#Also I've listened to some and like- you are so very right. Excellent takes =)

[another-clive-blog]

If you're putting together playlist pf stuff from other people I hope you don't mind me sharing my little collection o7

And one - seven; And one - shining star; Электрофорез - Couci-couça; Ashbury heights - world coming down; Of monsters and men - six weeks; Of monsters and men - vulture vulture

Of course I don't !!! Thank you for sharing these with me !! =)

Also- OF MONSTERS AND MEN ?? You have good taste, very very good taste !! These are ALL going on the Playlist hehe

[chocolatepot]

Hi! Can you elaborate on "Fuck GRRM's committment to 'historical realism' without knowing anything about medieval social history"? I would love to know about what GRRM gets wrong about medieval gender roles, specifically.

So Cersei learns at an early age that she has no agency, her only value is producing heirs and is barred from traditional routes of power so she has to use underhanded methods such as influencing men with sex or using underhanded magical means. I would love an explanation on why this doesn't reflect medieval queen consorts and noble women irl.

Sure! The basic summary is: GRRM "knows" the things that everyone "knows" about the middle ages, which are broad stereotypes often reflective of a) primary sources that deserve a critical reading rather than being taken at face value and b) the judgements of later periods making themselves look better at the medieval period's expense.

As Shiloh Carroll argues, building on the work of Helen Young, “readers are caught in a ‘feedback loop’ in which Martin’s work helps to create a neomedieval idea of the Middle Ages, which then becomes their idea of what the Middle Ages ‘really’ looked like, which is then used to defend Martin’s work as ‘realistic’ because it matches their idea of the real Middle Ages.”

Since you're mainly interested in Cersei here, I'd strongly recommend a book: Queenship and the Women of Westeros: Female Agency and Advice in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, edited by Zita Eva Rohr and Lisa Benz. It's an excellent read and speaks to exactly what you're asking about. The tone of the book is very positive and non-judgemental when it comes to GRRM and his depictions of women on the whole, but I think some of this is rhetorical positioning to not seem like "mean angry academics jumping on fiction for not being accurate," as the actual content turns the reader to thinking about how much agency and power medieval queens had in different European societies and how little of that worked its way into GRRM's worldbuilding.

It's true that women typically didn't inherit titles and thrones in their own right, and that they were usually given in marriage for political/dynastic reasons. However, they weren't seen as brood mares whose only duty was to pop out sons: both queens and noblewomen had roles to play as household managers, counselors, and lieutenants, actively participating in the ruling of their domains and in local and international diplomacy (women in political alliances were not just pawns sent to a powerful man's bed, but were to act as ambassadors for their families and to pass information back and forth), and they had to be raised with an understanding of this so that they could learn to do it. Motherhood was very important, don't get me wrong, but it's a mistake to assume as pop culture does that a wife's foremost duty being to provide heirs for her family meant that she was ONLY seen as a mother/potential mother.

Catelyn is a great example of what was expected of women in these positions. But in the books, Catelyn is basically the only woman who inhabits this role, and the impression given is that she's exceptional, that she's just in charge of the household because she's so great at it that Ned allows her to be his partner, and that he listens to her advice because she happens to be a wise person in his orbit - and also that Ned is exceptional for giving so much power to a woman, because in the world of ASOIAF, it takes an especially good man to do this. In GRRM's view of the medieval world, realpolitik and the accumulation of power are the most important things, so men in Westeros are extremely unlikely to give up any authority to their wives, even though this is historically inaccurate.

Cersei, on the other hand, is supposed to be a more realistic depiction of what would happen to an ambitious medieval woman. There's a chapter titled "Queen of Sad Mischance: Medievalism, “Realism,” and the Case of Cersei Lannister" in the book I've rec'd, and it deals with why this is problematic extremely well. (This is the source of the quote at the top of this post.) In it, Kavita Mudan Finn argues that Cersei embodies pretty much every medieval trope for the illegitimate wielding of power by a woman. She underhandedly gets people killed for opposing her, she seduces men into doing her bidding, she advances her family's interests and her own at the expense of the realm. She's made sympathetic through fannish interpretation and Lena Headey's performance, but in the text she's an evil woman doing evil things. Even when she gets to be regent for her son - a completely legitimate historical position that allowed women to handle the levers of power almost exactly like a king - she continues to do shitty things and not be taken seriously because she's just not good at ruling.

But even before then, from a medieval perspective she had access to completely legitimate power that she didn't use: she'd have had estates giving her a large personal income, religious establishments to patronize (giving her a good reputation as a pious woman and people she'd put in high positions being personally loyal to her), artists and writers to patronize as well, power over her household, men around her listening to her counsel. That she doesn't have that is a reflection of GRRM either deciding these things don't really exist in Westeros in order to make it a worse world than medieval Europe and justify Cersei feeling she had to use underhanded means of power, or not knowing that they were ordinary and unexceptional because he has a good working knowledge of the politics of the Wars of the Roses but little to no knowledge of social history beyond pop culture osmosis, and, imo, little to no interest in actual power dynamics.

There are a lot of books I'd recommend on this subject. There's a series from Palgrave Macmillan called "Queenship and Power" and nearly all the books in it are THE BEST. Theresa Earenfight's Queenship in Medieval Europe is a very readable introduction to the situations of queens in European societies across the continent. She also has a book, Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe, that also addresses non-royal women's power. I'm also a huge fan of English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550: Marriage and Family, Property and Careers, by Barbara Harris, which really emphasizes the "career" aspect of women's lives as administrators and diplomats.

[germiyahu]

Actually don't listen to me. I'm an impulse buyer with credit cards. You want a nice looking pitcher and basin to perform the hand washing mitzvot? That's an excellent opportunity to go thrifting! You might even find Judaica there, like a Chanukkiyya perhaps?

You don't want to wait 8 years for Shabbat candles to arrive from Israel? Ask your rabbi! When I asked her if you can reuse a Havdalah candle, she sensed I was worried about the cost of buying all these candles and said her shul has tons of extras.

You absolutely do need a Chumash, a Tanakh, and probably a study Bible too... but Sefaria has all that and more! Especially the Talmud and other Rabbinic sources! It literally blows my mind that this site exists and is free.

But what about all the books on Jewish history and philosophy? What about textbooks for Modern and Biblical Hebrew? See if there are scanned versions online, or go to your local library. Invest in notecards, you're going to want to write down prayers and such, this will especially help if you don't own the books you're studying from.

It's a good idea to have a Siddur, but your shul will most definitely have their own, and as others have told me, you can ask your Rabbi if you can borrow one to take home (make sure to treat it with reverence).

If you want to start baking Challah and are living on your own, or maybe in a dorm room, see if there are community cooking spaces so you don't have to buy your own materials, or just ask your parents if they can gift you some kitchenware because "You want to get into baking."

You literally don't need anything other than a cup that you think is pretty and has meaning to you for the Kiddush. And don't splurge, I've seen hundreds of very attractive Kiddush sets and candle holders and all that for modest prices.

And take it slowly! Don't buy everything at once. We're nowhere near close to Chanukka right now, so don't even put that in your mind. If you want to acquire holiday items, focus on Pesach and worry about other festivals in their due time, let your wallet recover a little. This also goes for Shabbat! You don't need a pristine set of everything all at once, I'm just an idiot. You can slowly build up your perfect beautiful intricate table as the months go by.

