#DM or reply if you want one!

[beetledrink]

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN 🎃 🪓

GET YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF FOR A DISCOUNTED $20 BEFORE HALLOWEEN ‼️

[ducktracy]

time for another “THANK YOU I LOVE YOU” message: THANK YOU I LOVE YOU!!! i’ve been struggling with some severe burnout in all facets of my life as a result of being too stubborn and prideful to recognize said burnout and so i’ve had a hard few weeks with just that + tumultuous personal life stuff + blah blah blah, and wanted to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! i’m giving a little rest from reviews and art (moreso the former) since i was really forcing myself to make ends meet and turning it into a chore and so i’m just kind of forcing myself to stop and rest and be a person. which is excruciatingly hard for a GO GO GO person like me so i just wanted to say thank you for your patience and understanding with that! and thank you for your support!!! i haven’t had the emotional bandwidth to answer asks or DMs lately but i promise i see them and am seriously grateful for everyone who has sent one in, i really want to share the love and get back on my feet and be more active and open and talkative since I LOVE INTERACTING WITH YOU GUYS!! so i just wanted to say thank you for your patience and support in spite of all that. i’m usually my worst enemy in terms of putting the most pressure under myself and buckling under it as a result, i know realistically nobody is sharpening their harpoon gun because i didn’t touch a review for a week. but i wanted to put out a message as a bit of peace of mind regardless 🙏 thank you for your support in any capacity and know that i am extremely grateful for it beyond words!

[stealingyourbones]

Bruce isn't the best parent, but a chunk of the issue is that he's an only child. Should he stop Jason and Dick from throwing Damian back and forth like a human ball? Is Tim threatening to bite Cass an issue? Are those death threats serious or not? The poor man is an only child trying to run herd on at least a half dozen feral siblings. He exists in a state of constant confusion.

I.

This isn’t to be mean, but that is simply not the case.

I keep getting bad parent bruce takes and it sucks because all of them aren’t even proper reasoning for his character.

I’m just using you as an example, but hear me out.

Bruce is an extremely smart person, Homie has watched movies and read books, he can learn from situations around him that things are sibling things. Sure, he was excluded as a kid, but that isn’t nearly the main issue why he isn’t the best parent.

homie has so much shit wrong with him, he’s emotionally just not there, he keeps himself stuck in a perpetual state of grief and mourning for his parents of a thing that happened when he was a child, he has been trained by assassins and has experienced loss and pain to an insane extent, he has such an insane extent of paranoia and trust issues that it affects his daily life, is definitely autistic, and has issues with social cues.

I’m trying to properly articulate just why that’s not the case but my brain isn’t working with me so I’m handing this over to my twin @bonebrokebuddy who is far more articulate than me.

———

Hi, it's Billy, Bones's twin writing because Bones had a hard time putting this into words and I'm more of a canon nitpick than her.

Uh- have you ever. And I mean even once, met an only child.

I promise, if you read even a singular comic, you could tell this take is incredibly out of character.

Bruce isn’t a good parent. He’s also not a bad parent. He loves his kids. He literally could not stop them from pulling dumb shit if they tried and putting themselves into danger.

Bruce is the worlds greatest detective. He knows how to spot and detect emotions and trouble in his kids. He’s The Worlds Greatest Detective.

His issue with being a parent likely comes from having Alfred as a father figure. Imagine having a dad that you can fire at any time, you pay so they can stay with you, and can just leave at any moment if they don’t approve of the person they work for. That will severely fuck up a kid.

His issue isn’t that he’s an only child, it’s that it’s every Robin’s god given right to go against and defy Batman’s orders whenever possible because kids are viscous little buggers who don’t like being told “you can’t do that” even if it’s for their own health, they’ll do it anyway.

After you’ve taught your kids how to exist in deadly situations, they think they’re invincible when it’s because Bruce is doing all he fucking can to make sure his kids don’t get hurt. If they feel like they can make the world a better place, they’ll do it, regardless of the risk because they’re inherently self sacrificing and good people.

Bruce’s issue with parenting is due to his relationship with his kids. Again, it isn’t that he’s an only child, it’s that the kids he adopted are their own people and they are even more stubborn and bad at communication as him.

Even more so, it’s due to the dang narrative.

Conflict between Bruce and his kids that cause them to separate has been the backstory for plenty of solo batkid runs to endure Batman isn’t as involved or the main focus of the run.

Narrative tension is literally the cause of all the bad parent decisions for Bruce, because conflict drives narrative or miscommunications cause the story to lengthen and complicate itself

it’s not as easy as “Bruce is bad dad” because he’s Not. Bruce is good with kids! He has a pouch in his utility belt specifically with suckers for kids!

But Bruce isn't a great world star dad either. He definitely inherited his ability to communicate with people outside crisis situations largely from trainers around the world and his arms-length-distance-at-all-times distance relationship with the butler who raised him.

Despite him being good with kids, his kids have lives of their own with morals and opinions of their own that conflict and clash constantly. It’s not a simple case of “Bruce is a bad dad.”

It’s a case of “everyone has slightly different opinions and approaches to situations so occasionally conflict happens when they clash or interfere with each other” because it’s a comic that tells a story!

