#But if the fandom was huge and had all the dynamics of a typical big tumblr fandom... what sort of drama would unfold?

[crystaltoa]

Thought experiment: In an alternate universe where Bionicle recently got a wildly popular reboot and now has a MASSIVE following on Tumblr...

...What's the most annoying thing that the fans are doing?

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  steddieasitgoes! @steddieasitgoes has 27 works posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 23 of them are in the Steddie tag!

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @steddieasitgoes:

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)

for a fortnight there, we were forever

honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)

You Were All Yellow

Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy

"Her fics are SO FUN. I have enjoyed every single one that I've read IMMENSELY and am always talking about them to my friends after I've read them <3" -- anonymous

Below the cut, @steddieasitgoes answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Was I supposed to watch Eddie throw Steve his vest – the quintessential 80s romcom moment – and be totally normal about it? But in all honesty, there’s just something about them that compels me. When you dig deep into their personalities and arcs, they’re really two sides of the same coin and there’s so many ways for that to manifest in fic.hen

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I had to consult my ao3 bookmarks for this one and “getting together” tops my list, which really isn’t a traditional trope but I absolutely adore that mutual pining, idiots in love sort of thing that happens in those fics. Bonus points for slow burns!

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Idiots in love for sure. Again, not a typical trope but I’m pretty sure it’s tagged on just about every fic I’ve written. It’s just so easy to slot them into those roles and banter their way into a love confession. The show is so life and death all the time, that I like letting them be goofy boys.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

This is like asking me to choose if I’m more of a Steve girl or an Eddie girl – impossible! But if I had to narrow it down to a top few, I’d say: the most remarkable thing by greatunironic, rounding third, sliding home by througheden, better by you, better than me by palmviolet, and is your light on? By Adure

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Outside of fic I’m a huge fan of enemies/rivals to lovers so I think that would be fun to explore between Steddie. There’s a hint of it in Signed, Sealed, Delivered but I think their hatred fizzles out really quickly and I definitely want to play with something where that takes longer to happen.

What is your writing process like?

It sort of depends on the project, but typically I get a kernel of an idea. Somethings that’s a setting, sometime it’s a bit of dialogue, sometimes it’s just ✨ vibes ✨ Then I’ll add it to my jumbled mess of a notes app on my phone and keep adding to it as I get ideas. When I wrote my first fic (Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore) I had no outline whatsoever. I just knew I had this one scene in mind and kept writing and building the world until I felt the moment made sense to happen. Nowadays, I’m a bit more organized when it comes to longer fics. I’ll usually do a bare bones outline with the major beats I want to hit outlined. This gives me enough structure to not feel lost, but also lets the characters breath one the page and make their own choices. Every fic, but the one I’m working on now for the steddie big bang, I’ve written chronologically which helps me because I can see the progression of the relationship dynamics in real time.  For one shots, it’s somewhat similar. I start with a kernel of an idea and a general plot in my head and just write and hope for the best lol

Do you have any writing quirks?

I think I use the same sentence structure a lot which drives me nuts, but I can’t always help it. Motif-wise I don’t think I have a unifying theme amongst all my fics, but I can almost guarantee that there will be some kind of third act break up. Happily ever afters are always going to be in my fics, but I like to make them work for it. Also they do a lot of gazing at each other and things in my fics. So much gazing!

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Generally, I like posting when something is completely finished. But I get antsy and have been known to start posting when the fic is 85% done and then procrastinate on writing the end until my deadline is looming.

Which fic are you most proud of?

I’m proud of all of them for different reasons, but I was really blown away with Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore. I hadn’t written fic in years and had never written a third-person mlm story before. At the time it was also the longest thing I had ever written. It definitely made me fall back in love with fictional prose writing and the steddie community as a whole.

How did you get the idea for Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)?

It was actually inspired by a ficlet I had written earlier that year and decided to use as inspiration for the full length fic. I was driving around and I kept seeing mail trucks everywhere and I remember getting an image of Steve in those short khaki shorts, carrying a satchel full of mail. And then I remember thinking “I wonder what Eddie would think” and the worms took over. I will say, expanding it into a full fic did take some time though because the ficlet was just vibes

When writing Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), what was something you didn’t expect?

How long it ended up being lol I think it came in double what I had predicted it to be. I also didn’t expect to write it in the way I did. All my other fics are very traditional in that each chapter is a day or a couple days and it follows a clear timeline. With Signed I really went for a vignette, slice of life sort of storytelling which was a bit difficult initially but I think it paid off in the end.

What inspired honey i'm still free (take a chance on me)?

That one was written for a valentine’s discord server so it was based on the prompt steddiealltheway on Tumblr had submitted. It took me a minute to work out the plot, but I liked the idea of Robin getting to be the wingwoman for Steve.

What was your favorite part to write from for a fortnight there, we were forever?

There was a metaness to that one that was so fun to write. You have Eddie falling in love with Supernatural, a show that was known for making questionable decisions in the end and talking about how fanfic saves the day and that’s exactly what I’ve spent the last two years doing for him lol I love the idea of Eddie being a fandom kid like all of us, and dragging and unknowing Steve into it with him.

How do/did you feel writing Eat Your Heart Out, Big Boy?

At the time I think I just wanted to write something fun and silly because I was deep into Signed, Sealed, Delivered at the time and was feeling bad about not sharing anything. It was like a palette cleanser.

What was the most difficult part of writing You Were All Yellow?

Definitely deciding which yellow objects I was going to use and figuring out how to string them together in a clear narrative arc. It was a puzzle of sorts that took a lot of patience to figure out. It was also a bit reverse-engineered where the objects dictated what the story would be. I think it would have been easier if I had the story first and then found things that fit that narrative.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I struggle with writing poetically, so I was really proud of this line from Duck, Dodge, Don’t Fall In Love: “He feels like an astronomer falling in love with stars for the first time in the untouchable night sky. Because that’s what Steve is, right? A dazzling force that Eddie can steal glances at but never touch, never reach.” But also any and all smut scenes I’ve written. That was an incredible challenge at first and I literally wrote the first make out scene ever under the covers of my bed lol

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I’m planning to participate in this year’s Steddie Week with some (hopefully) short one shots. And then I have my big bang fic When The Buzzer Sounds that will come out later this year. Other than that we’ll see. My notes are overflowing with ideas it’s all about finding the time and the right one.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

As I write this I’m not sure who nominated me, but I want to say thank you to them! It’s so wild to me that people resonate with the silly stories my brain comes up with and I’ll never take that for granted. There’s so many creative steddie fic writers out there and I’m so happy to be one of them. We really blew up overnight and it’s been so fun watching everyone grow together. And I want to thank all the mods behind this blog for helping share writers hardwork!

Thank you to our author, @steddieasitgoes, and our anonymous nominator! See more of steddieasitgoes's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[mermaidsirennikita]

what would you call ppl who are into reylo, darklina, haladriel, etc. the enemies to lovers, light/dark, make me your dark empress ships? i've seen them referred to as the "travelling small woman/big man" fandom or dark romance lovers but that's a *very* surface level read

I definitely wouldn't call them dark romance lovers, because dark romance is hUGELY expansive these days. Like, the Kings of Italy series is a dark mafia romance series, and I wouldn't compare ANY of the ships to Reylo. Additionally, a lot of the books that are so successful because of their connections to fic don't have much in common with that fic.

I'd just say that generally, those people are into villain/heroine. However, their particular ships can grow into something else for them over time. Something like The Hurricane Wars still sticks fairly closely to its villain/heroine roots, and I think there are probably Darklina-inspired books that do. But a lot of those ships develop into something entirely fanon, which is how we get books like Not Another Love Song or The Love Hypothesis.

People are being too broad when they say big man/little woman, that's not at all what draws people into those ships initially. They're drawn in by the villain/heroine dark/light thing, which is all very classic. Everyone wants to act like this is fuckin' new, and it's the opposite of that. The appeal of this dynamic has existed since the dawn of fiction, and it will always exist, and it's only the entirely short-sighted, self-centered fandom perspective and the moral hysteria of anti-fandom that makes them act like this is ENTIRELY NEW INFORMATION WE MUST LABEL (so that we can talk down about it). (This is not about you lol.)

Ships that are also this that were popular before Reylo:

—Dracula/Mina (with the culmination being Bram Stoker's Dracula, but even in the more recent Dracula Untold we had the classic "Mina is Dracula's reincarnated wife" angle)

—Erik/Christine

—"Now my boyfriend is evil oh noes" takes like Angelus/Buffy, Tuxedo Mask/Sailor Moon in a couple arcs, on a more minor level even something like The Vampire Academy had Dimitri (Rose's boyfriend) go evil for a minute and it was THE! BEST! ARC! IN THE WHOLE SERIES!

—literally so many daytime soaps y'all... this is how they turned villains into antiheroes....... who still killed people..... General Hospital was regularly putting their little goody goodies with straight up murderers, and this is something soaps do literally GLOBALLY. Telenovelas do it, Euro soaps do it, Kdramas, Jdramas, Cdramas, the list goes on

—I'm less into anime, but yeah, I'm gonna say this was big for anime lmao

—Many many many romance novels that preceded Reylo/Darklina et. al. Whether it was the "softer" villains like Sebastian St. Vincent in Devil in Winter, who I'd still say went above typical "bad boy" grade by kidnapping the heroine's best friend with an implied rape threat in the previous novel; Lothaire in Kresley Cole's Lothaire, with Ellie; basically every Anne Stuart novel written, Lord of Danger jumps to mind; Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale.

—Generalized wicked monsters with women, like The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolfman

I think it's really that primal and that simple. Villain/heroine.

[elkkiel]

okay so i listened to the summoning and take me back to eden (it autoplayed so i figured i might as well listen it to it) and. wow. not what i expected at all! i'm a big fan of songs shifting genres and it looks like they do that for all of their songs so thats really cool!!

i would love to listen to any more reccomendations you have, since typically i enjoy music that's faster paced. i really really liked the summoning though, and the lyrics for take me back to eden. wow. like. WOW. i did research into their lore and it bangs so damn hard

thanks for the rec :)

(also, sorry about the a/b/o stuff with other fandoms :( i love talking about it for pwp reasons and socioeconomic theorizing reasons so my blog is a safe place for that stuff if you want :))

I am absolutely elated that you like what you've heard so far!!!! And also so so sorry for the rabbit hole you're going to fall down with these guys

I would honestly recommend the whole Take Me Back to Eden album as a new listener—I looped it for practically a month straight when I first found them haha. It's a great sampler of their range and by far the most refined, cohesive release of their main 3 LPs.  

Beyond just getting you to listen to a whole album in one sitting, here's some of their popular songs/singles:

(Btw, there's a TON of good live recordings for some of these as well; they sound just as good, if not better, on stage as they do in-studio)

Alkaline

This is the one with the sexy banner/mic stand stroking lol. It's a sensual, synth-y intro leading into a hell of a headbanger with chuggy guitars

The Summoning

Mentioning this for the live performances in particular. Vessel goes CRAZY with his live vocals, there's a huge drum solo in that atmospheric part, and a LOT of on-stage shenanigans to be had. It's the song that made them blow up HARD, and for a good reason.

Rain (ty @tonguetyd for the rec lol, here's a last-minute addition)

This is another great sample of Vessel's vocals, especially in the intro. It starts slower with the solo piano but gets really powerful in the second half. A personal and fan-favourite for sure!

Hypnosis

If you vibe with Alkaline, you'll vibe with Hypnosis. It's like ultra-concentrated, pathetic sopping wet paper towel levels of yearning with groovy, heavy breakdowns

The Offering

A setlist staple that'll make you want to dive headfirst into the nearest mosh pit. This is a good example of the music tying into the lore/story behind the band as well, if you're interested in that kind of lore analysis

Jaws

An oldie but a fan favourite! It might just be me but it kinda gives me Bring Me the Horizon vibes, so if you like them then you'll probably like Jaws as well

Vore

Yes, it's called Vore. Welcome to Sleep Token lol. It's one of their heaviest songs with lots of harsh vocals (Vessel really shows off his higher range here) and super groovy, dynamic instrumentals. Personal fave tbh, it's at the top of my Spotify repeats playlist

And finally, the lore 🥰🥰 I've only been here a short time and still have yet to discover a lot of their story, but here's an overview of the band history and lore, as well as an in-depth interview with Vessel from 2017. They like to add a lot of Easter eggs to their releases (they created a whole ass alphabet/cypher to go along with Take Me Back to Eden), and the fans go WILD with theories and analysis!

Anyways I'm gonna cut off the infodump there haha. Please let me know what you think and if you run across anything else (songs, lore, etc.) that you liked!!

(Also ty for the omega solidarity 😌 the sleep token fandom is so much fun and still exists in the same weirdo-freak realm as dtblr omegaverse-enthusiasts lol. There's just far less *actual* omegaverse here.

I've been spoiled by the sheer amount of a/b/o content and normalization in the dteam fandom that normal amounts of fandom a/b/o feel like total deprivation. If you ever feel like sharing I'm always down for theories and headcanons too btw. It's such a fun, complex trope and I love to see what others think)

[averageartistamber]

It's Ultraman Day!

Y'know, I first heard about Ultraman through the Godzilla fandom, and honestly, I kinda slept on it until very recently. Ended up getting into it when I heard about the upcoming release of Rising and found out that a decent chunk of content is accessible on YouTube. Okay, gotta admit those "Ultraman Without Context" videos were also a huge thing that sold me on the series, as a thorough enjoyer of Wacky Shit.

So, for Ultraman Day I'm gonna start briefly yapping about the Ultraman Stuff I've seen so far. It's almost entirely the newer stuff, but I might check out some of the older shows.

Let's start with the first series I checked out, Ultraman Blazar (as it was the most recent at the time).

Note there will be some spoilers here and there.

Blazar

-The series I started with, and it's pretty different to typical Ultraman faire. Has this...Not really darkness but I guess kind of a grounded sort of...moodiness? Dunno if that's the right word. The whole V99 Conspiracy plot gave it a distinct flavour that I haven't seen so far in the other shows.