[gnomewithalaptop]

I'm still too distracted to write so here have a list of YJ-cast centric fics that make me froth at the mouth

Kon-centric recs:

I Want It That Way (1990s Tim/Kon) by WynterSky / @wynterstars -- A revamped, 90s-style Superboy origin story with added Lex Luthor AND a lil bit of 90s Robin for spice and flavor. Honestly, this whole series is so elite -- goes hard with the Superboy mythos + angst PLUS the third fic leans hard into the secret identity shenanigans in a way that'd make Miraculous Ladybug jealous. The first fic splits its attention between Tim and Kon, but the latter two are solidly Kon-centric

one plus one (easy math) by connerdrakewayne / @comphetkoncass -- Cassandra Cain and Kon go to a gala together. I'm always a sucker for a good Cass + Kon friendship. This one's very short and sweet, and it gets the job done -- 10/10 would read again

a timeline can be a haunted house by connerdrakewayne -- post-universal reset Kon angst + terrible coping mechanisms! This one goes so hard I read it three times. Tbh this author has an excellent handle on Kon as a character in general, so I honestly recommend just checking out their whole fic stash

Tim-centric recs:

Top 10 Secret Identity Fails by @havendance -- Tim's new English teacher is his on-again-off-again superhero teamup Helena Bertinelli (aka the Huntress). This one's just fun, okay -- the whole thing reads like it could be straight out of Tim's 1993 solo run, plus I love the dynamic between him and Helena. Overall just a very cool vibe

only the dead stay 17 forever by Sky_Dust (couldn't find their tumblr sorry) -- Listen, I've really been restraining myself here, because I realize my love for time-travel bullshit is not universal, but I genuinely couldn't not include this one. This bad boy is a Tim-centric time-loop featuring a seriously unhinged Tim -- definitely a darker tone, but I can't stop rereading it

Bart-centric recs:

reflections on respawning: a gamer's uncertainty by merils / @mamawasatesttube -- Bart has a hard conversation about his death and subsequent resurrection (feat. Kon) man, I just vibe with this one so hard. It's such a thoughtful take on Bart's more contemplative side, while still managing to keep his personality intact

the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun by @kermit-coded -- trans/gnc impulse my beloved <3 also we get some funky Max & Bart bonding, made much rawer and more real by the fact that it's the 90s and nobody knows what they're doing. Again, feels like it's straight out of Bart's solo series

Cassie-centric recs:

you and I, we are more than just this armor by @suzukiblu -- KonCassie bonding + gender feels. They're both so trans in this, and the author does a great job of really digging deep into their complicated feelings (both about gender and about each other)

(also PLEASE somebody give me more Cassie-centric fic recs I'm literally begging you)

Team recs

I'm all yours but you're all mine by suzukiblu -- Poly Core 4 Soulmates AU! Essentially, everybody gets their 'soulmark'/soulmate-identifier (not really, but the best word) right when Kon wakes up in his pod, and because Superboy hasn't really made his big splash yet, they misidentify their soulmate as Superman; this is an issue mainly because 1) they're all 14-15 and Superman is roughly 30-ish, and 2) by the time this fic takes place, Superman is pretty verifiably dead. Currently in-progress, but this is such an interesting and fun take on the usual soulmates trope. I pinky promise you won't regret reading it

Love, Not Loved series by @popsunner -- hoooomygod this series makes me cry literally every time I read it, it's genuinely one of the most realistic representations of grief I've seen on AO3. Basically explores the general fucked-up-edness of pretty much the whole YJ Core 4 Squad dying one by one, with each fic focusing on a different funeral (complete with survivor's guilt, regular guilt, and just plain old complicated feelings). We get Cassie feels, we get Tim feels, we get Bart + Kon feels -- it's the whole shebang. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending eventually, but you def gotta work for it. This series beat me up and stole my lunch money and I'd happily do it all over again

Lost the Last Piece of Me by InsaneTrollLogic / @last01standing -- YJ Core 4 Animorphs AU! I'm sad to say I've never read the original Animorphs series, but every single Animorphs AU I've ever read has been such high quality. Unsurprisingly (I love this author, okay), this fic is no exception to that rule. Solid alien-invasion plot, character driven, and the world-building is explained well enough that even a newbie like me can understand (feat. some TimKon, but it's not the main focus)

Ikonoclast by anantipodean (couldn't find a tumblr) -- Tim and Kon get sent to an alternate reality that's almost (but not quite) like their own. This one's just fun for me -- I love the TimBart buildup and the worldbuilding on the other Earth is a funky time. Also, the other universe's Tim is goth and absolutely cannot stand mainstream-reality Tim, and I find that extremely funny for some reason

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

I feel like a kid on Christmas. I'm finally making some real use of my 3DS being homebrewed. I figured out how to install my 3DS cartridges onto the console so I don't need the carts to play. I also figured out NDS game forwarding, so I can have icons for those too. What you're looking at is every mainline Zelda game that the 3DS can run. Every one from Zelda 1 to Four Swords, and the handhelds from there onward. It's only the Wii U and Switch ones that I can't play here on my little ol' gold Zelda New 3DS XL. This is so epic. Mind you I've owned all of these since 2015. It's just having them all here without needing the carts that makes me so excited.

I've also packed Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D full of mods for quality of life and to make them just a bit more faithful to the N64 releases. Read below for the mods I've installed! They all work on 3DS, not just Citra!

Nerrel on YouTube has an excellent review of MM3D that points out its severe shortcomings as a faithful remaster of the original. Thankfully, there are multiple mods that fix both gameplay and aesthetic problems.

Project Restoration by Leoetlino, which fixes every gameplay issue and adds even more quality of life features.

N64 OST to 3DS by DeathWrench. Gets rid of the reverb that Grezzo slathered on the soundtrack.

Classic Texture Packs by Solt 11, based on Citra-only mods by Loch Ness Hamster. They make Link's transformations look much more faithful. (I deleted the file for Hylian Link though because I like Grezzo's take on him)

Even if you don't care for the texture packs, Project Restoration easily makes MM3D the best way to experience Majora's Mask, whether on Citra or original hardware.

OoT3D is a much more faithful remaster, with virtually no changes to the gameplay while only enhancing visuals and adding optional QoL features like motion aiming. There are still some areas where it fell short, like how some of the game's horror elements were sanitized. So I threw on a bunch of mods for that too. Most of them are just aesthetic, but two are really game changing. First, the aesthetic.

Invisible Sheikah Stone by Takeshre. They're still there if you need them but don't visually distract anymore. There is a MM3D version, but Citra only.

Art-Faithful Fairies by Takeshre (3DS port by JoesephMother in comments). This one is just neat. Pointy wings!

N64 Dialogue Font by Takeshre. The original font has so much character compared to what Grezzo replaced it with, and now it's back!

Original Dead Hand by Loch Ness Hamster (3DS port by JoesephMother in comments). Finally some of the horror back.

Now the gamechangers.

Standalone Free Cam by Roberto-Nessy. Goodness this breathes some fresh life into the game. As far as Nintendo is concerned, OoT is still the only 3D Zelda to not have free cam. The original 3DS couldn't support one, but the New 3DS and Citra certainly can. Boom bam, free cam!

Unmirror Master Quest by HylianFreddy. Okay so maybe this is just huge and gamechanging to me, but listen. I'm left-handed. I identify so very strongly with Link's character, and it makes me very happy whenever he is left-handed. That said, I dislike that OoT3D and TPHD mirror the game world in their respective hard modes simply because they make Link right-handed. This mod completely fixes the issue for me in OoT3D at least. I actually want to play Master Mode now.

Note that these two are both implemented using a file called "code.ips", so they cannot be used together unless they are merged into one ips file. Which you can do easily with the tool in method 2 of this guide.

So yeah I'm a happy camper. If you use any of the guides or mods I shared and found them cool or helpful, you're welcome! I found them all either by searching for them specifically or combing through the games' pages on Gamebanana.com. Enjoy!

[sadiegirl2021]

Writing tag game by @bonecarversbestie !

Describe your writing process from idea to posting/publishing?

I have a notes app called EasyNotes where I jot down all my ideas as I get them; bits of dialogue I think would work in a fic, interactions between characters (which always come to me just as I'm about to drift off to sleep) and very, very rough outlines of chapters.

Then, I'll word vomit onto a doc and copy in any notes I had.

Because I'm better at dialogue than describing the scene, I'll write out all of that first and then work from there to flesh it out. Like starting with the skeleton.

Once I have the first draft done, I start my editing process. I go paragraph by paragraph correcting spelling and grammar (I have a Chrome extension called LanguageTool), and then I play the whole chapter through another Chrome extension called Read Aloud. Because of my ADHD, it can be difficult to catch all my errors by reading alone, so hearing it out loud helps A LOT! Would recommend it. (Although the voices used are hilarious. Hearing your smut scene's read out by a monotone robot is slightly traumatising 😂)

Once I'm happy with a paragraph, I will add HTML coding to it - the <p> tag. In my head, it's just the easiest way to mark that a paragraph is complete. If I'm still not sure about a sentence or paragraph, I will mark it in red to rework. I also add all my <i> tags as I'm writing, so I don't forget about them later!

I realise I'm doing too much! But, I quite enjoy the editing process.

Once I get a chapter or One Shot uploaded, I try my best not to read it again so I'm not continuously making little changes.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I want to be a plotter SO BAD! I've got Excel sheets, multiple docs with outlines, plot points, and a solid plan. And then boom! The characters run off like a crazed toddler in the opposite direction, and all I can do is follow. So… I guess I'm a pantser!

What do you listen to when you are writing?

