by myself, this one is a must-read for fans of the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight. Read the full thing at the links below:

Imgur

MangaDex

Google Drive

...But wait, there's more! Because the illustrations are so pretty, here's a link to a folder containing just those illustrations with no text at all! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19z8WLah-ZGES2jnyZOILJKc9kE75Wvs9?usp=drive_link (I'm probably also gonna make a post featuring all these images on their own soon.)

Finally, I have an update regarding the blog. tl;dr, I'm definitely gonna keep doing translations, but the rate at which they are completed and uploaded is most likely going to change soon. I don't know by how much or even if it will be positive or negative. For a more detailed explanation, click the Keep Reading.

So, I got a job! *audience cheers* But the job does not involve translating Kirby manga. *audience "aww"s* Ordinarily I wouldn't get more specific than that since I try to avoid revealing too much about my personal life, but in this case the explanation won't make much sense unless I do, so: The job entails working on fishing boats. This means that there isn't really a set daily schedule or even a weekly schedule. When the boats are fishing, I'm working, and when they're not, I have next to nothing to do.

I've been told by many people that I should expect a lot of down time for that reason, so I'll definitely have time to work on translations. However, I can't predict exactly how much I get and I also most likely won't have an internet connection on the boat. All this is to say that I literally do not know how this is going to affect the rate of translations on this blog beyond just, "It's going to change." I could find that I have so much down time on the boat that translating is the only thing that keeps me sane and I actually get more done. I could find that the boat I'm on is a super-busy one and I get barely any time at all. And regardless of which one of those happens, I won't be able to actually upload anything until the boat gets back into port, which is entirely dependent on how long it takes for the boat to catch all the fish it needs.

The job doesn't start for a couple weeks yet, so I'm gonna try to fulfill a few more requested chapters before then. Once again: I'm definitely going to keep translating, I just don't know how often I'll actually be able to do it. So enjoy this translation, look forward to more coming in the future, and please wish me luck both in my work and in getting time to translate!

[the-bar-sinister]

If you're wondering how deep in the ace attorney brainrot weeds I am, I just bought Nahyuta's prayer beads (rose wood mala beads) on amazon.

They'll be here on Monday.

[2hoothoots]

i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:

Restore Ford Cruller's memory

Find Maligula

???

Profit

but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.

[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]

like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.

...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:

[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]

and that's kind of interesting, right?

to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:

"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"

my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.

so what is going on here?

in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:

"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."

other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.

the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.

[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]

i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!

we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.

like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.

i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.

[yarmiko-art]

"I would run if I were you"

The context post

[vamp-a-day]

day 41

todays drawing brought to you by god fucking damn it DEVSIS PLEASE

i'm turning this blog into a "drawing sparkling every day until he gets a buff" blog (not really)

[outofthiisworld]

🐰// bnuuuy ........ thinking about him again, and since i'll be heading out to chill with the bestie today.......some oc development ramblings below heehee :)c

RABBOT (civilian name: Arlo) -previously known as HOTSHOT, part of Nowhere's own lil' hero team! Sweet and scrappy! Rabbot has a pep to his step and is the more personable, light-hearted of the bunch. Previously a speedster; an unfortunate accident left him an amputee from the knees-down. Despite the newfound struggles— he keeps his chin held high and hops right back into the hero scene, thanks to the gear and prosthetics custom-made by none other than ATLAS!

credit: Michael Fichtenmayer / fichtenfoo

Stumbled upon this wonderful figure made by the artist linked above and [chefs kiss] what an inspiration!!! there's something about rabbit themed characters that scratches an itch in my brain ..... I think I'd like to take Rabbot into a more modern and colorful design, though still a bit analog in the costume -> to play off of Arlo's happy-go-lucky attitude! 🌤️🐰🌤️

[bthump]

I think I have diagnosed Griffith with 2 things after reading the manga, but am curious to know what you think

1. ⁠Narcissism. His entire worldview revolves around him. He thinks he is the protagonist. When he states that he can only respect another person who has their own dream and would do anything to make that dream a reality, he is putting a tremendous amount of weight on his "respect". And when someone actually does what the fuck he claims will earn his respect, he doesn't give it, because in the end it breaks his ego. In the eclipse, it's unearthed that deep inside, all along, he believes that all of the individuals in his army exist, living or dead, to serve him. That they died purely for him, not even considering that they yearend a life that was better then what they had, and surviving the front could have granted that. He never felt for a second that he actually owed anything else to anyone else.

2. ⁠Sociopathic tendencies: Griffith lacks true empathy. He views the world, and it's moral balance as a ledger, that he can add and subtract pros and cons to equal the karmic balance in his own eyes, and as such he "Greater goods" a ton of stuff that the fandom excuse or don't even consider prior to the eclipse, like burning the queen to shreds and sending guts on an assassination mission. He sells himself off to Gennon for the "good of his army", but this is just Griffith making ends meet to continue his ambitions of conquest, all of which are for his purpose. He excuses great amounts of evil because he is a narcissist and a sociopath. Other people's genuine state of being are not within his comprehension, and their situation is meaningless to him.