-The fight scenes are pretty fire, as Blazar himself is an incredibly fun character to watch. The whole "feral" shtick took me a bit off guard at first, but it makes him really unique. The spear/javelin main weapon that transforms into different things is such a ccool concept for a "base" power.

-The dynamic that Captain Gento has with Blazar where the latter occasionally takes control is really neat, even when he's just doing it to observe. Gives the Funny Caveman an interesting bit of depth.

-I quite like SKaRD as an attack team, even if they never really score a single W for the entire series. Emi in particular is one of the best Human characters I've seen so far, probably since she essentially gets a whole side plot attached to her (The after mentioned conspiracy and wanting to find out what happened to her dad.

-I honestly did not expect to end up liking Earth Garon in particular as much as I did, even if he just gets his ass kicked constantly. I think the scene that truly sold me on him was in the episode where he's given his AI, therefore a real voice and personality. The scene where Emi is freaking out after being hit with the Monster of the Week's Fear Ray and Earthy tries to calm her down. Did not think he'd be chill like that honestly it was a pleasant suprise.

-One of the big highlights of the show was definitely the monsters (which I thing all of them bar Red King, Guigass and Demaaga are new?). Pretty much all of them have creative and memorable designs. I will go Blazar levels of feral if they ever reuse Dorgo, Nigikagachi, Molgusion, Deltandos or Zangill (If he counts) again.

-Speaking of Zangill, his episode is probably my favourite on its premise alone: Guy shows up to ask for assistance with collecting the wandering souls of all the Monsters of The Week that the heroes had slain. Including one who's Real Fuckin' Mad and tries to get revenge. It's so freaking cool. Makes you wonder about literally every other MotW show actually...

-At first I found Big Bad a bit anti-climatic. I think I walked into my first Ultraman series expecting some big badass final boss with an EEEEEEvil Alien Overlord or something. But instead, the main villain of Blazar is basically just Some Old Guy (who is fiercely determined to cover his crimes, fatal consequences be damned).

Honestly, from the other shows, he's currently tied with Rising's Dr. Onda for the best Ultraman Big Bad. I've been a little disappointed with the others I've seen so far, which I think I'll explain further when we get to them.

-Last thing, the opening song makes me feel like that Spongebob Ascending Meme. It's awesome (I especially like how they show the monsters, starting with a newspaper then going to TV camera footage and satellite images.)

Overall 8.5 WHOOOYS! out 10

Next time I'll probably yap about either Z or Decker (or maybe Rising?) when I get around to/ remember to do it.

[dragimal]

I've been a huge fan of omegaverse/ABO for over a decade, it's my time to shine!! and feel free to include my username if you read any of this out, I don't mind

I think I was initially drawn to the biological power dynamics, as I usually like ship/porn fics with a strong sense of "dom/sub", but ABO has the added twist of a kind of "inborn" hierarchy system. I think, as an ace, I like the idea of just "knowing" what role you'd play in a sexual encounter and not having to flounder or think too much about it. sitting back and letting your "instincts" guide you towards a good time sounds great and completely unlike any sexual experience I've ever had, lmao.

this overlaps with the aspect of vulnerability, which I think draws a lot of people in (including me!). there's something to the idea of being reduced to a weak and scared and maybe even mindless thing by your own body, and not being judged for it, but instead taken care of through it all. or the idea of a partner turning a dreaded hormonal surge into a fun, sexy, or relaxing bonding experience... sure wish real life could be so nice!

there's also the "animalistic" angle, which I absolutely LOVE as a xeno/monster-fucker, and a fan of pet play and pred/prey dynamics. of course, most ABO (that I've read, at least) isn't necessarily about werewolves/creatures. but the fics that dip into non-typical/non-human behavior still scratch that same itch, even if the characters are still physically human. obviously nonhuman traits (like hybrid AUs) are a plus, but I honestly find behavior more interesting and attractive than physical features. I guess it's the difference between a wolf furry and werewolf-- the behaviorally "animalistic" werewolf is always gonna be the hotter one, to me.

and I know ABO is mostly known for the porn aspects, but some of my fave aspects are the non-sexual intimacy and non-typical bonding. like, the overt tactile affection (nuzzling, cuddling, nesting), and even the nebulous scent-based bonding (recognizing a partner's 'special scent', nonverbally communicating via scent, etc.). it just... it's all so tender and loving, I can't help but crave it myself. maybe it's the ace in me again, but I love the platonic intimacy of it all.

and if I'm allowed to engage in a bit of armchair psychology/sociology, I think there's an element of ABO that's just a bit touch-starved. the fact that platonic "pack dynamics" have become a such a huge aspect of ABO fics in recent years really tells me that many people are here for more than just the porn, y'know? like, this post has crossed my dash a few times, and it's definitely funny, but it also makes me a little sad that ppl think they can't have a "nest" as a human. I mean, zoologically, many primates make nests, and our beds are already nests, so it's not like it's atypical behavior. but there's shame in craving that comfort and intimacy, and I think ABO is just "nonhuman" enough to excuse that "shameful" behavior for some people. idk, maybe I'm projecting my own touch-starvation on other fans, but I feel like a lot more ppl would enjoy ABO if they knew about gen pack dynamics. come, take my hand, we're all touch-starved on this bitch of a socially isolated, capitalist hellscape, let's build a nest together <3

I'll also say, as a bio grad and specevo fan, I really appreciate the fics that go the extra mile on biological or cultural worldbuilding. I most enjoy the takes that classify the statuses more by hormones/behavior than physical genitalia-- whether the genitals are like real-life humans, or uniformly "unisex". more of a "ruff bird" approach, if you know anything about their mating behavior.

as for what turns me off about ABO... I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of mpreg, but I'm just not big on pregnancy or kidfics in general. I don't hate it, and I've even read some I've liked, but it's just not what I'm there for. which is funny, bc it feels like that's the one thing anyone outside of fandom even knows about ABO, lmao.

anyways, here's some fic recs!

The Rites of Courtship: Voltron: Legendary Defender fic. it may be incorrect to call this "ABO" because this is really just intense alien worldbuilding, but I think the alien genders and mating/courtship overlap with ABO in similar ways. if nothing else, this is what I mean when I say I love xeno and specevo in fic-- if "Quad-sexed Ovoviviparous Marsupial Galra" doesn't sound cool to you, idk what would.

Territory, Voice, and Choice: A Case Study in Isolated Societies of Desert Biomes: Night Vale fic. rly fun biological/cultural worldbuilding in this one, especially when we see it from the outside perspective of "normal human" Carlos, gradually developing a status when he comes to Night Vale. also love his scientific perspective on it all, lmao.

Triangle series: My Hero Academia fic. interesting cultural worldbuilding in this one-- I like the idea of a "triad" of all three statuses being sought after. and the fact that the statuses are hormonal rather than physical means you get some unique cultural ideas, like male omegas being considered genetic "dead ends".

and when i go to leave again i'll wear the clothes you put me in: Osomatsu-san fic. one of my fave examples of an intimate, platonic, "pack dynamics" fic. the tenderness of it all AUGH.

In The Year Of The Wolf: Free! fic. I admit that it's been a veryyy long time since I've read this one, but I remember it having interesting character/pack dynamics. and it's about werewolves, which is always a bonus.

Hung The Moon: Teen Wolf fic. still a ship fic, but there's lots of fun pack dynamics/politics and platonic bonding in this one.

Omegaverse readers & writers!! I want to hear from you!!!

Firstly — Yes — I have already done a lot of research. I don’t need the basics explained to me or the fact that it is an incredibly diverse genre with examples good writing, bad writing, good social commentary, bad social commentary, expansive thoughtful worldbulding, raunchy porn without plot, and everything in between.

What I’m looking for with this post is personal experiences and opinions from people who read/ write this content since I am not one. Feel free to link any fics that exemplify what you’re talking about.

you can write as much or as little as you like, answer as many or as few of the questions as you like:

What fandom introduced you to omegaverse?

What trends and developments have you noticed as the genre has grown over the past 14-ish years?

what initially intrigued you about it?

Are there similar genres, tropes, etc, that you also enjoy? (ie. werewolf or other supernatural romance, science fiction which explores alternative biology) basically, how does omegaverse fit into your wider literary tastes?

what do enjoy most about it?

what are some elements you avoid or are critical of?

Any specifics or nuances you want the non-omegaverse reading public to know about

In case anyone is coming across this post without knowing who i am — Hi! I’m a youtuber and I make videos about online subculture, fandom, and such.

Your comment on this post may be read aloud in an upcoming video!! Please specify if you would like me to censor your url or leave it visible.

[hyperfixated-fan]

Hello, Ninjago fandom, while we impatiently wait for the second half of Crystalized to be released, may I interest you in some good old nostalgic shows with familiar Canadian voice actors to pass the time. Ironically, Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA) is in every single one of my suggested shows and in 3 of the 4, he’s got a lead role. XD

Also, I need more people to revive some of these old fandoms! Please hear me out while I info dump! The options get better as we go along since I firmly believe in saving the best for last. I hope you like my long ramble.

First off, we have Slugterra:

This show had a pretty good run with multiple seasons and specials. It’s a good action show and enjoyable for passing the time. I binge watched it while reading through my driver’s training stuff. A solid Saturday morning-esque show.

As far as notable characters and voice actors go, we’ve got:

Eli Shane voiced by Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA): he’s the main guy and very comparable to Lloyd since he’s got daddy issues. Poor guy spends forever trying to locate his dad while at the same time filling the role as hero and protector of the Caverns. Also, he’s the reason this show got so many female viewers. Those simps.

Dr. Thaddeus Blakk voiced by Mark Oliver (Garmadon’s VA): he’s the typical big bad villain type. A bit bland but it’s hilarious to listen to if you’re a Ninjago fan because all you end up hearing is Lloyd vs. Garmadon half the time.

Kord Zane voiced by Andrew Francis (Morro’s VA): he’s a troll and the muscle and mechanic of the main group. Not much to say about him. He’s a sweet, protective dude. Also, I just like that he’s got the name Kord Zane since I’m a huge Zane fan.

Trixie Sting voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent (Racer Seven’s VA): she’s neat and seems to be the second in command to Eli. She’s you’re typical strong female character type. Good news is that there’s no annoying trope that she is in love with the main guy though.

Pronto voiced by Lee Tockar (Borg’s VA): he fits the comedic relief trope really well. Unfortunately, he’s borderline annoying for me. I don’t have anything really notable to say about him. You just gotta tolerate him. Occasionally he has his uses.

Junjie voiced by Vincent Tong (Kai’s VA): he’s not a main character but I really love him and the Asian influence the show goes through when he’s around. Cool dude that also has so much trauma packed into him when you think about all he went through. You’ll understand if you watch.

Burpy is the iconic slug of the series. A 10/10 character. Loyal as ever and super adorable. Sassy when he wants to be.

Pros of this show:

Adorable side character slugs with awesome powers

Elemental slugs!!

a whole arc about trying to free a place from an evil emperor (sound familiar?)

Teaches against animal cruelty.

Shadow creatures that for once aren’t evil villains.

So many other familiar side characters with Ninjago VA’s. It’s honestly just fun to see how many familiar voices you can pick out.

Interesting concept, lore, and world building if you dig deep enough and overanalyze everything.

Cool fights and slug shootouts.

Action with a side of found family is always a plus.

Solid team dynamics and brotherly teasing.

A bonus is that there’s very little romance in this show. Very refreshing to see.

Next we have a forgotten classic, Class of the Titans:

This show had two seasons and had a decent ending. It definitely deserved more run time because there really aren’t that many animated shows about Greek Mythology that are kid friendly. A big main crew with a few familiar Ninjago voice actors sprinkled in for the fun of it. Another Saturday morning-esque show but with a better feel of having an overarching plot than Slugterra did in my opinion.

They have so many character tropes that create the whole main crew so I’m going to try to go through them quickly.

Jay voiced by Kirby Morrow (Cole’s VA): the level-headed leader. Very similar to how Cole started out as team leader. Also, it’s just funny for Ninjago fans to see a character named Jay be voiced by Cole’s voice actor.

Theresa voiced by Kelly Sheridan (Gayle Gossip’s VA or better known for playing Barbie): a psychic seer who is Jay’s love interest (reminds me of Barbie and the Nutcracker solely bc of the voice actors). I wish I liked her more, especially since she’s a seer like Zane. Honestly, neither girl characters really stand out to me but they’re nice to have around.

Atlanta voiced by Meghan Black in season one: the action archer girl who has super speed. She’s neat and very strong-willed. (Side note: I find it funny that every main character girl I’ve mentioned so far are all redheads.)

Odie voiced by Doron Bell Jr. (Griffin’s VA): the smart tech guy. He has his uses and sassy moments. It’s also funny to see what was considered high tech back in the mid 2000s.

Herry voiced by Ty Olsson: your typical strong, protective, big brother guy trope. He’s got a really awesome, scrappy grandma.

Neil voiced by Ted Cole: the self-absorbed guy who serves as comedic relief a good portion of the time. Some might find him annoying but he has his high points and is genuinely funny. He’s not a fighter at all and is dubbed “the lucky one.” And boy, is he lucky indeed.

Archie voiced by Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA): my personal favorite. He’s an occasional jerk but he’s genuinely an adorkable guy. I relate to his whole “wonky ankle” thing, but he’s a great warrior regardless (and the second fastest on the team? How?). He’s got a huge crush on Atlanta which is amusing and sometimes cringy to watch.

Cronus voiced by David Kaye: the main villain of the show. Typical wicked guy who wants to end the kids who are prophesied to defeat him. I know there’s a good number of simps for him. It’s hilarious how much this god loathes this group of kids but is also genuinely terrified of them, especially Jay.

Pros:

If you’re missing Cole’s voice actor, this is the show to watch.

The entire show is free on YouTube Very imaginative spin on some of the Greek gods like Dionysius to make it kid friendly. And wait til you see Hades.

Still, they aren’t afraid to show the gods can be petty and vengeful.

Greek mythology! What more could you want?

I personally love the way they showcase so many Greek characters and creatures. Is it sometimes off? Yes. Is it still enjoyable to watch? YES!

Interesting battles and solutions.

Will show death and the occasional bloody injury. (Not overtly graphic though so don’t worry.)