I have multiple Spotify playlists depending on the mood of the fic/chapter I'm writing. If I need to write emotional scenes, I'll put on some heartbreaking Emo songs from 2006! Or, if my energy drops while writing, I'll switch to 90s pop. Generally, though, I just listen to instrumental music. One of my fav playlists is this one.

What’s your drink of choice (while writing)?

Water. I am booooooring. It is sparkling, though!

Promote yourself! What’s your favourite thing you’ve written?

I think it's Hot Girl Summer. This was supposed to be a little funny, 5-10 chapter fic that wasn't serious. And it has spiralled into a multi POV, 40-chapter story with so much plot! I'm loving the process, though. And I think I will definitely have to get it bound when it's all done.

Share a fic of yours that you think is underrated/deserves more love.

I'm going to say Hot Girl Summer too. I think a lot of people aren't as interested in stories that follow both Gwynriel and Elucien (and sometimes E/riel or another pairing with their favourite characters) at the same time. I haven't seen many fics that do it, but they’re some of my favourites in the fandom, and I’m so happy to add to that list. If you're hesitant, I highly recommend giving them a try!

My favs are:

Call Me Home (by @propagandaprincess)

A Court of Vision and Bloom (by studentwriter666)

Best Laid Plans (by @trappedoutside124)

Do you have any advice for new writers?

First of all, just do it! It took me 33 years to build the confidence to try. For most of my life, I didn't think I was good enough to write, even though I had so many stories to tell. In my 20s, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the plunge. Writing opens you up to criticism (which I hate!), but I’m forever grateful that 99.9% of my readers have only ever been incredibly supportive and encouraging.

Don’t be afraid to use tools that help you. I know my limitations with ADHD, so I created a process that works for me. Everyone has a different method, and the right one is whatever works for you.

Finally, finding a community of like-minded people makes the whole process a lot more fun. I love helping others develop fic ideas or beta-reading for them, and appreciate all the support they give me. It really motivates me to keep writing.

What is a writing style/technique that others do really well that you'd like to get better at?

Flow and angst! I'm really working on improving these areas in my writing. I'm quite impatient and tend to rush through the plot rather than building up tension. I know I need to slow down and let the story breathe, but it's so hard! I just want my characters to kiss within the first 5 seconds 😂

Is there a character you were surprised you enjoyed writing as much as you did?

Eris Vanserra!

Gods, I love torturing this man! I've redeemed him so much in my fic that I'll be heartbroken if he truly turns out to be just a dickhead in the canon ACOTAR world!

Thank you for tagging me @olenvasynyt

No pressure tags: @sunshinebingo @avabrynne @thevalkyriesshadow @aldbooks @hlizr50

[walkingstackofbooks]

Too many DBIP feelings! #4

Part 1: Richard's insecurity over Julian's enhancements Part 2: Richard's arguing tactics Part 3: Amsha's manipulations Part 5: Their disregard for Julian's wants

Part 4: Their 'apologies'

Both times after they argue, his parents then approach him to apologise/make amends. I've always previously assumed this was abnormal for them due to the situation, but I'm starting to wonder if actually this was quite a regular pattern that Julian grew up with. Both his parents clearly want to see themselves as "good people", and so I can imagine them feeling the need to make these lip-service apologies that --presumably, if he's made these same arguments to them before -- end up meaning very little.

Did he learn as a child that shouting was the only way to get them to listen, if only for a little while? Is he used to apologies lasting only for a short while before his parents return to the status quo?

There are imo a number of factors leading to his unusually impassioned defence of his father in the final scene, but I think this could play into it. Agreeing to go to prison is the kind of apology Richard can't just take back a few days/weeks/months later when he starts to remember how 'unreasonable' Jules was being and wonder why he agreed to it when he was in the right. I can imagine one of Julian's first thoughts being "what happens when he changes his mind?"

(Also, it has to be mentioned how shit an apology the first one was. "It's a stressful time for all of us and maybe I said some things I shouldn't have." MAYBE?? Fuck you. Really.)

[Heading towards headcanon territory: Amsha's behaviour, as previously discussed, is another reason why I wouldn't be surprised if the argument-apology model was frequent, because whether or not she's consciously aware of her manipulation, it's an excellent way to control Julian's feelings. It gives her the power of being the mediator; it puts Julian in the position of either accepting it and showing forgiveness, or sounding unreasonable. We never see his actual reaction to their 'apology', but we know they don't think there's anything too unusual about the hologram simply standing there - and Amsha feels quite at ease to reward her unresponsive 'son' with a kiss. Idk, but it seems like they expect Julian to reluctantly accept their apology, and even if he doesn't, they're now in position to absolve themselves of any reponsibility because 'at least we tried'.]

[kindlingkeen]

I've wanted to ask this for a while: I absolutely adore how you write action scenes/sequences in your fics, especially in Asymmetrical Warfare. I can easily and clearly picture what's going on in my head, and the action is SO suspenseful. Literally, the chase and fight scenes have me on the edge of my seat *chef's kiss*. As someone trying their hand at writing fanfiction, I'd love to hear if you have any specific tips or methods for writing action. I also wanted to say how much I love your characterization of Jason. It's literally a breath of fresh, life-giving air among the muck that is current DC comics and fanon alike :)

Thank you so much, anon!! I love sharing my writing with people who love Jason like I do. 🩵 I'm so glad you're enjoying Asymmetrical Warfare and my action scenes in particular (they're my pride and joy). I'm sorry it took me so long to answer your ask, but I had to really think about it (I wasn't actually consciously aware I had a writing method, lol). I only started writing fanfiction in the last year, so I honestly consider myself a novice in this.

I can easily and clearly picture what's going on in my head

I've gotten variations of this comment before, and I think it reflects my knowing exactly what's happening in a scene, down to extremely minute details. You have to what you're trying to convey in order to do so clearly. This is also where practice comes in. I'm a novice creative writer, but I've had years of experience with technical writing. That means lots of practice conveying complex concepts in a limited number of words. It gets easier with repetition (especially the self-editing bit).

After some reflection, I realized I have a three-stage approach to constructing an action sequence. I start with a rough draft that conveys the feel and general idea of the action. Then I add very explicit details describing the physical movements (this is where I do research and sometimes get help from a beta). Lastly, I focus on adding sensory details and editing for tempo and flow. Here's an example from Chapter 3 of Harm Reduction, I started with:

While working on the next version, I found a couple excellent parkour videos on YouTube and watched them over and over in slow motion to figure out all of the movements. I also had my brainstorming buddy read parts of the chapter to see if they were interpreting my text correctly.

At this point, the paragraph does a decent job of conveying exactly what Jason is doing, but it isn't very engaging. From here, it's just ruthless self-editing, moving words and sentences around, trying different ideas, abusing my thesaurus, etc. I usually listen to music (sometimes the same song repetitively) that has the right tempo and dramatic feel for what I'm trying to convey while I'm working.

I often combine sensory details with descriptive actions and short, punctuated sentences to build tension. You can see me adding that above with "A kaleidoscope of roof and sky whirls wildly around him. Jason uncoils."

The last piece of advice I'll offer is to take your time. The above process takes me many, many drafts. For example, it took me fourteen days to write Chapter 3 of Harm Reduction. There are countless versions auto-saved in my Google Drive history (I stopped counting at 32).

I hope this is helpful, anon! Thanks so much for your ask. I had fun answering it. 💙

[whipbogard]

do you have a bruharvey comic reading list ?

Lmfao I personally feel like every Harvey-centric comic is somewhat a BruHarvey comic if you squint 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This list is in no way exhaustive and I'm pretty sure I've missed out some very important stuff but nevertheless, this is what I could think off at the top of my head:

Disclaimer: I'm bad at continuity. And I won't call some of these excellent writing but they did give me all the delicious bruharv moments.

Batman - A Lonely Place of Dying - Some nice parallels between Batman and Two-Face were made in here when they're busy trying to outwit each other. This is mainly focused on Bruce's angst post-Jason's death and it is rather delicious for the angst-lover. And also origin story for Robin Tim.

Batman: Year One - That infamous scene where Batman hid under Harvey's desk. That's it. That's big reason enough for you to read it. (Harvey is also exceptionally hansum in here. Will always be one of my fav Harveys).

Two-Face: Year One - Chummy college days, Bruce hanging out at Harvey's office late and night and also the one where 2F didn't listen to the coin and spared Bruce's life :^)

Batman: Eye of the Beholder - The one where Jim introduced Harvey to Batman and then they started hanging out together and left Jim out. JK JK JK LOL but it sure felt like that 🤣 In all honesty though, this is one of--if not--the best Harvey story out there so please read it anyway!!!!