I gotta be honest, I'm pretty surprised you don't already know my opinion on this, since like my whole Fandom Brand is being a Griffith stan who thinks he's a genuinely good, empathetic person as a human lol, and I feel like I discuss that all the time. If you're very new around here and haven't really read many of my posts yet, then yeah, fyi we have deeply differing takes on Griffith.

And just as a warning, around this corner of fandom you're pretty much just going to see exasperated disagreement with this opinion, because it's what the majority of (English speaking) fandom tends to think about Griffith and the people who follow my blog tend to be pretty tired of it.

If you're genuinely interested in my own thoughts though, I'll link a few posts that explore my take on Griffith's personality in some depth:

Do I think Griffith is cruel

How Guts is not a better person than Griffith

Quick take on the Eclipse sacrifice

Griffith and power/control

The meaning of the Promrose Hall speech

Why Griffith lost his shit during the second duel

How Griffith both parallels and contrasts Gambino

Griffith's feelings for Guts are positive

Griffith's entire internal conflict throughout the Golden Age examined at great length

And just as an additional note, I generally don't engage with media through a psychiatry lens. Diagnosing fictional characters with personality disorders isn't my kinda thing unless the text is heavily implying it, because I view characters as tools that exist to help construct the meaning of a story, not as real people. If the narrative isn't interested in clinical psychology, then neither am I, basically.

But needless to say if Griffith was real I don't think either of those diagnoses would fit him, based on my layman's understanding of sociopathy and narcissism, for reasons I've discussed a lot in those linked posts, among others.

[starry-toya]

man i miss being like 12 years old and googling dabi tumblr every day to go geek out over the fanart i couldnt rb because i was too scared to make an account

[stiltonbasket]

can we send you asks about a wife by any other name/svsss in general 👀

PLEASE do 👀👀👀👀

[glaciescustodia]

In concern to Alternate Route Kinich, since there was some confusion, i will put it down here, be sure to occasionally come back and read over. So far, there are things that strays from the real events of the Natlan AQs.

Kinich was the one to sneak off in the Night Kingdom, in order to rescue Kachina instead of the Canon situation (the Wayob was still saved too). Where the Ode did fail, did he knew the only other option to go down there and it was as a dragon. The dragons of old era are capable to traversing between this underground realm and the surface, completely undeterred. He knew that, however, convincing Feykrokiin was the real challenge there. Despite the reckless stunt he pulled it off but since its the first time he switched place with Feykrokiin (consider it body swap), it took a huge mental toll on him so he ended up faint for a while.

Meanwhile and on request, i can write Toci (Hinamori deity verse) to explain what Kinich did behind their backs and have her answers any questions the Natlan crew has got.

In the upcoming AQs update we'll be getting soon, i intend on having him to manifest dragon wings during war efforts as seen on the Trailer. However, the first time he'll get them, will lead Kinich to go out of his mind and go as far as confronting Mavuika (plot this with me, i dare u), blinded by the severe pain & adrenaline till Feykrokiin's intervention. I do intend on getting the dragons to unhid themselves going forward too.

[the-bar-sinister]

No, seriously, though. We had absolutely zero things to say about the original Ace Attorney trilogy. It stood on it's own, and it was neat to see fanart sometimes.

Then we played the second trilogy and oh boy do we have things to say.

[safehaven3d]

the more i have this blog, the more i discover myself and i genuinely didn't expect that

[sweetandglovelyart]

Me, too busy with grad school to participate, watching everyone else in the Kirby fandom participate in the OC tournament and art fight

[lazzerot]

BLOG UPDATE/PSA FOR L@ZZEROT (THE BLOG THAT MADE THIS POST THAT YOU MIGHT SEE ON YOUR DASH)

Starting July 29 (one week from now) you'll

a) have two posts at 21:00 CEST (UTC+2) on weekdays

and b) one of these is gonna be The Expanse themed

if you aren't interested in that and it's annoying you please block #the expanse as a catch-all tag.

(my friends make fun of me for putting more thoughts and planning into this blog than I do into a lot of other things in my life but I have unfollowed people before because they kept clogging my dash with untagged posts of a fandom I wasn't following them for. Simply using one tag for a specific fandom would've kept me from unfollowing. But apparently a lot of you enjoy the flood of Star Trek fan art for a week interspersed with memes/variety content every other week enough to put up with me, even if you originally followed me for something completely different (hi JoJo, Krabat and Polish/Russian (post-)punk/avantgarde mutuals, I love you).

It's kinda exhausting to schedule all my posts and takes a lot of my time but I genuinely think if I just reblogged posts as I like them it would get annoying real quick. Often my obsessiveness with a fandom isn't as strong as it used to be when the scheduled reblogs finally make it to your dash, but it's nice to think back to that time so I'm okay with keeping my schedule of one week current fandom (Star Trek + The Expanse) and the other week variety content (memes or other less current fandom) until I find a better way to do this without spamming everyone. It's probably just my perfectionist tendency speaking and my friends are right and nobody cares except for me. Whoops)