The poor kids, similar to Lloyd, are prophecy bound to defeat the evil villain and thus have their lives turned upside to become heroes fighting monsters. Theresa eventually throws a somewhat justified hissy fit over this.

Enjoyable characters and team dynamics. So much sibling teasing between everyone and it’s so relatable to watch.

Also, they’re just teens being teens so they do stupid stuff sometimes and that just makes it all the more fun to watch.

A bonus, there’s two girls on the team rather than your stereotypical one main girl trope.

A big favorite of mine, Storm Hawks:

Oh look, another red head character with green eyes. And he’s the lead character voiced by Sam Vincent! XD Here me out though, this show is actually great. If you can get past the funky character designs and animation, it’s a genuinely fun show. It’s so imaginative and for me, it ticks all the right tropes. I would like to say that if you’re a Ninjago fan, you just might be able to like Storm Hawks. It’s a show that I rewatch again and again and still enjoy it. Fans of it will say it ended to soon with only two seasons and an open conclusion that leaves room for more adventures. I wish there was more. The flow was good and I felt it followed a decent overarching plot with quirky filler episodes thrown in to establish the characters more.

Now as far as main characters go, we have a good mix of interesting ones. Yes, they fall into stereotypical archetypes but for some reason, I really like them:

Aerrow voiced by Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA: the young, ambitious Sky Knight of the Storm Hawks. He’s your typical, altruistic hero/leader/chosen one. I love how you can really see how much he cares for his team. He’s got a big legacy to live up to and you know what, he’s absolutely demolishing everyone’s limited expectations of him. This boy survived multiple fights with the supposedly deadliest warrior in the world.

Piper voiced by Chiara Zanni: she’s the intelligent one of the bunch and typically possesses the one brain cell they all share. She’s the navigator, crystal expert, and the second in command. In short, she’s an adorable nerd and my favorite despite having some out of character moments. I also like the little something something she’s got going on with Aerrow. Yes, it’s cliché but it’s open enough that you can interpret it romantically or platonically. And honestly, the way Piper is written, you could almost say she’s bi. But holy cow, that finale with her and Aerrow was everything! Love it.

Junko voiced by Colin Murdock (Ed’s VA aka Jay’s dad): the stereotypical gentle giant type. He’s sweet and strong but constantly doubts his ability because he was bullied. He’s similar to Kord from Slugterra in that he’s got muscle but also serves as the airship’s mechanic. He has a couple of spotlight episodes that do his character justice.

Finn voiced by Matt Hill (Hyper-Sonic’s VA aka that random disco head racer from Prime Empire): on the outside, when paired with Junko, they typically serve as the meat headed comic relief. However, when it comes down to it, Finn is selfless and will make the right choice as episodes have shown. He can get annoying but I highly appreciate that he knows how to buckle down and get a job done and he truly is a great sharpshooter.

Stork voiced by Scott McNeil (VA for many villains in Ninjago): one of the fan favorites for his doom and gloom sort of attitude. He’s the pilot and gives off emo vibes to me. A very relatable character for most pessimists. He’s the oldest of the crew full of kids but he sticks it out through all their wild adventures even if he is completely terrified while trying to survive. Still, he’s got a beserk button so don’t you ever think of touch his precious ship, the Condor. He can and will take out a complete armada.

Radarr voiced by Asaph Fipke: he’s Aerrow’s co-pilot and animal companion of the show. He’s very scrappy and has good intuition. A valuable member of the Storm Hawks. He even gets a couple of his own episodes to shine in.

Now, I gotta mention the villains too since there is a quirky handful of them:

Cyclonis voiced by Lenore Zann: she’s the lead villain and ruler of her kingdom at just 14 years old. She’s very powerful and very intimidating when she wants to be since she’s got a bunch of wacky crystal powers like Piper. I find her interesting just because she’s a young girl who serves as the main big bad villain versus previous shows where it’s a broad-shouldered middle aged guy in a black suit. I wish they showed more on her backstory but a decent villain nonetheless. Comparable to Harumi in that she’s a female kid villain who is deep down broken and lonely and in desperate need of therapy and a friend.

Dark Ace voiced by Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA): is the second in command to Cyclonis and is extremely loyal to her. He’s constantly getting beat by Aerrow and can never manage to exterminate him much to his annoyance. It’s hilarious watching their fights because it’s just Sam Vincent alternating between tones. He’s got cool red eyes and I do believe he also has a bit of a following among the female fans.

Ravess voiced by Cathy Weseluck (Patty Keys VA aka that random sales lady): she’s an archer who has a penchant for the violin. I love her leitmotif whenever she comes onscreen. Ambitious but still scared to turn on her 14 year old boss. She does play a helpful role I towards the finale.

Snipe voiced by Colin Murdock (Ed’s VA): he’s the brother of Ravess and serves as the big dumb muscle guy. I don’t really care for him but his sibling interactions with Ravess are funny.

Raptors voiced by a bunch of familiar VAs: I just had to mention this reptilian group because they are reminiscent of the Serpentine from Ninjago.

Pros:

Great side characters and fun episodes.

Good action and adventure vibes

The whole show is free on YouTube.

Again, world building and lore is very imaginative. It deserved a larger budget and more seasons.

Has your typical chosen/prophesied one narrative that we’ve all come to either love or hate.

Crystal magic (kinda like how we’re now on the season Crystalized)

Adorable main cast who all get a chance in the spotlight, and even the annoying ones do have their high points like I mentioned.

Ninjago VA’s are everywhere in this show too. And with the limited voices they have, they really make the most of it but it’s hilarious to see VA’s essentially talking to themselves onscreen.

And once again, there’s top notch team dynamics in this show with good sibling-like interactions between characters. They squabble but still make up and really care for each other’s wellbeing.

Found family trope is in this and it’s great and I’m a sucker for it. It’s heavily implied the three human kid heroes are orphans so there’s that lovely dose of angst I always love.

Something about Aerrow being a leader just hits right. He’s a great one even if he is just 14 years old.

Good balance between high stakes and humor. The main characters are kids and heroes and it shows with all the shenanigans they manage to throw themselves into.

Great finale. Trust me. The show gets better as you continue to watch it and the episodes get less disjointed.

Friends to lovers or just really close friends trope between Aerrow and Piper. I cannot stop gushing about how natural their dynamic feels and how they play off each other’s energy beautifully. They communicate openly and really well with each other. And if romance isn’t your thing, their bond can totally be seen as platonic.

Cyclonis is a curious villain character that is different from your stereotypical guy cartoon villain. I like her and her powers.

Huge bonus that Ninjago has struggled with doing well, love triangles. Storm Hawks has no place for that. In fact, it subverts that trope entirely! Piper does not act all jealous whenever there is another girl character around and this is a huge breath of fresh air from the pettiness many shows contain. Aerrow occasionally acts wary and annoyed when Piper gushes over stuck up guys, but it’s proven justified and he isn’t overprotective or obnoxious about it. Just cautious and comforting when things do go south.

And lastly, this underrated masterpiece, The Deep:

Great news, this show is still ongoing and recently released their 4th season. It’s got a decent overarching narrative of searching for a lost underwater city Lemuria. There are many filler episodes, but trust me, they are fun. Not gonna lie, I’m a huge sucker for any ocean animated shows. This one is just so funny and relatable. It’s got great family dynamics with many familiar Ninjago voice actors. The adventures and creatures are all so cool! It ties myth, mystery, and science all into one great show. The sci-fi fantasy vibe is amazing. But basically, my liking of this show is hugely centered on not just the creativity of it but the strong family dynamics that glues the entire show together. Unlike most shows where parents are absent or there’s only one, this cartoon portrays a lovely married couple and their kids. Seriously, how often does the chosen one/protagonist of the show actually get a decent childhood with loving parents?!

With characters, we have a small main cast with a handful of recurring side characters. This means, you gotta love the main characters:

Antaeus Nekton aka Ant voiced by Vincent Tong (Kai’s VA): he’s the excitable main protagonist child and chosen one of the family. He’s extremely curious and gets into trouble often, but fortunately for him, he’s got an intelligent engineering mind that helps him get out of trouble… most times. Fortunately for him though, he’s got a great family backing him up. I find him to be a likable character as far as protagonists go and good representation of annoying younger siblings.

Fontaine Nekton voiced by Ashleigh Ball (Sally’s VA aka that pink-haired girl from Crystalized): she’s the older sister character. Sometimes she acts as the only voice of reason onboard the ship. I find her extremely relatable. It’s clear that although Ant annoys her, she still very much loves him and will do anything to protect him and that is so wholesome. She’s got a crush on Finn who’s a slick teen pirate voiced by Sam Vincent (Lloyd’s VA) and most of the fandom really loves the flirty dynamic they have. I gotta admit, they are pretty cute together.

William Nekton aka Will voiced by Michael Dobson (VA for many Ninjago side characters): he is the dad and the muscle of the crew. Still, like everyone else, he’s smart. He’s super reasonable and a really great example of a good father and husband. He has his funny moments and craziness too though.

Kaiko Nekton voiced by Kathleen Barr (Misako’s VA): this woman is my personal favorite and I could gush on and on about how totally awesome she is. Unlike Misako, Kaiko is the most awesome mother ever to her kids and is fiercely protective of them. She has a wide skill set from being a submarine pilot, mechanic, and marine biologist. In short, she’s amazing and I’m a huge simp for her.

Jeffrey: he’s the adorable animal sidekick. He’s an intelligent, expressive fish and has helped saved the Nekton family on multiple occasions. Very relatable because he is cookie-motivated. Smarter than your average wannabe pirate.

Nereus voiced by Lee Tockar (Borg’s VA): he’s your typical mystical old dude with a long white beard. Essentially he’s the Wu of this show. Funny but infuriatingly cryptic at times.

Pros:

This show was based off comics so you can go read those. (Kaiko gets an awesome moment in those that I really wish they would have kept in the tv show.)

Vaguely based off the Incredibles.

Non-absent parents who are top notch and actually parent their kids fairly.

Submarines and marine life are always a plus in my book.

Family dynamics are on point. Seriously, this is top notch stuff right here. Also, sibling dynamics are so sweet.

Representation of a good solid marriage. Bonus points because it’s interracial, making their kids mixed. All-round good representation.

Good musical score. (Not as good as Ninjago’s but still pretty good.)

The whole family is smart and super skilled but it shows that they still make mistakes and are flawed humans just like everyone else. Even the parents aren’t shown to be completely infallible and land in their own sticky situations plenty of times and I find that super neat and good of the writers to do.

Great mind-boggling adventures.

The villains are wacky yet endearing sometimes.

There’s villain that is reminiscent of Morro. He’s even got the same voice actor and goes through the same arc of being all jealous of the chosen one.

”Have faith in the fish.” Jeffrey is great animal companion. Who knew you could actually make a fish work as a good character.

Just huge bonus overall with this show because of the solid family representation we’ve got going on here.

Basically, to sum everything up, GO WATCH THESE SHOWS! And let me know if you enjoy them, I would love to hear your thoughts on them.

[hunterexamcheatsheet]

Explaining how the Mafia functions, Kurapika in the mafia community and why the other “Neon died” theories don’t work from the Mafia Structure perspective

Please read this if you’re interested in how Kurapika in the mafia functions in the HxH world. 

I went to roam around the Chinese forums using Kurapika and Neon's name (酷拉皮卡和妮翁; pronounced as Kù Lā Pí Kǎ and Nī Wēng) to try and find some KuraNeon content in the Chinese fandom. 

I found a Chinese blog that also talks about the dolphin theory that @anotherworldash​ has thought of. You may use Google translate for the link above to read it. You may also view what @u-named​ had summarised here regarding the dolphin theory. I had reblogged it before but I got very excited when I saw that another fan had thought of it. 

I’m so glad that other people from non-English fandoms had also thought of it (and not just the usual theories of Neon dying, but exploring other explanations why it’s possible for her to be still alive). I might be slightly biased, but I disliked how everyone just jumped into the assumption that she’s dead because her name disappeared from Chrollo’s book. From what I see, HxH deaths are often shown or at least heavily implied. We also got false narratives like the one with Kite in CA arc. 

We do not see her dead body. Or any major hints of what happened to her. 

What’s more, Kurapika implied that the previous owners where he had acquired the Scarlet Eyes from did not need to be killed. While this only means that Kurapika did not kill Neon, and it’s possible that other people might have killed her or she had died by accident/natural cause, it’s still something to think about.

The flaw in some of the “Neon’s dead” theories

I think u-named already discussed this a bit, but I’m going to elaborate it a little further. I am actually thinking of posting regarding the mafia theme, but that will take a while. I had been researching the functions of mafia in both reality and media, in order to understand what goes on in mafia families in HxH. 

The theories regarding “Neon was killed by the mafia community”, “Light Nostrade killed her” and “she committed suicide” are possible, but I’m going to need to nitpick on the reasoning. I suspect people who formed these theories don’t know how the mafia works or at least, attempt to understand how it works (not that I’m an expert, I’m still trying to understand it from mafia movies, videos, a book and journal papers). 

Of course there is a discrepancy between the actual mafia and what is depicted in media, but given that Togashi had mafia themes in his previous works like in Ten de Showaru Cupid and in Yu Yu Hakusho, and until now, he is using mafia families in his current arc. 

“Oh, but what if Togashi doesn’t do his research?”

I genuinely think he does. York New City and the Ten Dons could be a parallel to the actual Five Powerful Mafia Families in New York City back then, formed in 1931. The Five Families is also what inspired the five mafia families in The Godfather. (I don’t know, maybe Togashi was a fan of The Godfather or any mafia movies; that trilogy was very influential in the media). Even the family name Nostrade is both a reference to Nostradamus (a French fortune teller) and La Cosa Nostra (a nickname for the Italian mafia). The coincidence is too uncanny. 

From what I gather from resources, the mafia functions like an organisation/corporation, but their services are largely illegal. Their main aim is to acquire money (and also power, but power comes with money). 

Neon’s fortune-telling ability is highly sought after because accurate information in many places (which includes being in businesses) are crucial. If you guys are familiar with The Godfather, information and strategy is important when trying to win over people or crushing your enemies. The concept of knowing your enemy is also a huge main idea in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. 