Batman: Face The Face - This takes place sometime after Batman: Hush (where if you recall, Harvey betrayed Tommy to save Bruce's ass uwu). Harvey is somewhat "cured" now that his face is fixed. He go about protecting Gotham in Bruce's absence. And oh, Harvey recalling the 30 days whirlwind of a romance with Bruce where they trained together and also went for dinner dates and movies (I KID YOU NOT)---and obviously got 2F very upset LOL.

All-Star Batman: My Own Worst Enemy - The one where Bruce and Harvey went on a cross-country trip while being handcuffed together. Also a look into their childhood together at that very weird school lol

Batman and Robin #24 - #28 (The Big Burn) - This is 2F's origin story for current continuity. The one where Harvey called Bruce a Prince (while looking at his own reflection on a knight armour) and Bruce called Harvey "dummy" affectionately. Also here we learn that Harvey had known that Bruce is Batman since forever and has been protecting that secret from 2F.

Detective Comics #989 - #993 (Deface The Face) - My beloved Gotham Justice Triumvirate reuniting and working together!!!! The ending to this arc truly fulfilled my love for that chasing game between a hero and a villain tbh uwu

Detective Comics #1020 - #1024 (Ugly Heart & Prelude to Joker War) - It started out weird enough with 2F having a cult of some sort and having real weird erotic ritual involving the coin (lbr you know I'd join this cult in a heartbeat LOL). Again, this arc emphasized on Harvey's struggles to protect Bruce and his identity from 2F. And Harvey teaming up with Bruce to beat Joker's talons!!!!! It ended with 2F being suppressed and a somewhat "reformed" Harvey in Blackgate being visited by Matches. I like this arc for a lot of shippy reasons lmfao ("Promises, promises" hehe)

Detective Comics #1062 - present - The current craze. An excellently written Harvey by Ram V and Simon Spurrier. I look forward to where this is heading! (As of now, seems like Harvey has stopped making an appearance but I sure hope he'll come back again!!!)

ADDITIONAL MENTIONS

The Doom That Came to Gotham - This is a depressing Elseworlds story with Lovecraft elements but the BruHarvey in here is absolutely golden and even more so in the movie version.

Batman 1989 Newspaper Comics - I have yet to go through this tbh but there are a lot of good bruharv moments in here and thIS ONE RIGHT HERE I s2G GETS ME ALL THE TIME

THAT IS ALL!!! Thanks for asking me this because now I have a proper record to refer to since I'm so bad with arc names and issues etc 🤣

[vechter]

"leader" anon here! weird name, right? haha anyways, thanks for answering my ask. it was a delight to read the meta you shared and the points you viewed really helped focus my perspective. i don't think nightwing should end up as the permanent leader of the jla because as you said, but i was talking about like the leader of dc. like i've seen it discussed many times who the leader of the superhero community of the dcu is and that's what i was talking about actually!

also 100% agree about the not all bats are leaders because well, personally, i don't think leadership is a value that can be taught/learned. like, yeah you could learn how to improve as a leader and the different elements to being a leader but leadership is a whole consists of numerous core traits, know what i mean? so although i understood the bats being known for being "detectives" and quite good martial artists, i didnt understand the effort to push them all into leadership roles.

i also love nightwing getting some more attention but as you said, it doesn't feel very...authentic? i feel like they don't really understand the core of his character and what makes him a leader and sometimes it's just for show. i miss the juicy intricacies and elaborate conflicts and character roles in old dc stories! sometimes you have to make the readers feel a little bit angry, a little bit conflicted! yeah sorry this totally turned into a rant you probably dont have the time to read but if you did thank you so much once again for answering and hearing me out!

welcome back, anon! ahhhh my bad, i misinterpreted it as leading the JL oops

i think, in that case, dick is an excellent contender for leader of the superhero community! and there's canonical evidence for this too. just consider how quickly he can rally everyone in the brave and the bold (2007) #15 sorry for such an overused set of panels but it's just soooo good:

more importantly, how readily everybody listens to him and believes him... like just look at this panel from kon's pov in teen titans (2003) #23:

he's rlly That Guy <3

so although i understood the bats being known for being "detectives" and quite good martial artists, i didnt understand the effort to push them all into leadership roles.

agreed!! like it makes sense for dick, and largely tim to be leaders of their respective titans but idk why dc started equating being good tacticians to being good leaders. like you said, leadership is about way more than having a good plan of action. it's an essential component ofc but what makes dick a good leader is how often he's willing to dole out emotional and moral support to his teammates, how readily he's willing to take the onus of mistakes bc he's the one making the calls, how he can be emotional but it doesn't blind him from being objective in handling situations (there are exceptions to each of these ofc bc no character is perfect but largely, dick is an excellent leader)

i also love nightwing getting some more attention but as you said, it doesn't feel very...authentic? i feel like they don't really understand the core of his character and what makes him a leader and sometimes it's just for show.

yes!!! i'm not going to harp on about criticism of taylor's run but that guy— he looks like dick grayson, once in a while he even talks and acts like dick grayson but he's just not dick grayson. i haven't read absolute power yet so i can't comment on that portrayal accurately but the few panels i've seen, it does sometimes give me the energy of dc doubling down on "oh look here's dick grayson, son of batman, isn't he a great tactician and leader"

alsoooo, don't apologize!!! i appreciated and enjoyed the rant, anon. like don't even worry about it. i love yapping about dickie g he's My Guy <3

[kittenintheden]

okay listen I'm so tired lol

I am a fandom old. I've been around the freaking block like eight dozen times. I'm at the point in my life where I enjoy media because it's FUN and ENRICHING for me personally, rather than something I base my identity on. I adore the community that happens in fan spaces (mostly).

here is why I never trust an anon that's clearly just being a dick: I've been in way to many scenarios where people who aren't even invested in the thing just think it's so fucking funny to watch segments of a community fight with each other. it tickles some part of their lizard brain. their mom never taught them not to be an asshole to strangers. idk.

there's a political term that you may or may not be familiar with called astroturfing. it's frequently used in marketing and politics to falsely create the image of vast public support for something that doesn't actually have all that much natural support. for example, people who don't especially have strong feelings about trans issues being encouraged/paid/instructed to respond to any and all trans support a certain way. responding to blogs, sending letters to the editor, posting on message boards, etc. their goal is to create a broad public perception that most people are anti-trans (untrue).

and it works. entire fucking laws and legislation and protests and fearmongering come out of that shit. people make up FAKE PROBLEMS (cis men dressing up like women to go be pervy in public bathrooms???) and spread the word via bad actors and controlling the public discourse. the media conglomerate that gamed Facebook to disproportionately support asshole authoritarian alt-right clowns and got them elected was EXCELLENT at it.

a similar thing can happen in fandom, ESPECIALLY when that fandom is a haven for women, POC, queer folk, and other minorities. you guys might remember GamerGate and SadPuppies? yeah all those fuckers are still active and still purposely being shitty at every given opportunity because they think it's funny to make the "libs" fight amongst themselves.

look up #yourslipisshowing if you're not familiar. it was a movement by Black Twitter (specifically Black WOMAN Twitter) to expose bad actors who would create accounts posing as Black woman activists, learn the surface-level terminology, and just purposely cause discord in leftist spaces under the ever-familiar activist method of "being morally pure is a thing that can exist."

anyway: any time I get an ask or comment without a name attached that is very obviously intended to poke me in a sore spot, I delete that shit and assume it's some fucker trying to start fan drama for kicks. even if I'm wrong, I still don't need to feed into that shit. this is my fun, happy space. I'm an activist and do activist shit and get angry at the world in real life, I don't need it in my little fandom corner of the internet too.

which is not to say that shitty fans and shitty fandom takes don't really exist. they very much do. but I don't give them much air unless there's an actual name attached. and even THEN it can be hit or miss because people can and do create fake accounts if they're especially dedicated to being a shithead.

so: if you're minding your business and some goober comes into your ask box with shit that's clearly intended to push a button, give it like 24 hours to cool down and decide if it's actually worth it to respond. for me, most of the time I determine that it's not.

don't get me wrong. calling out bad behavior in fandom IS IMPORTANT and SHOULD BE DONE. I just also think it's important to try and find the joy and camaraderie in these spaces as much as possible and that people who try to disrupt that for jollies suck real bad and give a disproportionate perception of "what X fans are like."

in summary, my philosophy is be the best person you can be, be as kind as is warranted, focus on the parts of your fandom that make you happiest, and carry a big stick for when the jerks won't take a hint.

also like. shitting on other characters to prop up your fave is such a freaking middle school move. are you in middle school? if so, I'm sorry. if not, I'm still sorry, but for a different reason.

[lazlolullaby]

Where is the Moon Knight AU where Marc and Layla's patron Gods are swapped? and now my brain can't work because it extended into a full roleswap AU?

Layla's father came back from a successful dig with a trove of information and a lovely little ushabti of Khonshu. However, Abdullah is acting strange, talking to thin air, going out at night, researching further into obscure things. The lights are also flickering no matter how much she checks the generator and the wind keeps blowing despite the doors being shut.

Abdullah El-Faouly is the Eye of Khonshu: being banished for so long from the world, the God needs some time to adjust before going forward with his plan of punishing evildoers. (this was Khonshu trying so hard to be like the Ennead, but he could not abandon his nature to protect.) Abdullah ends up breaking the contract and Khonshu leaves the ushabti behind as a token of protection.

(then there is Arthur Harrow, the Talons of Khonshu. While his willingness to perform violence is a boon, sometimes he is too eager.)

Everything is fine for a while, then mercenaries break in to find the artifact. Bushman threatens them. Layla fights and takes down most of them, but her father is still hurt. One of the remaining mercenaries turns on Bushman. (He starts the mission as Marc - but since he can't handle another innocent death on his hands, backs out and swaps with Jake.)

During the struggle, Layla gets shot. Jake gets things done and then scatters. (he believes that he killed her. this has. repercussions on the system.)

Khonshu at first just wanted to revive Abdullah, but at his insistence he gives up being an Avatar so Layla can be revived. "she is going to be angry. You won't be there to see it." "she would have gone after them anyway."

(Khonshu abandons Harrow for this, not sure if it was worth it.)

Abdullah is right. Layla does go on a hunt, now as the Wings of Khonshu. Moon Scarab, to the underworld and the rumor mill.

She's mad about everything. Mad that her father presumed she needed saving, mad that she has to listen to an angry bird. (Rage, though it burns hot, always burns out. It's better than the cold certainty of Harrow's punish before wrongdoing. It is worth it.)

(Layla isn't unhinged, she's just gripping very tight to the hinges, thank you for asking.)

Weeks pass and she finds the last person of the mercenary group. A man cuffed to a wheelchair in a psych ward, sedated.

"His mind is fractured. Broken." Khonshu says. "It could be a fitting punishment, to keep him here. His body rotting while his mind spins in fruitless cycles."

"or he could be very good at hiding. One way to find out."

Layla is an excellent forger - a release for the merc, a small flat and money to keep him in town while he recovers from treatment. She feeds him a lie about being a family friend. There's a flicker of distrust.

"I've got a condition - blacking out, memory issues, insomnia - I'll be up reading all night." He says his name is Steven, but she knows better. "Are you sure you want to be flatmates?"

"I have places to be at night." Khonshu flickers the lights.

"Oh. Fine. Night owl, that's...fine."

"Don't worry about the lights, the landlord never answers the calls." don't mind that she's the landlord.

Her coming home with bruises and cuts. Steven flinches, insisting they go out to get bandages because they don't have a proper first aid kit. The awkward stare off with a hurt lady and a nervous guy VS the night shift cashier that's Seen it All. "bar fight. I won." Layla grins, blood on her teeth.

(The little moment where they're close as he's putting a bandage on her nose and being. so. tender. to someone who's never been more than 'distractedly polite' to him. His face changing to something new, something strange and lovely.)

When she finds him hitting himself, it's not that hard for him to explain. "I don't - I don't know if this is real. Jake is very sure you're dead!"

It turns out after the night of the attack, Jake got them far away as possible. He resolved to become a night driver and Steven to keep house in the day. Marc woke up and realized an alter was trying to build a life and just...let them. Better than mercenary work.

Steven gets worried about his missing time and gets therapy...and the therapist realizes, tells them and pushes them too hard to "come together as one whole"...Jake snaps and he's forced into a psych ward.

They cribbed together some form of communication on the psych ward thanks to a different therapist and the other patients. Marc's immense guilt wanted them to stay. But Jake and Steven wanted the body out. If they spent more time in the ward, they might reveal some crimes and the system doubts that they'll be allowed this level of help in a prison.

When Layla arrived to take them, it was an opportunity they didn't want to refuse.

"We don't want to be one person. We want to be ourselves." Steven fully introduces them after that. "We are the Hippo system! Like the Hippocampus of the brain that works with memory - that's Marc - and navigation - that's Jake!" He spells it out, "He Isn't a People Person Otherwise!"

"Who's he?"

Steven shrugs. "I dunno. I'm just here for general life, Jake is here for protection and gossip and Marc...he's well. Not as social as he'd like to be. I'm not supposed to know about it, that's not my "function", as the doc would say but...whatever happened that made us us was too much for one person to bear. It happened before we met you, so it's not your fault."

Layla shrugs. "What can you tell me about that night?"

"I can't tell you. That's part of the point, us being separate and all."

She eventually gets an answer out of them. Layla also lies and says she wasn't as badly hurt as they saw and shows off her Moon Scarab suit with the healing. (Jake accepts that answer at face value. Steven is a little concerned but willing to let it slide. Marc is suspicious.)

Now with their first round of secrets gone, they feel more at home. The Hippo System settles in as a decent partner in her artifact retrieval - he can put his mercenary skills to a good cause and she doesn't have to hide that burning rage as much. (the rage dims, is soothed and that's not good for vengeance.)

Khonshu starts to intrude, making noises about using the Hippo System as his next Avatar. Layla pulls away, tries to keep them apart because she Knows any more pressure on that mind is going to break them apart.

Wendy Spector dies and the Hippo system is thrown out of balance.

(The rage ignites. She's always held it together - her family after her mother died, her composure when people talked over her and her knowledge of Egypt, her home, now the Hippo system. It's always been up to her and she's resigned and vicious and not holding back.)

Layla makes a judgement call and goes after Harrow alone.

The system recovers. Steven now knows why he exists. He does not flinch from Layla's rage, does not fall for Harrow's twisted philosophy, not like Marc or Jake would. He rallies the system to action, to save the world.

Harrow was able to get dirt on Marc's past and tries to kill him with Judgement, but it doesn't work. He reveals about Khonshu, that his partner is lying to him and it does strain the relationship.

Things follow canon. Khonshu gets sealed into stone. Layla dies and Marc blends in as a follower.

Tawaret tries to ask him to be her Avatar, but he refuses. "Do you know what I did as a child to my brother? What my mother did to me over and over for it? Why would you even want me to defend women and children?"

And he releases Khonshu. "Ah. Big pigeon! No wonder Layla was so bloody ready to be rid of you! Get back to her then! Go on!"

And Tawaret comes back. "Temporary Avatar. I don't want any more voices in my head than I started with."

And he becomes Hippo Knight, because why not?

And they win against Harrow and the cult of Ammit. The system helps Layla stop giving into her rage to kill Harrow. Everyone should be able to choose good or evil.

(Steven kept in contact with the patients and nurses in the psych ward. Harrow is preaching violence again and well. He made his choice. Jake drives Layla over to meet with him. Marc holds her tight.)

[frau-kali]

On Self Awareness and Cognitive Dissonance

So @jaynovz made this really interesting and excellent post about Silver's crazy decision to go to Charlestown at the end of S2. I thought I'd toss out my two cents as to why he might have done it. And also discuss some related stuff. Buckle up, folks!

So first, let's begin with THE SCENE:

Silver: I've had my fill of adapting lately, doing your bidding, keeping the crew in line for you. Flint: I wasn't the only one who benefited from that. Silver: It certainly seemed that way.

Here Flint refers to Silver's position among the crew, which Flint sees as a benefit to both of them. As we see:

Flint: I need your help. They need your help. Silver: Oh please. Don't try to convince me to do it for the sake of their futures. Flint: For the sake of your own. Those men listen to you, they care about what you think, what you want them to think. Where else in the world is that true? Where else would you wake up in the morning and matter?

I could talk endlessly about this whole scene, particularly about Silver's incredibly amazing lie and how he acts during it and his bitterness toward Flint, but that's beyond the scope of this. Instead I wanna focus on self awareness.

With these few words, Flint basically drags Silver kicking and screaming to self awareness land. He is suddenly exposed to the fact that he actually means something here. And by his reaction, I think it's fair to assume this is one the few times, if not perhaps the first time, he's been in a position like this. Based on his past actions and his desire to remain anonymous (see refusing to show his face during the schedule thing, it’s safer to be anonymous), I think his previous modus operandi has been to position himself behind some powerful figure and work in the background to help them achieve their shared goals of getting lots of money. Said people were also probably not as smart as him so he could easily manipulate them as well. We see him do this with Flint a bunch, too, working in the background to help him. And that's what his position on the Walrus crew starts out as.