And it’s even more valuable when these information is from the future.  You will always be one step ahead of the enemy if you have accurate information in regards to the future. 

Now, there are people envious of Light’s climb to power because he exploited his daughter’s fortune-telling ability and they gained influence as she has fans among the Dons. They see Light’s acquiring of power as a threat, which is why Light protects his daughter. 

Another reason (not really stated, I just thought of it) is that information from the future is a disadvantage when your enemy has it and you don’t. You already lose when the other side has information that you do not have. 

By the end of the YorkNew City arc, we see that the Ten Dons are assassinated by Illumi. Therefore, there seems to be empty seats when it comes to the leadership of the mafia community. Not stated, but without leadership, a corporation/business will either crumble or someone else will assume leadership. Be it brutally or by succession of an heir, we’ll never know. 

Neon’s ability is no longer on hers. Who is affected negatively? Light Nostrade because he just lost his way of influence and attaining money/power. His enemies, who are envious of his climbing up the ranks, will see it as an advantage. A blessing perhaps. Because the threat (which is Neon’s powers) are gone. 

While murder among mafia members are not uncommon, killing one’s family member (especially one’s direct children) is irreversible and poses serious consequences. An all out war could evoke and it can be costly. Going back to my point about the mafia community’s main aim and how it functions as a business, negotiations are actually another way to deal with possible disputes.  They do not need to do the killing because her powers are simply GONE. Without her powers, she’s just an ordinary “citizen” who is a family member of a father whose in the mafia community. 

Therefore, “mafia community killed Neon” theory is flawed if you look at how the mafia community functions as businesses and negotiations. The reason why they decided to be brutal and aggressive in York New City is because they were up against the Phantom Troupe. Additionally, the lack of manpower and leadership that follows after their fiasco with the Phantom Troupe is another concern. A girl who no longer poses a threat is the least of their worries. 

Now, onto the “Kurapika let them die off”, “Light killed Neon” and “she committed suicide” theories. 

The reason why I have a problem with these is because it’s based on the big assumption that they became broke. Either Light Nostrade went crazy and he killed her; or they became broke and Neon couldn’t handle the stresses of being poor so she committed suicide. But the thing is, they aren’t broke. 

Even on the Hunterpedia states:

The Nostrade Family survived the loss of Neon's ability and is now led by Kurapika. The organization is exclusively involved in legal activities such as personal security details and gambling.

This is backed by what Linssen has said to Mizaistom in the Dark Continent Expedition arc. 

The reason why they survived the financial slump? Kurapika. 

During the Greed Island arc, Kurapika reassured him that he’ll “take care of it”. And during the Dark Continent Expedition arc, we see that Kurapika’s title is “Nostrade Family Waka-gashira”. Waka-gashira means “Young Boss”. There are many mistranslations to this text where they state that he’s the mafia organisation leader, but in the hardcopy (which I have), the title is “Nostrade Family Boss”. 

In the context of the Japanese yakuza, the Waka-gashira is the second in command, just below the Oyabun. 

The second in the chain of command is the wakagashira, who governs several gangs in a region with the help of a fuku-honbucho who is himself responsible for several gangs.

While it seems that the inspiration of mafia is from the Italian-American mafia families in York New City, the terminologies they used is that of the Japanese yakuza. I think that this is because the original language is in Japanese. 

In Italian-American mafia, the term “mafia organisation” is synonymous with “mafia family”. Therefore, if you say that a man is the mafia organisation leader, he is also by default the head of the mafia family. 

In the context of Kurapika, it does make sense that he is the second-in-command and Light is the oyabun (if you go by the yakuza terminology), or Kurapika is the head of the Nostrade family (if you go by the Italian-American way). 

Now, I’m just going to backtrack a bit because I want to address that theory that “Kurapika let Neon and/or Light die and overtook the Nostrade mafia organisation”. 

If you go by the Yakuza terminology, it already doesn’t make sense because it implies that Light is still in charge, and Kurapika is the second-in-command (wakagashira). The Yakuza also assimilate members into the mafia organisation and “making your own family” (via trust). 

If you go by the Italian-American way, it also doesn’t make sense if you look at the way they appoint the head of the mafia organisation. From what I read and seen in mafia movies, aside from mafia organisations functioning like a corporation, it functions like a family business, where typically, the head of the family is a male. This isn’t just exclusive to mafia families, but pretty much family businesses in [East] Asia. Togashi also depicts this male heir and family business dynamic within the Zoldyck Family. 

While there are actual records of women leading mafia organisations, what is depicted in media is that the mafia community are often populated with men. This is also evident in the York New City arc, where the mafia community is filled with armed men. 

Even among the Yakuza, it is like this: 

The Yakuza is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses

Light Nostrade only have one child, a daughter to be exact. While Morena Prudo is the boss of the Heil-Ly Mafia Family, this isn’t the actual case for Neon. Neon is a young girl who likes to shop and collects dead body parts. She enjoys luxury and materialism. She doesn’t have an interest in the mafia business or where the money comes from. Besides, as mentioned before, a male heir is often depicted. 

In Japanese family businesses, when there is no male heir available, they will have to resort to mukoyoshi practice. Taken from Wikipedia:

When a family, especially one with a well established business, has no male heir but has an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, a man chosen especially for his ability to run the family business. 

This is done to preserve the business and name of the family when there is no suitable male heir, since traditionally businesses are inherited by the oldest male heir. Mukoyōshi is also practiced if there is no capable male heir to run the family business.

This is a centuries-old tradition and is still widely practiced today. Many Japanese companies with household names such as Nintendo, Kikkoman, and Toyota have adopted this practice.

This is why I often liked the whole “Kurapika married Neon for the title” theory because it takes into a Japanese practice when it comes to family businesses + how the mafia family business are run into account. 

We also have to note that Neon Nostrade’s character blueprint is Princess Luna from Level E. Princess Luna is betrothed to the main character, Prince Baka. Initially, Prince Baka did not want to marry her. Arranged marriages do not need to be founded by love or a relationship bond. In fact, arranged marriages are often agreed on because of practical reasons, such as a family business. 

Princess Luna is also why I take the marriage theory more into account, rather than the idea that Ligth adopted him. Kurapika is considered as an adult (or nearly) anyway. 

Side note: Whether or not you agree with this because it seems sexist or the possible sickening idea that Kurapika married a flesh collector, is irrelevant. Me being a KuraNeon shipper also does not make this theory hold any less weight. In fact, I started liking them together because of this theory. This is based on how [mafia] family businesses are depicted in the media, the mukoyoshi practice in Japan and Princess Luna being Neon’s character blueprint. Remember that theories are based on evidence, not based on how you feel. If anything, this gives more depth to Kurapika because it shows how far he’s willing to go through in order to gain power and money for his clan. 

Regardless of how Kurapika had gotten this title, it is via assimilation. Not coercion or force. 

It also doesn’t make sense if he were to function businesses under the Nostrade family name, if he disliked Light and Neon so much that he’d let them wither off. Why would he still keep their family name in honour if he had let them die off? The answer is getting the title via assimilation. Be it through trust or becoming a member of the family (literally or figuratively). 

Neon being uninterested also meant that there is no one to challenge Kurapika for the title, and Kurapika had already reassured to Light that the business during Greed Island arc. 

Therefore, the “Kurapika had let Light and Neon wither off to get the title” is flawed when you look at the way mafia organisations functions as a family business and Neon’s character. 

Why the Nostrades aren’t broke

Linssen stating the Nostrade family gains its income from gambling and personal security detail businesses that the Nostrade family runs, thanks to Kurapika being the head of the family. 

Aside from that, we also see Kurapika obtaining many sets of Scarlet Eyes, with him stating that there are various ways he had done so. 

“I’ve threatened, coaxed and paid people off” - Kurapika (based on the hardcopy Volume 33 that I have)

During the York New City arc, one set of Scarlet Eyes are already worth like what, millions? Not only money, but Kurapika needs influence and connections to gain these Scarlet Eyes. Threatening and coaxing meant that you’ll need to invoke fear or drive them into situations where they are forced to surrender the Scarlet Eyes. How to do that? Creating dilemmas. Give the person two options, both that are undesirable, with the lesser evil option being the one you want. 

Basically, giving an offer they can’t refuse (sorry, this reference was too good to pass up lmao). 

This is why being part of the mafia, and more so being a mafia leader is an attractive pathway for Kurapika because it gives him the resources, in terms of influence, finance and aggressive force. 

Another thing to note is that Kurapika has hired Izunavi, Melody, Basho and Bisky to apply for the Kakin Bodyguarding contract. It’s evident that Kurapika has the money. Therefore, the Nostrades aren’t broke. 

Hence, the idea that Neon was killed because her father could not face financial difficulties or that she committed suicide because she’s no longer rich, falls flat when you consider Kurapika’s involvement with their family. 

“But didn’t Linssen say that gambling and personal security are legal businesses and he told Mizaistom that they are not the crime syndicate? Why is it part of the mafia?” 

Yes. You see, the mafia deals with LARGELY illegal businesses, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deal with the legal ones too. Perhaps the Nostrade family has been legitimised, but it wouldn’t be the case because Kurapika’s title still states “mafia”. 

While these facts seem to contradict what Linssen claimed to Mizaistom that the Nostrade organisation is not a crime syndicate, it can be argued that Mizaistom is a Crime Hunter (aka like a detective). It makes sense for Linssen to tell a Crime Hunter that you are not a crook, and it’s easier to lie about it if your services in the mafia business is legal. 

Also, in actual mafia businesses where gambling is involved, the place of the server where online gambling may be legal, but in the place where the people use the online gambling may be illegal. 

Taken from 10 Businesses Supposedly Controlled by the Mafia: 

But mobsters have adapted to the times and taken their act online. These days, they are more likely to be busted for online sports gambling. In 2008, a Queens district attorney charged the Gambino family with illegal sports and casino-style gambling operations. Players were allowed to borrow gambling money at 200 percent interest [source: Bonner]. More recently, members of the Genovese family in New Jersey were indicted for making millions of dollars each year through illegal gambling operations [source: Ivers].

In Europe, officials have raised concerns over the vast amounts of money being laundered by the Mafia through online gambling, particularly sites based in Germany, where there are no penalties for illegal gambling activities [source: Walther].

Personal security details kind of vague, but I believe it’s Protection Racket. I went to have a look at Wikipedia for a short while and found ties with the mafia: 

A protection racket is a scheme where a potentially hazardous group guarantees protection from violence, looting, raiding, piracy, and other such threats posed by them outside the sanction of the law, to polities, businesses, individuals, or other entities and groups that pay to them in cash or kind. 

Protection rackets tend to appear in markets in which the police and judiciary cannot be counted on to provide legal protection, because of incompetence (as in weak or failed states) or illegality (black markets).

Certain scholars, such as Diego Gambetta, classify criminal organizations engaged in protection racketeering as "mafia", as the racket is popular with both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia.

While this “personal security details” the Nostrade family business provides, the stuff that involves in it may be illegal. 

We don’t really know why Kurapika resorted to these two types of businesses. I have two guesses: 1) He wants to compensate and retain his moral values, therefore he opts for legal businesses, 2) He wants to have a loophole in being in the mafia yet avoiding legal troubles. Either way, it’s a smart move for Kurapika in my opinion. 

Side note: With Togashi liking mafia themes so much, I truly believe that it’s a hard opportunity for him to pass up the idea of making one of his main characters a mafia leader. We get to have our own Michael Corleone, and that’s hot. (Simping hard for mafia boss Kurapika right now). 

What about the Kakin Bodyguard thing? And the fact that Kurapika’s a Zodiac now? Does this mean he’s no longer the Nostrade Family Boss? 

He is still the Nostrade family boss. These three are not mutually exclusive.

In the manga panel where they showed his title, it was slightly after the Zodiacs meeting. Therefore, he still retains his title as the Nostrade Boss. Being part of the Zodiac is a position within the Hunters Assocation, they are the counsellors to the Chairman. Just as when Kurapika is a hunter and the Nostrade Boss at the same time, he can also be a Zodiac and the Nostrade Boss. 

The Kakin Bodyguard thing is like an employment contract. As mentioned, Kurapika hired a few people to apply for being a bodyguard because six Kakin Princes were looking for bodyguards to get close to the 4th Prince Tserriednich.  You can actually see this as a link to his “Protection Racket” mafia business. Being a Kakin bodyguard is a type of Protection Racket. Therefore, he can still be a Kakin bodyguard while holding onto the mafia title. 

Kurapika doesn’t need to be in the mainland overseeing everything in the business, in fact, it’s kind of noteworthy that Linssen was not on board - it is definitely possible that he had left the other parts of the mafia business to a second-in-command (a consigliere, shategashira, or the saiko-komon). He may also leave the businesses back to Light Nostrade. 

Okay, what if Neon committed suicide because she couldn’t take how she’s being mistreated, rather than her being broke? 

That could be possible, but we don’t really have a clear hint of that. Yes, I can see some potential daddy issues because she’s no longer of use to her father and also the possibility that Light favours Kurapika more now and maybe even sold her off to Kurapika, but I don’t find any strong evidence of that. And we don’t actually exactly know how Kurapika will act around her now that he seems to have more power than her. In fact, we don’t really have any insights as to what Kurapika thinks of her, only sweeping statements when it comes to flesh collectors which may or may not apply to her. 

(I know people assume that he hates her, because they like to infer his prejudice on flesh collectors to her, but we really have ZERO clear indication of what he thinks about her specifically. To say that he definitely hates her is inaccurate. I literally just argued with someone on Youtube comments for this. And even if he did hate her, that’s hot if she’s his wife because hate-sex is wow.)

To Conclude: 

The theories surrounding Neon Nostrade being dead falls flat when you look deeper into how the mafia functions. I have also explained more in detail at a possibility of how Kurapika might function in the mafia community and as the Nostrade family leader. 

Other sources aside from above (so that ya’all know I don’t pull this out of my ass):

 New York Mafia Families

What does the mafia even do anymore? 