But then he becomes the centre of attention. They start to like him, which he didn't even necessarily expect when he started his gossip monger plan, he just wanted them to need him, despite his proclaiming that he’s a hard man not to like. But no, they get attached to him. And he, unbeknownst to himself, becomes attached right back.

Now, it's entirely possible that he's been in similar situations in the past just like this one, but because he is very good at repression and lying to himself, he was able to walk away without any real trouble. Maybe he realized afterwards that he actually liked those people but it didn't matter because he'd already left and he tells himself it’s for the best anyway. Silver is likely carrying around some heavy trauma related to emotional attachments to other people, given how he tells Muldoon that “we’ll take care of you” is the most terrifying part of everything that’s happened after losing his leg. And, considering everything else, that sure is saying something.

But here, he has hitched his wagon to James Flint, a man after his own heart. Flint is a lot like Silver, a brilliant liar and excellent manipulator, able to bend people to his will and look damn good while doing it.

Then he does it to Silver, too. And it's all while Silver is in the middle of pulling off his own master class in lying, some of his best work, by being outraged and angry that the gold he actually stole is gone and trying to extricate himself from Flint and the crew. Except Flint won't let him.

Flint's request for Silver's help doesn't, I don't think, extend merely to the lovely speech Silver gives to swing the vote in his favour, either. During the voyage to Charlestown, Silver continues working to convince the men of the dangers that lie ahead, presumably at Flint's behest. Scott does indicate to Billy that Silver is using his storytelling powers to “help the captain” when Silver is addressing the crew.

So Silver stays because he has come to value his position on the crew. However he doesn't yet realize how attached to them he's actually become. Jay is right, he could’ve easily deserted after the vote, run off to hide somewhere until Flint is gone, but he doesn’t. And he's still lying to himself about why. He thinks “yeah ok, Flint, you won this round. I'll stay and go on the voyage so as not to arouse suspicion from you and everyone else, and I’ll take the scouts along because I don’t trust them not to fuck this up, but I am leaving after that.” The real reason he stays is because he values his position, he actually likes that he matters, but he is still convinced he’s going to leave because he also wants the money. I think he probably would’ve left, too, but he’s trying not to think too hard about the newly exposed self awareness and continuously telling himself he doesn’t need this and he sure as fuck doesn’t actually care about these people, even as he stays. It’s like he’s torn between how he wants to be and how he actually is and he cannot bring himself to go no matter how much he wants to.

That’s also not even going into how, during the voyage, he is exposed to how much power he actually has over the men on the crew when he gives the scout a fucking look and said scout kills their co-conspirator because of it. And then that same scout tells Silver that all the men know he cares about their best interests and Silver is just fucking taken aback by the level of regard these people have for him. This is on display again when they all stand up in his defence after Vane’s men come to grab him.

When Vane’s men attack the ship, Silver could swim to shore with the remaining scout and if they kept their heads down, they'd probably be ok. They could likely swim far enough away to not get caught, especially at night. Silver surely knows this, too.

Instead, he cuts the forestay and saves the crew. And then he refuses to give up a list of names, once again saving the crew. He has, against all his own cognitive dissonance, become attached to them enough that he endures torture and risks death for them. Now, I don’t think that he ever thought that he would lose his leg, I don’t think that he made space in his mind for the possibility of being tortured either, he knew that one of the men had grabbed the keys during the scuffle when they took him away and he thought that he could stall long enough until they broke in and saved him because he’s good at talking his way out of trouble. I also have to say that it is such a nice moment when he says this to Vane’s man: “The question you should be asking yourself is, where are his keys and has he seen them since he took me away from my men?” They are his men now, his brothers, whereas before he always set himself apart from them.

And it's all because Flint made him see that he valued his position enough to stay and go on the journey to Charlestown in the first place. Silver even gives Flint credit for this in 305 - “Such a waste, it seems to me, knowing that it doesn't have to be this way. That the man who talked me into giving a shit about this crew, he could talk those people out there into anything. If he wanted to.”

Or that’s how I read it anyway. The way Silver’s attachment to the Walrus crew is developed over the course of season 2 and the final culmination of him refusing to betray them is one of my favourite things about his story and I have a lot of feelings about it. I could be wrong in my interpretation, of course, but thank you all for coming to my Ted Talk :)

[tododeku-or-bust]

I noticed your "fill my inbox" post so i wanted to tell you about my OCs that i've been working on lately, it might come across weird or maybe much and I'm probably going to seriously expose myself out of anonymity with the details but i hope you'll like to hear it anyways -- I saw a post that suggested more representation for fat emo girls (i misremembered it as "i want to see more fat emo girls") and I became really inspired so i made a sketch of a fat black emo girl. Her being black was just another case of my brain going "*hand raise* Do they have to be white/Would it hurt if they were black?" and the response is often "no" even "that would be more interesting" so I switch it up, and after searching through names, the name Ada stuck. I wanted to give her a distinctly black name because I felt like that isn't done enough and that it wasn't fair, but anyways. I had a character that I made previously, named Nia the Swift, made because I had a lesbian JoJo OC named Vivian (lost sister of Dio) and she totally kicked ass and tugged at my heart strings but I realized that she was the only confirmed lesbian OC I had, so I thought "I need to make another one" so I made him and I made him black and masc and I couldn't resist making him a fancy-dancy cunning vampire. Anyhow, I was thinking about Ada a lot because I got interested in emo subculture so whenever I would think about emo stuff, I'd think about her too. She's a gloomy character, but I didn't like seeing her sad/out of it all the time. A silly idea came up in my head of her getting her hand kissed by Nia and thinking "am i goth?" (subtext: because i think i'm falling in love with a vampire) and I thought it was great. When I made Nia, I didn't really think up any Scenarios for him for a little too long and I felt like he needed to be part of a duo, but I couldn't come up with any solid ideas yet, so I felt like Ada would make an excellent match. I'm swamped with a lot of big stressful things this month but I'm hoping to squeeze in drawing him being very very sweet and gentlemanly to her and her making cute meme emoji faces about it, and maybe some other things involving them. I've been learning a lot about hair lately for it (which is good bc my career seems like it could loom unexpectedly into the "hair" area) and it was nice listening to a tutorial on how to get good box braids while i was on an errand walk. I thought previously that box braids had more than 3 strands, maybe 4 hence the name "box" braids (no, also on closer inspection, no). Sorry for sending you so many big paragraphs and run-on sentences, but I hope maybe you can have my two vaguely described women living in your head rent free now

Yeah lol, I do recognize who you are now 🤣

Well, I'm glad you took the time to stop yourself and decide that she didn't have to be white! That is definitely the first step that very many people don't take!

As for "that would be more interesting", I encourage you to take those next steps and determine why. Why would it be more interesting? Them being Black shouldn't be the interesting part- that would make them sound like they're a token!

Have you done research in Black emo culture? Have you done research into fatness while being Black? Are those things that affect your character's life? Her decisions and her personality? Does it play into how people treat her? That's where we get into the intent! Because I'm not Black and emo, but I can tell you right now her being "gloomy" would definitely affect the way people treat her as a Black woman in reality. I do appreciate that you let her have other emotions though!

I do have an Auntie Ada (rip), and Nia is also a Black African name (it means 'purpose'). Did you know that when you named him?

And no lmao that is not why they're called box braids. I am very glad you took the time to look that up before saying it out loud, because that would have been quite embarrassing in front of the right (Black) people 🤣

Thank you for sharing your Black OCs with me, and I hope you continue to care for them!

[great-raven-parade]

What’s your opinion of Strange Frequencies? I’ve seen a lot of hate for it because of how it portrayed certain characters and the nisse.

I mean, I'm heavily biased but I actually think Strange Frequencies is the best episode in Season 3.