How to Make an Offer they can’t refuse like Vito Corleone

The Godfather by Mario Putzo [film/fictional book - watched Part 1 and 2]

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires By Selwyn Raab [book - only read a bit]

When culture matters: succession challenges for Asian business families

Behind the Yakuza: documenting the women of Japan’s mafia

How Japan’s family businesses use sons-in-law to bring in new blood

Pretty much the whole of Hunterpedia LMAO. 

I only wanted to post the Chinese blog but ended up a huge full-on essay about the mafia in HxH HAHHAA. (Because I’m so sick of people talking about theories without taking the mafia structure into consideration). 

[fandomsonrequests]

first times

fandom: ATEEZ

characters: good kid/nerd!jeong yunho

reader: fem! punk

word count: 2.8k+

summary:  your dynamic with Yunho always balanced each other out; he was the stability you needed and you provided the little excitement in his life. It was perfect. You two have learned a lot after introducing things to each other. Like showing off a few tricks at a party or how to organize your notes (which has been a big help to you and your notes spread all over the place).

There was one thing though that you were yet to try- and that was sex.

a/n: it’s ✨horny✨ hours. Also this was probably more intense than I had anticipated e.e please enjoy!

notes: smut, sub!yunho, dom!reader, size kink, Yunho is a virgin, piercings, creampie, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it kids), some voyeurism 

taglist: @galaxteez​ @latte-fairytaekwoon​ @sweetheartsannie​

Your relationship with Yunho was something straight out of the movies where the good kid dates the rebellious punk of the campus. He wore soft, woolen sweaters that surprisingly went past his hands while you wore dark-colored leather. Your hair was dyed in bright colors while his hair was styled into neat curls. His lifestyle was calm, normal, always following the rules whilst yours was all about living fast and dying young.

Yet your dynamic always balanced each other out; he was the stability you needed and you provided the little excitement in his life. It was perfect. You two have learned a lot after introducing things to each other. Like showing off a few tricks at a party or how to organize your notes (which has been a big help to you and your notes spread all over the place).

There was one thing though that you were yet to try- and that was sex.

Yunho is a virgin, it’s one of the few things he told you when you first started dating. You understood though and you didn’t want to force him with anything. You’ve helped him explore a little bit though but it never reached anything past heavy making out with the occasional heavy petting. You would always drink in the furious blush on his round cheeks and ears. Or the way his swollen-kissed lips tempted you to fuck him silly. But you always held yourself back, always making sure to relieve yourself in the bathroom or whenever you were home first in your shared apartment.

Yunho would listen to you through the thin walls of the apartment, his hesitation and shyness preventing himself from talking to you about it. He had even almost walked in on you once when you were fucking yourself on the vibrating wand you kept in the back of the closet. He felt so dirty seeing your hips buck up into it, one of your hands grabbing and kneading at your breast while you moaned out his name. He felt dirty in retaining the image in his mind whenever he jerked himself off in the shower. But at the same time, he thought that this was one of the moments where you looked most beautiful, next to seeing your cute face in the morning.

So here you were, watching a classic action-packed film called Salt. there was a sex scene that came up- those typical, raw, and passionate sex scenes in the movies. It made Yunho squirm in his seat on the couch, his arm around you while you leaned into him. He looked down at you and was quite amazed to see that you were unfazed by it.

He could hear your voice in his head even if you haven’t said anything: it’s just sex baby- it’s a normal human thing.

That may have stopped him from being so awkward around you but that definitely didn’t stop him from growing more aroused each second. He gulps as his free hand fists the fabric of his sweatpants while he tried to stabilize his breathing.

You weren’t oblivious to what was happening beside you though- you just haven’t said anything. That was until you heard your giant teddy bear of a boyfriend cough under his breath. You paused the film and immediately turn to him, a slightly mischievous smirk on your lips.

“Are you horny baby?” you ask him.

He sputters at the question and you laugh. Your hand gently trails up his thick thighs while you hum in amusement, leaning closer to him. Yunho’s cheeks glow a bright red, spreading down his neck and up to his ears. He lets out a shaky breath when you graze against the bulge in his pants, making him close his eyes.

“C’mon baby boy, I need you to tell me,” you gently coax him but make no further move to touch him. He whines at the nickname. “Did the scene turn you on?”

Yunho’s eyes flutter open and meets your lust blown gaze. He knew you didn’t want to push him into anything he didn’t want to do and that you were probably just teasing him right now, but his arousal was through the roof and he wanted to know how you felt around him. He wanted to experience the warmth of your cunt around his cock or the way his skin would feel pressed up against yours.

The cold metal of your horizontal lip piercings against the skin of his neck jolted him out of his little fantasy. A quiet whimper leaves his throat and you smirk against him. His arms snake around your waist, his hands hesitantly gripping onto your waist. He moans when you suddenly nip at the juncture between his neck and shoulder, his voice growing in volume when you moved to straddle his hips.

“Are you okay with this, baby?” You ask him, pulling away with a gentle look in your eyes.

“You act like we haven’t done this a bajillion times,” he muses and you laugh.

“I know,” Your fingers play with the baby hairs at the base of his neck. “But I just want to be sure.”

He flashes you one of his signature dorky smiles and kisses your nose. “Just keep going please,”

You nod before engulfing his lips in a hungry kiss. Your hips ground against his and he groans, his grip on your waist tightening. You’ve done this a couple of times before, grinding against him and making him cum in his pants. But you wanted more. And luckily, Yunho finally felt ready to give you what you wanted.

His hands trailed under your shirt, large hands travelling along your soft skin before settling at the hem and tugging it upwards. You pull away, letting out a surprised noise, and grasp at his wrist. For a moment, the ravenet was worried that he did something you didn’t like until you spoke up.

“What are you doing..?”

“...taking off your shirt..?” He responds almost hesitantly. “Why— are you off the pill—”

“No no, don’t worry I’m on the pill but are you sure? I don’t want you to do anything just because—“

“I’m ready, ______,” Yunho stops you midway, his warm brown eyes blown with lust. He looks at you, dead in the eye. “I want you to fuck me— please.”

The way Yunho says this with a desperate look in his gaze and the meekness of his tone switched something in you. You lick your lips as it morphs into a grin. You gently cup his chin, firmly kissing him.

You moan in approval when he obediently parts his lips to grant you access, your tongue mingling with his. He could taste your cherry flavored chapstick and the remnants of your cigarette that you had smoked a while ago. It was so erotic, the sounds of his lips smacking against yours and the way your tongue’s snakebite piercings tickled him, the way you tasted... and for some reason, despite having made out with you many times, this felt different, much more addicting.

“Arms up.” You say firmly as you tug his shirt and sweater up.

Yunho doesn’t even think twice and immediately raises his arms, allowing you to shed off said clothes. He was rewarded with another kiss to his lips before you push him down against the couch, taking in the sight before you. He looks away in embarrassment, the beautiful red returning to his complexion.

You were having none of it though. “You’re beautiful,” You tell him as you run your hands down the expanse of his chest to his stomach, nails lightly scratching his skin. He whines at your actions, the flush on his face worsening.

Before Yunho could say anything though you were already making your down, leaving wet kisses in your wake. He leans up against his arms to see you leave your marks down his chest, whimpering every time he felt the sting of your teeth against him. Dark purple starts to bloom by the time you reach his pants, your deft fingers making quick work of removing them and throwing them to the floor.

His hard cock springs up almost immediately, the head leaking with precum. You stare at it in pleasant surprise. You had a feeling he was well-endowed but you were surprised at how much girthier he was than you anticipated. Your small hand wrapped around him, making Yunho throw his head back and buck up into it.

“Fuck you’re so huge baby boy,” You hum as your other hand pushed his waist back down to the couch. “Can’t wait for you to fill up this tiny pussy.” He twitches at your words, making you wet once you see the effect your words had on him.

Without any warning, you sucked on the head of his cock, tongue tasting the salty precum.

“O-oh f-fuck, _____,” Yunho whines as he leans back against the couch. His hands settled firmly onto it, nails digging into the leather covering. He tries to keep himself from bucking up into your warm mouth as your tongue trailed up his length.

This was much better than he had fantasized, his toes curling as pleasure courses through him. The snake bite piercings on your tongue were surprisingly cold against his cock, making him shiver when you swallowed and bobbed your head around him.

He throws his head back when you pull away, a string of saliva mixed with his precum connecting your lips to him, and gently squeezed his balls. Your other hand stroked him at a tantalizing pace, your thumb teasing the slit of the head.

“Look at you, you’re so big compared to me yet you’re letting me handle you like this.” Your hand lands a gentle slap to his thigh, eliciting a whine from your boyfriend. “So cute~”

But before Yunho could even retort, your mouth was on him again. The metal ball of your piercing runs down the underside of his cock, tracing his veins before moving up to play with the head. He had never thought that the feeling of fucking your mouth would be absolute torture having you tease him like this and yet, he loved it.

His breathing became labored and he could feel his stomach tighten, impending signs that he was about to cum. You could sense it too, especially with the way you let your teeth graze the soft flesh of his dick.

“I-I’m close, ______,” He pants and you pull away from him completely.

He whines at the loss of contact but his voice dies down when you quickly strip yourself of your own clothes. Yunho takes in the sight of your bare form in front of him, being stunned into silence.

God, you were so fucking gorgeous.

“You- your uhm,” Yunho uncharacteristically stammers and you look down at yourself.

You grin when you realize what he was referring to. “Yeah, my nipples are pierced. Do you like them?” You ask as you brush away your hair to let him admire it more.

“I love them.”

You giggle out your gratitude before you settle over him once more, your slick cunt hovering over his length. You only smile at him when you take his hands and lead them to your breasts, chuckling at the gasp he lets out.

You moan when he gave an experimental squeeze, lip caught between your teeth. “You’ve always wanted this, right baby?” You taunt him. You wordlessly guide him to massage your breasts, letting his thumb flick at your perk nipples. “Watching through the crack in the door when you’d get home early~”

His eyes widen in surprise as the embarrassment of being caught fills his system. He feels his body heat up with shame when you chuckle airily, another moan leaving you when you move his hands down your sides and coax him to squeeze the flesh of your ass. “It’s okay baby,” you assure him, pressing your chest flush against his. “I enjoy putting on a show for you.”

You drop your hips down on his and rub yourself up against his cock. You both groan out at the feeling. Yunho was losing himself in the feeling of you just surrounding him, your scent, your touch, your juices just coating him— it was driving him insane.

You reach down to jerk him off a couple of times before lining yourself up with him. “You ready big guy?” You ask.

Yunho could only nod, all words lost. His jaw drops open in pleasure when you finally sink down against him, his back arching at the way your warm velvety walls took him in. Your slick helped you grow accustomed to the stretch, a drawn out moan leaving your lips as he slowly bottoms out within you.

His head falls back as you lightly ground against him, his cock twitching inside of you. “F-fuck, _______, you’re so tight and you f-feel so warm—”

You chuckled breathily, leaning down to kiss him. You moan against his lips, forcing your tongue into his mouth, when he brushed up against your spot. You pull away from him after he so obediently allowed you to ravage him through the kiss, a thin strand of saliva connecting between the both of you. 

You ran your hand along the bulge in your abdomen and pressed down on it. Your boyfriend let out a choked gasp when he felt how deep inside you he was. You press down on it again and you fall forward, arm wobbling as you try to support yourself over him. His arms come up to settle around your waist, the both of you getting used to the feeling of being wrapped up in each other.

“I love you so much, ______,” Yunho whispers.

“I love you so much more,” You reply. “I’m going to move now, okay?”

Once you get his permission to move, you slowly bring your hips up before settling down against him. Your initial pace was slow at first for the benefit of the both of you. Yunho didn’t want to cum early and you were still getting used to the size of him. Eventually, the speed of your hips increase as you start to bounce up and down along his length.

Yunho’s eyes squeeze shut and leans his head back, exposing the column of his neck. He could feel your lips mouth along his skin, teeth lightly nipping along, as your warmth clenched around him. He dug his fingers into your waist when you squeeze around him again, leaving bruises against the plump flesh. A light sheen of sweat covers your intertwined bodies.

“You f-feel amazing,” he mewls and tries his best to meet each thrust of your hips. “K-keep going please,”

“Yeah? You’re enjoying this baby boy?” You pant out, taking both of his hands and lacing his fingers with yours, pinning them by his head. He never thought he’d like being dominated, always thinking it was he had to take the lead, but this was definitely something he enjoyed.

Yunho could feel his stomach tighten as his orgasm neared, squeezing your hands to let you know. He writhes under your actions, sweet praises and come curses tumbling from his lips. “I’m, I’m gonna cum- _____, lemme cum, please, please, please,” he cries, looking up at you with large eyes.

“You think you can hold it for me baby?” You ask and reach down to circle at your clit, whining quietly at the feeling. “Wanna cum with you…”

Yunho wanted to sob at that, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to last long, but nodded nonetheless. It was the least he could do after you pretty much gave him all your attention from earlier. He leans up on one arm, taking one of your nipples into his mouth in an attempt to get you to cum and you cry out in pleasure.

Your hands shot up to his hair, tugging at the soft locks as he desperately sucked, occasionally switching between each mound. The way his round, innocent eyes, looked up at you with his lips locked around your breast fueled the fire you felt in your tummy, bringing you closer to the edge.

Your hips lose all sense of rhythm as you chase your orgasm, leaning your forehead against your boyfriend. “I’m gonna cum baby,” You tell him and he practically groans in relief at that.

After a couple of more bounces of your hips, you slam down against him, your orgasm crashing down against you. The feeling of your warm juices gushing around his length sent Yunho over the edge and he latched onto you, his forehead falling to your shoulder. He grunts deeply as his hips jerked up into you, painting your walls with his cum.

Your arms give out and you fall over him, head resting on his chest. Pants fill the room as the both of you lay there to catch your breaths. You turn your head to face him, chin tickling his clavicle, and offer him a tired smile.

“How are you..?” You say softly and card your hand through his damp hair.

“That,” he let out an amused huff. “That was pretty intense… but I enjoyed it. No wonder why some people have active sex lives…”

You snort at that, shaking your head at his little joke. You could feel his release trickle down your thigh when you lift yourself off of him, making you feel sticky down there. You stand with shaky legs and Yunho reaches out to help stabilize yourself.

“Care to join me in the shower?” You offer and hold your hand out to him.

He smiles at you. “Of course, sweetheart.”

[mastercherry]

ABO idea

So I had an idea for an ABO universe, a fic I would call The Delta Dynamic. Which is a big play on gender roles, more specifically 2nd Gender roles.

My original concept was created in regards to the Teen Wolf fandom, hashtag Sterek, but I think it would be a cool concept for any fandom and/or ship. If you like it and want to use it please please PLEASE tag me in it. Send me a link. SOMETHING. I want to see it!

Anyways, so there are the secondary genders we all know and love: alpha, beta, omega. And then we have the stereotypical aspects of each of these genders. Alphas- dominant, aggressive, possessive, etc. Omegas- soft, docile, sweet, etc. I imagine these secondary genders are treated a lot like your typical heteronormative gender roles.

Well, in The Delta Dynamic fic I would write, i have a main character, Person A, who is the or just a founding member of a faux dynamic group called, you guessed it, The Delta Dynamic. This is a group created with the premise of, "Your secondary gender might define WHAT you are, but it doesn't define WHO you are."

So Person A would make the perfect omega. Sweet scent, great home-maker, excellent with children, works as a teacher, not huge and bulky- kinda slender. Only one problem- they're an alpha.

Person B would be the opposite. They are fit af, thick and muscled, not the typical sweet omega scent, something cool and refreshing, has a rough and tough job that omegas don't usually have, is TERRIBLE with children, can't cook for shit, etc. And they are an omega.

So Person A recruits B into the Delta Dynamic group and they fall in love. Of course.

Other Deltas include but are not limited to- same second gender pairings, like alpha x alpha; an omega at the top of their field who didn't receive the appropriate acknowledgement just because they're an omega; a female alpha giving birth instead of her male omega partner; stuff like that.

They decided they didn't fit into the ABO dynamics so they created their own.

I've tagged some of my favorite ships so if you write something using this concept, hit me up. BLEASE

[sissytobitch10seconds]

The Gayest Shit We've Ever Done

Fandom: Stranger Things Summary: Living in Chicago means that they get to live different than they did in Hawkins, in the best way possible. Warnings: Mentions of period typical homophobia Word Count: 899 Ship(s): Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson & Nancy Wheeler, Eddie Munson/Steve Harrington

Archive link!

The whole thing had started when Nancy showed up to the shitty apartment that Steve shared with Robin and Eddie. Her face had been covered in tears as she admitted, "I think I'm aromantic, Steve." None of them had passed any judgment on her for that. After all, she was standing on the doorstep of the lesbian living with her bisexual best friend and his gay boyfriend. 

After that, things had begun to spiral to the point where they were in a dynamic unlike any that they had encountered before. It wasn't until Eddie's band actually hit it off and they were able to use the money from his first four albums that actually sold to move to Chicago that they figured out what they were. They had attended an event that Eddie had been invited to, and found out a lot about themselves. Every single person in that huge room had been accepting of what they were and a few of them had even bothered to teach the twenty-year-olds about the things they had missed living in conservative Hawkins.

Queerplatonic had been the one that stuck out to them the most.

The idea of being able to hold hands and cuddle with each other without the commitment of a romantic or sexual relationship had been wonderous for Nancy. For Robin, who had been having a bit of a sexuality crisis over her intense love for Steve and Eddie, was reassured that she could be a lesbian and still have something more than friendship with the two men. 

"Come here, big boy," Eddie called, reaching out blindly with one hand. He had Robin sitting in front of him as he carefully painted over her eye with the liquid eyeliner in his spare hand. She kept squinting and making little upset noises whenever he got too close to her actual eye. Steve was sitting beside Nancy as she got one lipstick out of her bag at a time, removing the top and holding it next to his face to see if it complimented him well enough.

"I'm busy, love," Steve replied. Nancy placed her hand underneath his chin to bring him closer and make him stop talking. Eddie responded to the dismissal of his request by grasping hold of his boyfriend's hand. He threaded their fingers together so that the other man couldn't escape despite what Eddie was still trying to do to their girlfriend's face.

Them calling each other 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' had started out as a joke because of how often Robin and Steve had gotten mistaken for a couple back when they lived in Hawkins. After their queerplatonic polycule formed, they leaned into the joke more because it was confusing watching the people that they were close to try and figure out who was together with who. They never explained it either, just said yes whenever someone asked if a certain duo was together.

Robin peaked one eye open and then made a face by scrunching her nose up. "Gross!"

"I can hold your hand in a second, Rob," Nancy said softly. As much as their girlfriend liked to object to physical affection they knew that she was the one that liked it the most. 

Nancy painted over their boyfriend's mouth until his lips were a lovely shade of black. It complimented the dark eyeshadow and eyeliner that was already in place around his eyes. His hair was undone from how he normally styled it back, most of it pushed back with gel with a few cute curls hanging down into his face. He was wearing a fishnet shirt and a pair of ripped black jeans. Nancy herself had dark red lipstick and the same kind of eye makeup as Steve, but she was wearing a short black skirt and a matching maroon crop top that barely covered her stomach. Robin was wearing a pair of black cargo pants that had several chains connecting the right pockets, and a black band shirt underneath a bomber jacket. She had foregone lipstick since she tended to eat it before the night was up. Eddie was dressed like normal, since this was his normal aesthetic. They were dressing up for him, after all.

When they had finished getting their partners ready, they all grabbed the things that they would need for the show tonight. When they finally left their apartment, Eddie grabbed Steve and Nancy's hand. Robin was on Steve's other side, despite the fact that they didn't all fit on the small sidewalks. 

"This is really gay," Eddie commented once they had gotten far away from any other pedestrians.

"I hate to break it to you, but we're really gay, love," Nancy smiled. She loved getting to call them pet names, and used them as often as possible.

Robin gasped, "Oh no, I just realized that there's four ways for us to be straight and only two ways for us to be gay!"

"I think the fact that Steve and Eddie are holding hands and makeout in the back of concert halls often kind of deters that," Nancy laughed. She was so much happier now that she was with them, getting the kind of affection that she had longed for with Jonathan. She still cared for her ex-boyfriend, but she couldn't love him the way that he needed to be loved. This was the kind of love she needed.

[spock-smokes-weed]

Can you recommend me some comics where Bruce is a good dad to the Robins specifically. Reading fanfics and seeing I suppose really bad takes on the character led me to think that Bruce is like this super abusive dad, since fandom and some fanfics I’ve read generally like to paint him as that.

Yea of course!!! Bruce is my favorite character so I’m more than happy to give out some recommendations.

This might be a little hard to follow since I’ll be talking in a lot of abstracts so bare with me.

The best place to find really good Batfam content is in the 90s/00s era of the Batman comics. The 80s as well if you wanna go back that far. Bruce has always been written as a good dad in the earlier comics, but this era is the easiest to pick up in my opinion.

If you’re willing to spend a little cash, the easiest way to sift through this era and find something to read is to get the DC Infinite app. It had everything that DC had ever published in a super organized catalog and it’s how I was able to read so much.

Now for more specific storylines.

Batman: Gotham Knights (2000)

I love this run so much!!! It’s so good just SO GOOD!!!! It’s an anthology series so it’s a lot of one off stories, but it’s all about the Batfamily and it’s some of the best writing for Bruce I’ve read!!! It had a big focus on Batman and Nightwing’s relationship, but his relationship with Robin, Batgirl, and Oracle also get their time to shine.

Batman: Legacy

It’s a Batman, Robin, and Nightwing team up book and their dynamic is just super fun to see their banter and how they all play off each other. I haven’t read it in a while but the three of them really feel like a family and it’s cute!!!

Batman: Bruce Wayne Murder?/Fugitive

So even though Bruce isn’t exactly acting like himself in this story and for a lot of the early parts of it he’s actually acting like a huge dick, but this story is super Batfam focused and it really shows you how good Bruce is. This is one of my favorite Batman stories and it shows you all sides of Bruce; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think if you don’t understand Bruce super well this is a great story to read. You’ll also see how much the Batfam cares about him and what they think of him.

Batman: Face to Face

It’s a Batman and Robin story mainly focused on Tim and Bruce’s relationship and it’s *muah* so good!!! It’s very murder mystery and it’s the story where Tim gets officially adopted by Bruce. I would also say look into the Robin comics specifically when Tim gets his red and black costume because those comics put a lot of focus on Bruce and Tim’s relationship and Bruce is written as great dad in them!!!

52 Batman and Robin

This series is all about Bruce and Damian’s relationship and them trying to come to understand each other and it’s so good!!!! I typically hate the n52 but this series feels connected to the old timeline in the way other books didn’t. The art is super good and Damian is baby!!!

Rebirth Detective Comics

Another pretty decent thing to come out of the Reboots and the heart of the story is Bruce and Tim’s father/son relationship and Bruce dealing with the grief of Tim’s death.

I hope this was helpful!!!



[coal15]

Why Buddie *isn’t* Destiel:

Let’s start with the stuff working against Buddie. Then move on to the things I believe give Buddie a much better shot at becoming canon than Destiel ever did. It’s a tad bit long:

So. Yes. The two ships do have a a lot in common. And yes, Buddie is a longshot for a lot of the same reasons Destiel was. 

Bi men aren’t really a thing on tv (especially not NETWORK tv), Dean and Buck were both introduced as huuuuuuuuuge fans of banging women with never a single unambiguous mention of them ever having dated or even being attracted to men. Only little wink/nudge moments played off as humor (”so does this boy-crush on Eddie mean . . .”) , or the characters giving each other “heart eyes,” a thing which can easily seen as a silent expression of deep fondness/admiration/trust/platonic love, whatever. None of the characters “seem bisexual” ie, they don’t conform to your typical network tv depictions or stereotypes of non-straight men. 

They all have “masculine” jobs (as opposed to something either soft and mellow, or flamboyant and performative). The real “guy guy” type characters are generally meant to be seen as 1000% straight. This applies less to Cas than the other 3 men as he’s technically not human, but he does present as male, and even though he did end the series with a big ‘I love you’ moment to Dean, the line didn’t address how he loved Dean. And since Cas didn’t say ‘I’m in love with you,’ nor did Dean say it back, as far as series canon goes Destiel was never explicitly Romantic Love. You could interpret it that way extremely easily, but it was never overt series canon. 

They’re both hugely popular non-canon fandom ships (and in buddie’s case, growing in fandom popularity every day).

The creators and cast have made comments acknowledging said popularity  with vague comments like “it’s a really special dynamic,” “we’re glad the audience can interpret blahblahblah,” “the fanart is soooooo great,” or “we love the enthusiasm.” That kind of wishy washy shit. Sure, some of the actors will make overtly pro-ship comments, but they always (and for good reason) clarify that the writers/producers haven’t told them anything either way.

OKAY. SO. On to what makes Buddie different from Destiel. (and why I’m optimistic)

Number one is timing. As in: how many years have we had with a character being played a certain way? By the time Cas appeared in SPN, they were 4 seasons in, and Dean had been portrayed as the typical “boobies, boobies, all the boobies; I will immediately hit on any and all hot women,” etc. Yes, Buck began 911 as basically that exact same guy--but ‘that guy’ only lasted a single season. Eddie shows up at the top of S2, so we haven’t already had multiple previous seasons of “Ladie’s Man” Buck. And that makes it easier to bend and adapt his character--or to reveal major character traits not previously mentioned.

Two: Cas was introduced in a way that didn’t evoke anything romantic or sexual at all. He was there on a mission from GOD. Utterly asexual insofar as his interactions with Dean (despite the insane sexual chemistry going on, in the show’s ‘maintext’ nothing about Cas’s character had anything to do with sex or romance) Meanwhile, when Eddie showed up on 911 literally the first thing said about him was Chim’s line “Now that is a beautiful man,” a comment followed by “Whatta Man” playing while Eddie put on his shirt. In slow motion. While Buck kinda . . . stared? So in stark contrast to Cas’s first moments on SPN, Eddie’s 911 intro was. . . . well, let’s see . . . the soundtrack is a blatantly sexual song . . . slo-mo shirtlessness . . . Chim’s “beautiful man” comment . . . all of those things present Eddie in an overtly sexual context right away.

Three: With Destiel, despite their intense screen chemistry, Cas and Dean took the better part of a season to really really bond. Whereas Buddie were joined-at-the-hip besties by the end of Eddie’s 1st episode--when less than 30 episodes of the series had aired. Yes, the sexual chemistry between Cas and Dean may have been palpable from minute one, but the emotional bond between Buck and Eddie happened almost right away. Much faster than with Destiel. And they became involved in one another’s personal lives a lot faster, too. 

Four: On 911 neither Buck nor Eddie ever vanish for many episodes at a time, whereas Cas’s character on SPN dipped in and out. He might be there for several episodes in a row . . . or he might only show up a few times in whole season. So by default Buck and Eddie have more screentime together to continue fleshing out that bond. Establishing the Buckley-Diaz family. 

Five: On SPN, introducing long term love interests for either brother would have busted up the central dynamic driving the show. Much as I used to love Destiel, for five entire seasons Sam and Dean were the central, laser-focused relationship in the show. Sure it may have been a co-dependent and often unhealthy bond, but it was the foundation on which the entire series was built. That’s a really tough dynamic to wedge a love interest into without upsetting the whole balance of the show. Cut to 911: no single character or relationship is the “laser focus” of the whole series. Every character in the ensemble has their own storyline. And thus far, no two characters are toxically codependent on one another. They’re all fleshed out as independent entities. 

Six: (related to point five) If either of the actors playing Buck or Eddie landed a huge movie roll, or asked to be written out for personal reasons, or fucked up so bad they had to be fired? It wouldn’t torch the entire show. Bobby, Athena, Hen, Maddie (even Buck or Eddie if only one of them was written out) . . . the show would go on without Buddie. Or without any one character. Whereas if either Jensen or Jared had decided to quit SPN at any point? Well shit, there goes the show! Finished. Donezo. 

In conclusion: with 911 not being totally dependent on any one character dynamic for the show’s survival, it puts them in a far better position to gamble, ratings-wise, on something that might not be a hit with the general audience. (I know it sucks, but 'popular on social media’ doesn’t automatically translate to ‘popular with casual viewers’). If 911 did take that leap with Buck and Eddie and it flopped? The Buckley-Diaz family moves to an island paradise somewhere and the show moves on with their strong (and also popular) remaining ensemble cast. For the average casual viewer, nothing in 911 would blow up beyond repair without Buddie. 