Firstly, like many creatures in Hilda, the nisse don't think exactly like humans. Sharing is an alien concept to them, and borrowing things is very different from stealing. A borrowed item is one ultimately meant to be returned, and if it's returned, everything is fine! Remember that nisse have an affinity for unused spaces and items- taking something that isn't being used at the moment generally doesn't cause an issue. In fact, it's what leads nisse to habitually clean, store, and recover unused and misplaced items! The actual issue at the start of Strange Frequencies is that nisse are accusing each other of 'stealing' over the fact that terms to return items haven't been communicated. Communication, especially with each other, isn't something nisse excel at on their own. So, after Hilda and friends do the work in communicating and setting it up, the lending library concept works so well that they don't even need to moderate it. The nisse value system is such that 'No one owns these items. You can borrow them, just put them back in this specific location when you're done' just clicks. I've also seen complains that Tontu in particular is being uncharacteristically bratty in this episode. I'd argue he's extremely in-character (and that nisse are allowed to be bratty sometimes. As a treat). Remember that the radio he's bickering with Hilda over is one that Hilda likely hasn't used much since she stopped listening to Victoria's original radio show after the events of The Storm. They both know it's Hilda's old radio, but Tontu has probably always been able to borrow it whenever he wants to without issue, and it's only in Strange Frequencies that she starts to become bothered about 'sharing' it. One thing I really love about Tontu's character is that he complains about other nisse, and then acts... Exactly like the other nisse. And other nisse do the same. And that's quirky and fun, and never portrayed by the show as a bad thing- Not even in this episode. Once again, nisse (or elves or what have you) don't think like humans, and that's something to be accepted rather than changed! And of course, on top of it all, Tontu is just not great at showing emotion or reading it from others- He's struggled with that since meeting Hilda all the way back in season 1. He cares about Hilda more than a radio show, of course he does, but doesn't fully understand that Hilda is upset about losing Anders again, rather than who gets to use the radio right now. Hilda and Frida's flaws are also in conflict again in this episode, similarly to their fight in The Ghost (Notice how the montage shows Frida looking sadly at a picture of her, Hilda, and David when nothing they did or said in the scene before should have remotely made her doubt she'd see her friends tomorrow). Hilda is determined and resilient, but that same trait can make her obsessive in the wrong situations. She has difficulty letting things go when she doesn't feel they've been truly resolved. Meanwhile, Frida is organized and ambitious, but has difficulty putting her own point of view aside to see someone else's. So, Frida struggles dealing with the nisse (who can only be met where they're at), and Hilda is too focused on Anders to help Frida realize they need a different approach. Of course, Hilda and Frida communicate with each other and make up before coming close to the point of their s1 fight, but I do think the echoes of it are there. Frida and David don't leave Hilda because they don't care she's upset about her dad- But I think Frida may be feeling some awfully familiar frustrations to the Ghost situation and that's why she needs to take some time away. I also think it says a lot about how the two of them have grown as friends that this situation goes so much differently than the fight in Season 1! And while it's clear it was a difficult time to have to walk away, it does lead to everyone having time to think and come back together with clearer heads the next morning.

So yeah. Overall I think Strange Frequencies actually does a great job with the nisse and their blue and orange morality! It also does a good job with the main cast's characterizations- It's just focused on a situation where some of their best qualities play as flaws, which is different from what we see in most other episodes, but not totally unprecedented.

[fallout4-reacts]

How would the companions feel about a SS with a really slow reaction time, like taking a moment to get a joke, having trouble avoiding hits from weapons, etc

It certainly took me a long time… (I had a slow reaction lmfao) I admit that, unlike many others, my creative side suffers when I live too many things… not fun. I persist, though,  I don't let you down, which is why I maintain the Masterlist up to date. So this is a slow reacting Sole. Nick may have something here.

Cait : It was manageable as long as they stayed close to the Boston ruins.

In general.

Cait was conscious that Sole seemed a little light at times, but nothing too significant. Anyway, a few psycho shots here and there, and Cait had lost interest.

But things didn't always go as planned. A gunner with a happy trigger and Sole looks left and right before understanding they're being shot. Or the raiders who mocked Sole for 10 minutes before Cait grew mad. And Sole remained there, attempting to comprehend what had just been stated to them, before exploding with wrath as if they had only recently arrived in town.

"Eh! You are not business owners! You are thugs attempting to rob me!"

Cait palmfaces herself before smashing the last with her baseball bat.

"They didn't put an Assaultron's processor in your terminal, did they?"

Sole offers her an empty stare. Then the realization dawns on them: "Oh, you did notice?" They appear to be embarrassed by it.

Cait places a confident hand on their shoulder. "No need to fret, I've got the quick deals covered from here on out. But ya, listen up. Pull out the weapon if I tell ya it’s spurts. Otherwise, I reckon the Commonwealth ain't gonna have enough stimpacks to handle whatever you decide to catch as a bullet."

Cait's words appear to have encouraged Sole. They make the decision to blindly believe the fighter. May the Gods help the commonwealth.

Codsworth : It's nothing new for the butler. Nate had done an excellent job of preparing him. It's a tragedy to request Sole for an addition by adding a division. It's better to also remove the nuances. The innuendo? The greatest way to see them on the mat for two days, contemplating what they had missed.

He travels with Sole in this post-apocalyptic world, attempting to get rid of any problems of this kind. "They shoot at us, mother/sir." - "This man offends you, Sole." - "They ask if you don't have some caps so he can eat."

Then they save this wretched detective. Things are getting really complicated now. This synth has a habit of speaking in Innuendo and Sole bugs so frequently that the domestic robot ends up takin the other apart for a little talk.

"Very well, let us establish this clearly. It's not the swiftest contraption on the circuit, sir/madam. But they are not imbeciles, and you must cease treating them as such."

Nick appears astonished. "I ain't one who regards 'em as fools!" He exclaims.

"Do kindly cease with the innuendo and diminutive inside jests, if you please. Most importantly, I hear you say once more: "Well, I shall conduct a diagnostic while you ingest this serpent’ I assure you, next occasion, I shall procure an authentic serpent to compel YOU to ingest."

Nick appears to be growing increasingly surprised. He has not a reputation for making fun of others, and he didn't feel like it. He would make a remark or two about the speed with which Sole absorbed the information, but he didn't think he'd been impolite. He assures the butler that he would pay more attention in the future, attempting to discover the simplest and most direct method to communicate with Sole.

Curie : Curie had plenty of time to think about it before finally releasing her truster from her century-old jail. Every piece of information appears to take ten years to gather. Surprisingly, it does. It reminds Curie of one of those terminals that always appears to take longer to digest the information than the others, but at least it gets in. Curie recognises that she must be patient. Then, as they make their way to the vault, one of the damned molerats who escaped them leaps upon Sole's neck. Curie reacts quickly and extracts it from the poor human, burning it to ashes. However, it is too late. Sole is most likely contaminated.

"Oh, dear, what shall we do, my good sir/madam?”

"How about a stimpack?"

"However, this affliction! There was but a solitary opportunity! Only one dose!"

Sole frowns. They remain frozen for an extended period of time. Curie tries to assist them.

"The dosage that you shall administer unto the child.”

"The dose that...yes, I'll gave the child the cure." They appear enlightened, proud to keep up the conversation.

"But then, how shall you indulge yourself?”

"With the help of a stimpack."

"But, for the molerat's decease!"

"Ah!" Sole shrugs, "we have to save the child."

"Are you still committed to the noble cause of rescuing the child?"

"What would you do in this situation?"

"I remember you I am a Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer, impervious to any form of affliction.”

Sole scratched their head, trying to figure out how to connect the dots. Curie leads them forward, not wanting to loiter too long. "It matters not to comprehend it right now, for we shall ascertain in due course.”

Then, as they set up camp on the outskirts of Boston at night, Sole burst into tears unexpectedly. Curie hurried.

"Goodness gracious, what in the world is happening?"

"I have an incurable disease!"

Curie then experiments with what appears to be human irritation.

Danse : He encourages this civilian to come into the police station and get some equipment. Sole stands there, tapping their hands.

"Civilian, I have instructed you to ready yourself for our imminent mission."

"OK, OK. I'm getting ready...um, but what exactly do you mean by preparation?"

"We have surplus purified water, ammunition, rad-away, rad-x, take anything you might need."

Sole joyfully approaches the counter that shows Danse. They already know that this post-apocalyptic environment doesn't have many of these fortune, so it's a tremendous gift to be offered.

Then Rhys exclaims, "Catches fast!"

Sole receives a can of water behind their head before they can figure out what's going on. They revolve slowly while stroking their neck.

"But, but..."

And Rhys do it again with two others cans who attack them like missiles. To say that Danse is catastrophed is an understatement.

"Rhys!" Heylan chastises. "How dare you?"

Rhys appears perplexed. "Wait, they don't have reflexes?"

Sole, embarrassed, picks up the three water cans that have fallen on the ground. Danse approaches his man.

"In any case, these circus act manners have no place in the Brotherhoods of Steel. And you should have known better than to continue after the first can."