So I feel like our ship has a much better shot of becoming canon. There is good reason to be optimistic. Especially if the ship’s fanbase continues to grow, and grow, and grow, and we remain visible and vocal. 

[icannotreadcursive]

Sometimes, people have different--very different--sets of headcanons and sets of ships etc for a given piece of media and cast of characters because they have basically different understandings of who those characters are.

A lot of times, that’s just because every fan as their own unique life experience to apply when engaging with and interpreting a work, so they see different things reflected back.

But when it comes to what I call Legacy Characters--characters that have had their story told and retold, adapted and readapted, reinvested and reset time and again; such as comic book characters--a huge part of who a fan understands a character to be is determined by what versions of that character they’re familiar with, what aspects of different versions have coalesced in their brain to form their sense of that character in general.  Usually, the biggest influence there is which version of a character that fan encountered first.

I see both knock-down drag-out fights and casual disrespectful disparaging comments within some fandoms--especially big comics fandoms like Marvel--that on the surface of them are more of the typical dumb “my interpretation is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is wrong and Doesn’t Understand The Media” stuff, but that I am SO SURE mostly boils down to this issue of having very different but all equally legitimate senses of the characters from having familiarity with different appearances of the character, or in a different order.

For instance--using what I find to be the most glaring case as an example--the Marvel shipping wars amongst Steve/Bucky, Steve/Tony, Sam/Steve, Bucky/Natasha, and (increasingly) Sam/Bucky shippers.  Sometimes the Pepper/Tony, Pepper/Natasha, and Bruce/Tony shippers join the fray.

These conflicts get so nasty. ��Even a lot of the more chill shippers, when prompted, have very ugly things to say about ships other than their own and the people who support them.  Allegations of racism, misogyny, fetishization, and general toxicity run rampant and are often talked about as though they are the only possible reasons someone could ever have for shipping or not shipping a given pair.

I want to make it clear that I personally do ship or have shipped several of the above, including ones that mutually exclude each other.  There’s a few I’m neutral on up there, and one that kinda squicks me--we’ll get to that later.

Every single one of them is a perfectly good ship.  None of them are inherently fucked up in any way and I will not hear any argument to the contrary.  

Do some supporters of these ships get overzealous and obnoxious?  Yes, that’s kinda why we’re talking about it, but that’s not a problem with any of the ships themselves.

I’ve noticed some patterns around people being into particular ones of these ships and their personal histories with various Marvel media.

Steve/Tony: mostly comics fans at this point, either were into the comics before the MCU became a thing or the early days of the MCU got them into the comics and they’re now more into the comics than the films.  Because there’s a LOT of material in the comics to support the ship!  There’s so much!  Including the fact that in one comics reality where Tony is a woman, she and Steve get married!  

Now, there was a ton of this’ere Stony fic that got churned out in the early days of the MCU, a lot of it from fans getting into this world for the first time through the phase 1 movies, at which point other potential partners for these guys either hadn’t been introduced as characters yet, or hadn’t been fleshed out.  A lot of film-main (as opposed to comics-main) Stony shippers moved away from the pairing as the MCU continued, Bucky became the counterpoint of Steve’s Character arc, Sam got brought in, Pepper and Bruce each got more screen time, and the dynamic between Steve and Tony in the films got increasingly adversarial in a way that’s less sexy more fucked up.

The battle cry against Stony from other factions, especially from the Steve/Bucky camp is usually “but they’re so toxic!” and, I mean, yeah--if your sense of these characters is primarily based on how they are in the MCU, they are.  But in my experience, even if they’re working MCU events and settings, the Steve and Tony being imagined by Stony shippers aren’t really that Steve and Tony.

Steve/Bucky: look, Stucky is an MCU thing.  Articles have been written and published about the fact that the dynamic between Steve and Bucky in the MCU follows the beats of an epic romance to a T.  The basis for this ship is all there on screen--throw in a little bit of history nerd mojo and you’re in deep.

By my observation and estimation, most new or formerly-very-casual Marvel fans who came in via the films and remained film-mains, and who are inclined to not-strictly-heteronormative shipping at all went the Stucky route.  Folks who initially shipped Stony then switched to Stucky are pretty common.  People starting with Stucky and then switching to any other ship with Steve to the exclusion of Stucky? Very rare.  And while for a lot of people Stucky is their OTP in the strictest sense, I do see a lot of Stucky shippers who are here for other ships as well, either in an alternate realities kinda way or an amicable exes/polyamory kinda way.

The only people I’ve seen who have a problem with Stucky as a ship (other than “my ship is a different ship, therefore this one is bad and wrong”) are comics-mains whose sense of Steve and Bucky is heavily informed by runs of the comics in which Bucky is significantly younger than Steve and kid sidekick type figure.  For them, the dynamic between the general forms of these characters leans mentor/student or protector/charge, so the inclination is to read the MCU relationship as fraternal, because it being romantic is squicky based on their sense of the characters.

Sam/Steve: comics-mains, film-mains with significant comics familiarity, film-mains who just aren’t into Stucky for one reason or another, or film-mains who are just really into Anthony Mackey which is a perfectly valid reason to get behind a ship.  People who know Falcon from the comics seem much more likely to be into this ship and also more invested in this ship.  I’m not qualified to say much about support for this ship from the comics themselves because my personal familiarity with Marvel comics doesn’t include much of Sam Wilson at all, but I am absolutely qualified to say there’s support from the films, especially CA:WS.

The worst vitriol against this ship tends to come from overzealous Stucky OTP shippers who really need to remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, and flat out racists.  That must be acknowledged and needs to be addressed.  Fandom racism in general, and against Sam in particular is a thing and it can absolutely be a factor in shipping.  

However it’s not inherently racist to just not ship Sam/Steve because you see them as bros, or because Stucky is your OTP, or because you ship Sam with someone else, or whatever.  Worthwhile to take a minute to examine why you don’t ship it, if you don’t, and check that for racial bias in how you view and treat Sam as a character, especially if you’re white.

Sam/Steve and Stucky are the two ships I see coexist the most!  A lot of people ship both of them separately and exclusive from one another, but a lot of people also go ether the OT3 or the “Steve and Sam were definitely a thing for while there but now they’re not” route.

Bucky/Natasha: comics-mains or film-mains with significant comics familiarity, particularly for the comics worlds in which Bucky and Natasha are a couple, which seems self explanatory as to why that correlates.  Not a lot for it in the films, Nat and Buck don’t interact much in the films that we see, and they’re kinda trying to kill each other in much of what we do see.  But, like I said, they’re a thing in some of the comics so there we have that.

This is the one that squicks me.  Clearly it’s a super valid ship; depending on the canon it’s a canon ship.  Frankly, they make sense together, canon or not--their individual backgrounds as spysassins and with brainwashing etc means they’d be able to understand one another in ways no one else around them really can.  But my personal amalgamation of these characters from the films and what comics I’m familiar with has Bucky having been Natasha’s teacher when she was a kid in Red Room.  So I cannot ship it, I can’t do it.  

The fact that I personally am squeaked by it has absolutely no impact on the fact that it’s a good ship, and the fact that it’s a good ship cannot and does not negate the fact that it squicks me.

Bucky/Sam: okay, there’s not a lot of this out there yet, but what there is seems to mostly be coming from film-mains who either don’t ship or co-ship Stucky and/or Sam/Steve, and who really liked the dynamic between these two in Civil War, and I guarantee you we’re about to get so much more of this ship with Falcon and Winter Soldier premiering.  I’ve already seen some hate directed at this ship from the same places Sam/Steve gets hate.  I predict, though, that this one will also get co-shipped alongside Stucky by the less strictly OTP of those shippers and I’m curious to see what the dynamic ends up being between Bucky/Sam shippers and Sam/Steve shippers as this camp grows.

In conclusion, I guess, note that not shipping a ship doesn’t have to mean attacking that ship (and it shouldn’tI) and not liking a ship, even being deeply uncomfortable with a ship for your own reasons doesn’t mean that ship is bad.  We’ve all got our own individual sets of experiences both in life and with the characters in our fandoms that can dramatically change how we see those characters and their relationships to one another.  This gets especially complicated and diverse with Legacy Characters like those from sprawling long-running comics multiverses.  Someone’s understanding and interpretation being different from yours does not make either of you wrong!

As long as no one is an asshole about it it, it’s actually really interesting and cool to compare interpretations and see how your understandings overlap and differ, to think about what bits of canon have been formative for you and what personal experience may have made you inclined to interpret certain things certain ways.

Fandom is supposed to be fun.  Shipping is supposed to be fun.  You can and should hype up and express love for your own ships without tearing down others.

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Today in Strongly Worded Opinions (That You Didn't Ask For), I'm going to assert that there are too objective ways to measure whether or not a relationship is strong in story terms – by which I mean, unrelated to whether or not readers/viewers personally like the dynamic or the chemistry of the actors (in such cases as there are actors involved).

So for the sake of clarity, be ye advised: this isn't about shipping, fuck it, ship whatever you want idc.  Shipping a strong relationship isn't inherently better than shipping a weak one – heck, you could just as easily argue that it's the lazier, less creative route.  Also, I don't care?  I don't care, it's just fandom.  Follow your arrow.  This is about ways to discuss whether or not a relationship introduced into a text succeeds or fails as an element of the story – or really as I'm going to prefer calling it, if a given relationship forms a strong or weak story element.

For this I'm presuming that you're creating a relationship between a protagonist and a secondary character introduced as a piece of the protagonist's overall story – protagonist/protagonist relationships aren't really a different situation, but they do have more moving parts, so for simplicity's sake, let's   stick with a Main Character (we'll call that M) and a Significant Other (S for short).  Also, these relationships by no means have to be romantic; any relationship can be measured as weak or strong in story terms.

Also, I'm going to say everything here as though it were factually true, even though it's just my opinion, which is correct, but if you disagree then it's only my opinion, but I am correct.  Ready?  Okay!

Strong relationships have story functions; in reality nothing means anything and people just like each other because they do, but fuck reality, it's a huge narrative mess.  And my basic premise here is that the story function of a strong relationship falls under one (or more, if you wanna get real fancy) of these three categories:

The relationship can unlock under-explored elements of M's story or character through mirroring or intimacy (often shows up as “friends to lovers”).  There is backstory that hasn't been unearthed yet, or some reaction or experience in M's life that could advance the story, and S can serve as a means to get at it.  Maybe M and S share a similar trauma or life story; maybe S is the first person M feels able to open up to about something profound and relevant.  Maybe part of M's story is a conflict between how they seem to others and how they see themselves or their own potential; maybe S is the person who sees them the way they see themselves...or sees M as the person they're afraid they'll never be.  The story goal being met here is giving M a boost toward successful completion of their story arc, so even though there could be conflict, S is fundamentally pulling on the same side as M in the major story conflicts, in such a way that by the end, the reader should feel like M's success is at least in part because of what they gain from their relationship with S.

The relationship can function as a piece of the story's overall conflict, or as a secondary subplot conflict (often shows up as “enemies to lovers”). Traditional romance novel plotting effectively slots the love interest into the role of “antagonist,” because the romance's conflict is generally driven by people not getting what they want from each other until certain win conditions are met.  In this kind of relationship, M and S might be actual-facts competitors, or be divided by ideological concerns, or they might be forced into proximity by the plot but clash on some personality level.  The arc of this relationship is typically going to be about the M softening up as the relationship develops – if M starts out ruthlessly single-minded, maybe realizing that they're running roughshod over S in the process is part of their character breakthrough; if the story is about M realizing that they've underestimated the complexity of the world around them, maybe coming to recognize S as an equal is how that gets concretized for the reader.  Basically this is a story where S presents a problem that M has to solve, and the more central to the narrative solving that problem is, the stronger the relationship is.

The relationship can serve to divide M's goals (often shows up as “love versus duty”).  This is a story where M has to accomplish two separate things in order to fulfill their arc, but those two things aren't easily integrated. One of M's goals might be fulfilling a vow, or filial duty, or seeking revenge, and the other goal is some form of protecting or obtaining S.  If the story puts M in a position of having to choose, then the relationship is inherently strong; it's providing narrative drive, whether or not S is especially well-developed as an individual character.  This one can be tricky, because a very weak relationship can serve a superficially similar purpose, by demonstrating M's devotion to duty or obsessive pursuit of whatever when M rebuffs S to keep them out of harm's way or to avoid distraction or whatever. The difference is that in those superficial cases, the audience is meant to recognize that aw, that's sad, M has really had to Make Sacrifices – but there's really no dramatic tension involved; we know all along that M is going to Make Sacrifices in purusit of the real goal.  When this is done seriously with a strong relationship, the audience is meant to feel divided as well; Romeo and Juliet just doesn't work as a story unless the audience likes Juliet and Mercutio, unless they fully identify with the dilemma that Romeo is in when he has to either avenge Mercutio's death or spare Tybalt for Juliet's sake and the sake of their future together. That's a big fucking story moment, and it only works because the audience buys both relationships – Romeo's with Mercutio and with Juliet – as narratively strong, to the point where Romeo's choice is not a forgone conclusion.  This one is much easier to get wrong, I think, than the other two are!

What I'm saying here is that a strong relationship isn't really determined by how personally compatible two characters seem to be; a lot of movies that fridge a character's wife, for example, rely on actors convincingly portraying, in a brief window of time, two compatible people who care for each other – I'm thinking of, like, Richard Kimble and his wife in The Fugitive, who I think do sell the idea of a loving and happy marriage, but the relationship itself is a weak one.  The story only really needs the bare fact of it – “Kimble had a wife that he loved and then this happened” – to kick off the actual story; the relationship between Kimble and Gerard is a stronger one narratively, because much of the emotional tension of the movie, what makes it more effective than just a series of chase scenes, is the way their mutual respect evolves as they compete against each other, and the story question of “Kimble really needs an ally, is this the right person for him to trust?”  It's such a strong relationship that it comes as a huge relief of tension when he does make that gesture of trust and it turns out to be the right choice.  The audience is happy that Kimble will be exonerated, but the audience is equally happy that the conflict between these two charcters is over – we didn't like them being at odds because we didn't want either of them to lose!  Now, would these two people ever be close friends, let alone come to love each other?  No? Yes? Who cares?  Kimble loves his wife more, but has a stronger relationship in this story with Gerard. From a writing perspective, it's trivially easy to introduce an S and say “M loves this person,” but it means relatively little.  It's harder to introduce an S and say “some part of this story now hinges on how M navigates knowing this person,” but that's kind of what has to happen in order to create a payoff that's worth the effort.  A strong relationship provides skeletal structure for the story; it can't be stitched on at the margins.