Rhys lowers his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, Sole, but I won't do it again." He doesn't like this freelancer, but he also doesn't want to harm them.

Danse rumbles a little more before turning to Sole. "Are you all done?"

Sole puts their water in a bag. "Here it is, the water is tidy."

Danse raises his brow. "I mean, to prepare you."

"Oh!" Sole returned to the counter and grabbed whatever they believed might be useful. "Here it is, everything is tidy."

"Certainly…"

Danse walks to the door, thinking that a least, Sole have courage and a fine aim when it comes to killing abominations.

Deacon : "Oh, I do love self-deprecating humor, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at it." Deacon then busted up laughing.

Sole gives him an unsettled glance. "It's unfortunate for you not to be good at something you love."

"Oh no, wait, you don't understand." But Deacon, as brilliant as he is at making jokes, is uncomfortable explaining it. "What I meant was… that's what you see, self-deprecating humor…it's…"

"Oh, I just figured it out!" Sole laughs, "Oh, she's good!"

Deacon wipes his brow with relief. When it's too subtle, leave a cool-down. Got it.

Dogmeat : The good dog is ecstatic to be following his new master. Then the New Master and him gets at Concord. The New Master approaches one first raider as if it were a stroll through the park.

"Eh!" they exclaim. "Are you the one who threw sticks at my butler? That's not very nice!" 

Sole is shot by this first raider. They takes the round into their arms and, shocked, notices the injury. The dog leaps upon Sole's shoulders and slams them to the ground behind a low wall.

"But they're shooting at me!" Sole finally understands.

They then pull out their revolver and don't bother asking questions, much to Dogmeat's relief. Because they don't have a crumb of it, the good poop swears to devote all of his instincts to his New Master.

Elder Maxson : “…so I ask you to go down to the island and clean it up for me.”

“It’ll take more than a day! It’s ruins!”

Maxson looks at Sole in astonishment, to say the least. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you mean, kill every stray! Okay, at your command."

While Sole turns their heels to the vertibirds, Maxson glances at Danse and whispers, "Good luck."

Danse nods. Fortunately, Sole is a good shooter…

Hancock : Sole remains frozen for an extended period of time. Nick is no longer harassed by the butler, but he recalls his admonition.

"Uh Hancock, meets Sole." He's attempting to figure out how to get things going.

"You just killed him?" Inquire the newbie.

“Yeah, he threatened me," the mayor replies.

"He made a threat against the mayor. And you invited him to come talk to you. And you murdered him."

"Sole, uh? You know who I am?”

"A ghoul that talks?"

Hancock shrugs his shoulders and casts a glance at Nick. He grins. "My young friend, I am the Mayor."

"Oh!" Sole appears to have finally grasped the concept. "So, yeah, killing him was preferable. I get it now."

"Oh, if I get it right, they didn't bother putting a ten speed in the damn box,” Hancock observes.

"But he's not stupid!" Stated Nick swiftly. "All you have to do is... give the information time to get to it. Even if the information is as deadly as a bullet in the back."

Hancock offers Nick a shocked expression. "Sorry?"

"When it shoots around, it's better to let Sole know, because if you expect a reflex, it's going to bleed."

"You're talking about me!" Sole said.

"Just the usual recommendations," Nick insists. "This world is… hard… and it often goes very fast."

"Too damn fast," Hancock grumbles. Sometimes, movin' at a pace that's just too damn quick for my likin'.”

"Oh, I can understand it so much!" Exclaims the newcomer. "It always seems to move too quickly for me."

Hancock gasps in laughter and hands them a Jet inhaler. "Listen up, brother/sister. 'Cause I gotta be honest, I already feel like I'm fallin' head over heels for ya. Grab this here, and if your can's hollering at ya, pop a solid dose. Ya gonna start noticin' that ya movin' faster than this here rock we call home, catches me?”

While Nick scolds, Sole pockets the gift with a wide smile.

"Not sure it's a good idea to fuck up the gray cells on top of that."

Hancock dismiss with a "pfff" sound. "It'll be a real sweet deal for 'em. And if the light's gone, I've got Mentats.”

Gage : "The water gun's stashed away in that there locker!"

"But how will a water gun help me against a power armor?"

"I done told ya it was a blasted power armor with one of them fancy electrical systems. Sending water is gonna fry those circuits faster than a molerat in a radstorm."

"Oh, I understand!"

Not too soon, Porter reasoned. He witnessed them in the Gauntlet when this dude/girl took shots like they couldn't feel pain, but if they were to play hot hand, Gage would surely want to take on them. He'd almost certainly win.

MacCready : "I take 200 tax caps when walking in irradiated water pools."

“I understand,” says Sole. Then they frowns and replies, "Wait a minute. Why would I pay you 200 caps extra for a wad of water you have to walk over every day?"

Mac chuckles. He will have attempted. They must not be taken in. Sole may be slow to get the point, but they can rationalize. Meanwhile, Mac's rifle has their back, and the person, they're not too bad of a boss.

Nick Valentine : He is relieved when the Butler announces that he is returning to Sanctuary and leaving Sole in the care of the detective. This robot has something threatening that he dislikes. Perhaps a tad overprotective for this poor soul, but it puts him on a tightrope. Nick realized what was going on pretty fast with Sole. You don't make little ironic jokes, or they will lose track of the subtlety. But he's genuine. He wishes to assist Sole. Sounds like a fine person who has seen too much in too short.

He swiftly takes the beat and realizes that when the balls start whistling, his priority is to put Sole away until the bug learns and pulls out their gun. Aside from that, after all the data is in, they are incredibly fine-tuned. If we give them enough time to think about it, they might make a great detective. They found this damned hit man's lair because, with all Nick threw at them as information, Sole drew out a profile that would impress colleagues.

"Some are in the box. Perhaps too much, which would explain why there are traffic jams?"

"Are there traffic jams? But there isn't a working vehicle, is there?"

Nick waits with his arms crossed.

"You mean in my head? Yes, I confess it. Thank you; this is the first time anyone has understood."

Nick gives a small smile. He genuinely likes Sole.

Piper : "I'm not a trader. Right now, I'm just trying to... understand and survive." 

Piper eyes widening.

"Shut! Just play along, I ask! Please!"

Sole gives the reporter a blank stare. "Play to what?"

Danny becomes impatient in the speaker. "Piper, what are you doing?"

Sole is now getting it. "Oh, I'm a trader from... Quincy? Yes, Quincy, I have a lot of... supplies."

Piper casts a glance at Sole but manages to improvise and eventually grants them admission. She moves her gaze to the new as the door opens.

"You're really something, eh? But thank you for participating."

"Yeah, sorry, sometimes I take a little time to understand…all the time."

The journalist's grin broadens. "No worries. Now that I know, come with me and I'll filter. Thank you once again."

With that, she finally enters her city, where she is met by a rather dreary mayor.

Preston : They must be a moron. They are standing there, about to be shot. Definitely an irradiated bulb moron.

Preston notices a dog rush on the newcomer and rescues them. He knows who Dogmeat is. He had no idea Dogmeat was taking desperate causes.

Then, whoa!

The new one returns and destroys everything! Some argue that you shouldn't make snap judgments. This individual is proof. The treats are down in less time than it takes Preston to fire three shots.

"Damn! Slow at first, but after... Hey! Over here, on the balcony!"

Strong : “Puny human strong. Puny human doesn't react to bullets”

“What bullets?”

“Puny human amazing! Puny human doesn’t feel pain?”

Sole suddenly seems to realize that they are being shot. They scream, turn to the mutant who targeted them, and burst his brain.

“Puny human… funny… Strong likes it."

For his part, Rex seems to think they are a simple mind. He tries to explain his mission to them, and the new one just stares at him with an empty expression. Then suddenly, the light was there.

"Teaching super mutants art! That might be a good idea."

“It could have, but it’s not.”

“But you convinced Strong.”

“In a way, yes.”

“Strong wants to find milk of human kindness.”

Sole looks at Strong for a long time, then nods.

"We’ll try, my friend. We’ll try."

Strong love Sole. 

X6-88 : "Why a recall code?"

"In order to... completely erase Gabriel's memory, I explained it to you."

"Yes, but why?"

With a heavy sigh, the Courser grips the bridge of his nose.

Standing up, Sole widens their eyes. "Oh! Because he defied the Institute, and you don't want that to happen again!"

"Indeed."

"I understand now!"

"It seems…"

He exhales another breath. Okay, left them time for some downtime. Every. Single. Time. X6 is capable of this... He'll have to do it one way or another.