This is an even tougher sell in something like a television series, where the introduction of S may come in well after the story is underway and the bulk of M's characterization is already in place.  That's why introducing a late-season love interest is a notoriously dodgy proposition!  To demonstrate weak vs strong relationship in action, I'm going to take an example of what I think was a failed attempt and pitch some ways to doctor it up into a strong relationship: Sam Winchester and Eileen Leahy.

This is objectively a weak relationship.  She doesn't materially affect the metaplot of the series, or drive any major choices, or reveal anything about Sam's character.  She's just, you know, generally nice and attractive and Sam likes her, which is a fine start, but then the writers just leave her idling in the garage forever.  But it didn't have to be that way! Say we wanted to make it a Type 1 relationship: super easy, barely an inconvenience!  Eileen is very like Sam, actually, in that she lost her parents as an infant and then had the entire rest of her life shaped by the trauma and the pursuit of revenge.  That's amazing.  How many other people, even hunters, share that specific experience with Sam Winchester?  Sam was physically changed by drinking demon blood in infancy; Eileen was physically changed by being deafened by the banshee or whatever it was in infancy.  Even just allowing them to talk about that would have made the relationship stronger.  Sam is affected by the fact that there is no Before Time for him; even now that they've long since had their revenge on ol' Yellow Eyes himself, he grapples with the fact that he's forever robbed of any memories of innocence or safety or a life that wasn't lived in the shadow of this killing.  Eileen also has had her life's quest for revenge fulfilled, and also has to reckon with the fact that it doesn't actually give her access to the innocence that was stolen from her.  Maybe she struggles with that.  Maybe Sam can open up to her because she knows what it's like to look back on your child self and feel that however strong you've made yourself, you're never strong enough to protect that child.

What if you want to write something spicier than Sam and Eileen talking about their sad feelings?  Okay, let's take a Type 2 story.  Eileen has been a lone hunter with a disability all her life; it's fair to guess that even if she can't match Sam's physical strength, the fact that she's survived at all means that she's pretty indomitable.  Maybe she's had to be ruthless, even brutal in her hunting style; maybe she has a shoot-first-ask-questions-never approach to hunting that she credits with her very survival, but that Sam finds excessively rash and bloody.  Maybe they fight about it.  Have her kill some ambiguous, maybe-not-dangerous monstery types, a werewolf or something, and Sam's like, hey, we really can't just-- and Eileen is like, look, I hunt how I hunt, come with me or don't.  I mean, this is a retread in some ways of early season conflicts about who to kill and when, but everything in the latter seasons is a retread anyway, so whatever, and it provides something interesting to have Sam deal with this whiplash of how there seem to be two Eileens, the smiley, jocular sweetheart who eats pancakes with him and the one who kills like she's swatting flies.  What if he wants one but not the other?  It doesn't really work that way, does it?  Is this something he can dismiss as a foible, or is this a dealbreaker? The dude is almost forty, if he distances himself from Eileen, how many more hunters does he think he has a chance to meet and marry?  If she won't even listen to his concerns seriously, is it really a good relationship anyway, or will Sam's needs always end up taking a backseat to Eileen's?

A Type 3 fix could just come down quite plainly to, what if Eileen is ready to retire?  She's had her revenge.  She's lived her life on the hunt.  Maybe she's done, and maybe she wants Sam to be done with her.  Doing this in season 15 would circle Sam back to his season 1 story conflicts in a nice way, I think – why does Sam do this at all, if it's not for revenge any longer?  Does he feel personally responsible for every dead person he could've saved but didn't – is that a reasonable boundary, or lack thereof, to set?  Is a compromise possible – could he continue to coordinate hunts while also getting out of the field and starting a family, or is that still putting his family in the shadow of too much violence and danger to tolerate?  What's Dean going to say?  He's pitched a fit in the past when Sam said he wanted out, but he's mellowed with age, hasn't he?  Maybe he'll get it now?  But maybe Sam also feels guilty and fearful, because he knows Dean will hunt without him, so now he's in more danger because of Sam's choices, if Sam makes this choice.  It's a little heteronormative, as story conflicts go, but it's thematically appropriate to Supernatural, and the fact that Eileen isn't speaking out of timidity but out of the same weariness that Sam has so often felt about the whole endless cycle makes it feel a little less “the little lady won't let me go on adventures anymore.”  This might not be my pick of the three, but the point is that it makes for a strong conflict, a legitimate divided loyalty for Sam to wrestle with, and one that doesn't have a clear right answer.

Anyway, hopefully that helps illustrate what I mean when I say that the narrative strength of a relationship doesn't have anything to do with how likeable an S character is – Eileen is very likeable! But that doesn't substitute for building her into the fabric of the story in some way.  My expectation is that a serious protagonist relationship should bend the story arc in a way that requires response, and if it doesn't, I don't take that relationship particularly seriously.  Canon can declare a relationship real by fiat, but it can't automatically declare a relationship meaningful without, you know, making meaning of it.

Oh, and there's not anything really wrong with weak relationships – most M's are going to have several in the story.  My point is just that the difference between a weak relationship and a strong one isn't really a matter of taste or preference, but has a functional meaning that can be tested and measured, and if there's argument to be had about it, the argument can take place on evidentiary grounds.  Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[thattimdrakeguy]

I couldn’t finish Batman and Robin 2009. It was just... mentally exhausting and I stopped shortly after Bat Dick put fake Bruce in the Lazarus pit. Based on his appearances in Teen Titans, Bruce Wayne: Road Home, as well as his big fan base, I assumed Damian’s character development was executed nicely in his own series. But then again in Gates of Gotham (literally read it just for Cass) he’s impulsive, arrogant and rude to Cass both to her face and behind her back-even after she saved his life 1

Don’t get me started on the sexist things he’s said to Steph. I want to like Damian, but writers don’t make it easy. I got into comics because of batfam fanfics and he was a fave of mine. Dude was extra violent and displayed borderline sociopathic tendencies in his first appearances, cool beans. There’s a lot they can do with a character like that. I just felt like his bad behaviour was never properly dealt with before B&R, and I couldn’t muster the energy to see him through his own series. 2/2

IMO, Damian felt like a Gary Stu at times.

I don’t know if that last one was from the same person or not, but I just got the feeling it is, and if it’s not, then well it blends well enough and don’t feel the need to answer it separately.

Like all I can really say is that I don’t really like Damian. A lot of people confuse that for me thinking he’s an evil monster. I imagine cause I have a Tim icon and other Tims do rage on about that every now and again. As well as just plain taking things I say the wrong way (though I have probably said things in the moment I imagine). But I just plain don’t really like his writing, and if I can’t really read a comic he’s in that I actually like. Idk, I just find it weird to say I like him, when all I really like is what he could be. I don’t feel like that really equals me liking him, cause when I think about it, I kinda realized that meant the opposite, and didn’t wanna project the wrong idea.

But I wanna say this about Damian. He is insanely inconsistent as a personality and character. To this very day. So, as I do with every character, I start from the beginning, figure out what was meant to be by the writers that helped develop them, and figure out what’s in-character and out of character from there. I just feel like it’s the most objective way I can look at anything if I want to review things with standards that are more than just “I like this” or “I don’t like that”.

And in the case of Damian he’s never not been inconsistent. Like one of the main reasons I reread Batman and Robin (or at least Morrison’s run) was for plans of a post about flanderization in the Bat-Family, cause it was pretty rampant in the 00s and still continues often to this very day, and I think is the cause of a lot of lost sales and unhappiness and overall fandom diminishment.

However also to say it, I liked to see a lot of what Damian could be within B&R 09.

But anyways, basically just because I can’t really do a part of the post on Damian without trying to figure out what he was like to begin with, and what he was supposed to be per his creator.

Cause you can’t really tell in fandom. Cause his most popular comics are from stuff that isn’t in the main universe and was purposely a lot lighter, or in the main universe from writers that really surprisingly didn’t get the character despite the popularity--which continues my thinking on it was less about the quality of the writing and more about the lazy fan service. They honestly really flanderized him in a similar yet opposite way then what they did with Tim in the 00s.

And while I can’t act like the sexism and homophobia wasn’t an actual part of the character of Damian at the time--he shows both of those traits in the series (at least the homophobia, cause I’m now realizing that I might be thinking of another series for the sexism). He was flanderized even then by other writers from the different series.

Like how he’s written in Red Robin, is not freaking Damian. It’s not Damian to me. I don’t accept it as Damian. Even a lot of the content of him in Batgirl I even less feel like is Damian--besides unfortunately some of the sexist comments, but they never really proper developed him on that as far as like--actively showing that, at least that I can recall. So all I can really say is it’s uncomfortable, and how they don’t delve into it is the only real reason I say “That actually sadly does fit in with him”. But it’s not like it doesn’t make sense, he was raised to fight, not to handle emotions or feelings, he probably would do and say really creepy things when he has a crush--I just wish they’d actually acknowledge that what was going on rather than sacrificing a good story for more fan service.

The other writers make him too much of a bratty, snotty, kid. And I found that, that is an absolutely terrible interpretation of Damian, because beyond his origin, he isn’t a typical brat, and he doesn’t really act like a kid (in some ways yes, but general mannerisms and personality no). And even then he was a different kind of brat. He was entitled and bitchy in his origin, not immature (at least in the same way) and snotty. They have him act more like some spoiled brat from next door rather than a kid that was abused into being obedient to be what his abusive mother wanted (Talia shouldn’t be abusive, but like I said before, I think the series sucked overall for reasons like that and more).

(I also find that stupid line cutting scene in RR where I presume he was trying to kill Tim to be even stupider, cause Damian wouldn’t freaking do that at that point. They make Damian come off as so stupid in that issue, I hate it. Cause it was all just a cheap way to force sympathy for him, but it doesn’t even make sense when you think about it and is a huge stretch.)

Damian doesn’t make jokes when he’s written better--it’s like his thing. He’s got quite the temper, and understandably why of course. He’s violent with criminals, but he’s also mostly just stoic as his base state when not in a stressed situation, and even shows remorse (which is a big stretch from his origin, but I blame that on the writing which could be very rushed and lazy). He was treated like just another adult for the most part, and it had a weirdly endearing quality despite the maturity of it, and general edge of the series. It was Damian’s place and it worked really well. It just felt right for their dynamics. Damian’s a unique kid, and they respected him for who he was. He just needed help on his morals and stability.

But other series didn’t really get that. He would still be really rude like his origin, and not really the same tone of rudeness (I’m not sure if I can really explain what I mean by that), he’s aggressive, but putting him in Teen Titans never made sense to me, because I don’t see Dick doing that. Dick had a lot more respect than to force Damian to do something like that. Dick was more patient, and while he did lightly smack (not any kind to hurt him any. literally to demonstrate without pain. more taps really) him to teach him a point about aesthetical weaknesses in his costume like the hood, it was mostly done out of finding a way to teach him that would speak to him. So just forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do--which would clearly not work on him--was just contrived and plain bad writing wise. Something they did more as a stunt so they can say “TITANS NOW HAS THE SON OF BATMAN” than to use him well or continue his story in a natural way.

With Cass I can’t say anything, because that’s like the one time he talks to her, and that basically shows their dynamic. So that’s just them, I can’t really say anything on it. If he felt challenged by her I could see him being a total jerk. It really depends on the scenes themselves. I never read the series myself cause I genuinely really don’t like that Batman Reborn era of Bat-Family. Too much of it was just done for publicity and random changes, and for the most part didn’t work much to me.

But overall, at the same time, despite me singing the praises of what Damian could be, and was for a little while. The overall writing for the character arc was super lazy. Stuff just kind of happens, and way too quick to fit in with what they introduced. He just kind of goes “this is right, now”, which makes his whole brainwashing thing feel a bit--useless, and makes how he went from chopping heads off to that in very little time sort of cuts out depth that could’ve really made the series more rereadable. Damian actually comes off surprisingly as a very flat character for stretches of time in the issues because his character arc is never focused on as much as you’d think until they need to be like “Oh yeah...uh, here’s an emotional moment”. Which just felt really cheap to me.

So the series to me isn’t worth it if you want a good story. None of the stories were good to me, I think I was questioning each one cause it was either schlocky, out of character, or both. I know people like Grant Morrison, but they aren’t for me, I’m not a fan of their writing. Damian was a Gary Stu a lot, which they try to explain with the League thing--but having the League give him experimental surgery so he could walk the same day (or next) after being legitimately paralyzed was just way too freaking much to me. But he does make mistakes, so he’s not at base a Gary Stu really--the writing just really stunk badly sometimes.

This isn’t me putting in a bid to say “OH YOU JUST NEED TO READ THIS, AND YOU’LL FREAKING LOVE HIM”, because to be freaking honest, when you already have a bad taste in your mouth, it’s best to just wait a bit till trying again. I read the fandom recommended comics and felt there was so many problems that I couldn’t read Damian for literal months. And he still has a lot of the problems you said. I’m just saying Damian is surprisingly different when written by his creator than others, cause honestly nearly every single other writer for him has gotten him wrong. Like mind-blowingly wrong. He does not feel like the same character anywhere else. It’s nuts.

To put it another way, it’s a generally speaking bad series, but if you want to see what Damian was meant to be like before they kept regressing him, and diminishing him, and turning him into more a joke, and see what his dynamic with Dick and Alfred was meant to be like, it’s a brilliant and perfect series to read it for.

It’s better for learning about them--then it actually is to enjoy it. Because it’s most likely not a series I’m going to be returning too often unless to research something again.