Anyways, my recommendation? Pick up a comic. And preferably? Read it. Or watch BTAS if it’s more accessible to you. either works. This opinion isn't your fault most likely, just the quality of the DC fan-content you've been consuming that are incredibly removed from the comics. If you want, DM me at @bonebrokebuddy and I can send you some good quality DC fics with in-character Bruce.

————

Bones here again,

That basically sums up the exact stuff I couldn’t properly describe. I was using you more as an example because I have dozens of bad parent bruce takes in my inbox and I am 90% sure that the cause of them is that they simply haven’t read anything about the character.

Read a comic, read some strictly DC fanfiction, watch some of the many many TV shows and animated movies, there are even motion comics free online to watch that have voice acting and everything!

Being an only child doesn’t make you a bad father.

[edelgarfield]

why are y'all so allergic to acknowledging that Ludinus makes an extremely good point. sometimes people can be factually correct but still bad people, or they can have a logically sound argument even if you don't agree with it.

ludinus is pointing at a giant crushing a person beneath their heel and saying "hey they shouldn't be able to just kill someone like that" and y'all are responding "my neighbor punched his brother so actually we're the same ☝️🤓"

if a group of people said "our current rulers are exploiting us, we want them gone" and those same rulers came in and indiscriminately slaughtered the resistance y'all would say to bring out the fucking guillotine. this is the same situation except the rulers are gods and the subjects are mortals. ludinus & the cast have all but said "the gods' control of Exandria/mortals is an allegory for colonialism/imperialism" in fact I'm pretty sure on an episode of 4SD they straight up SAID that and y'all are saying "hmmm the colonizers have a point." what about this isn't clicking.

"they're just like us" "they're family" dude, if my brother started a religion where the purpose was to worship him, and he made people go out and start killing on his behalf, I would be like "what the fuck is wrong with you" not "hmmm good idea, let me get a piece of that pie"

if my brother killed thousands of people I wouldn't be like "aw, i forgive you, why can't we be a family anymore 🥺" I would be like "holy shit you're fucking disgusting. die." Imogen got so much shit from the party & the fandom for wanting to save her mom, AND she's always been willing to kill her mom if liliana won't see reason but when it's the gods they're allowed to kill as many people as they want bc they love each other? the fuck?

"they're just like us" except if a character had a body count anywhere close to that of the gods they would understandably be considered irredeemable. like it's fine to sympathize with the gods, I very much do, but the absolute refusal to recognize that their presence on Exandria is inherently exploitative & that Ludinus has every right to want them gone is fucking mind-boggling.

so which is it, are they "just like us" and should be held accountable for their actions the same way and held to the same moral standard? or are they different and all the "mortals and gods are the exact same actually" is a load of horseshit?

"but they love us" cool my mom loves me, doesn't mean she has the right to control me for the rest of my life. it's not about whether the gods are good or bad, it's about the fact that no civilization should exist to be exploited by another & mortals have the right to self-determination. but fuck all that I guess bc God forbid Ludinus have a point.

[dragon-spaghetti]

Hey so I just looking at your huskerdust kid art and I was wondering who gave birth to the kids?

Literally up until recently I just kept saying it was left up to interpretation, and tbh that still stands!! In the 'canon' of the au me and albo have created revolving around this, the answer is husk, but if that's something other people are uncomfy with and would rather say they just spawned into existence then I personally am fine w that 💖

(I am coming at this as a trans masc myself to be very clear, with husk being trans in this au)

[noirandchocolate]

*sipping banana whiskey on a Wednesday night*

What if…guys what if. The Yiga Clan’s Blademaster exam historically wasn’t really that easy. What if Tears of the Kingdom simplified it (Doylist explanation) or the Clan changed and simplified it over the 100 years since the start of the Calamity for some reason (Watsonian explanation)?

Because. It just feels too easy. Even if the person attempting it isn’t Link, with access to fast-travel points and sky islands to drop from. The guy at the Blademaster Station who’s apparently in charge of administering the test even marks the locations of the frog statues on Link’s map! Come on. That’s too easy. And has nothing to do with swordsmanship either! It can’t be that simple.

*pours another shot*

Yeah I think…. There’s got to be more to it. Or there was. Way back when. (My primary headcanon focus is always on AoC timeline anyway.) I think! The banana offerings are just the first part. And the statues are placed new for every candidate. And you have to journey about to find them yourself. It’s meant to test your scouting, perception, and overall survival skills, to make sure you’ll be useful on missions outside the Valley. Can you spot the statues? Climb/teleport up the cliffs? Be in the harsh wilderness of the Highlands and desert for a period of time? (Don’t worry, there’s always (more or less) someone around monitoring you, you (probably) won’t die, they’ll grab you and you’ll just fail the test attempt.)

But then if you can do it, that’s not all. I think! The exam has also got to include tests with the two-handed weapons Blademasters traditionally wield: the windcleaver and eightfold longblade. Tests on technique and form, performing certain strokes, draw speed, things like that. There would also be tests on the arcane arts like the Earthwake technique.

And then—!

You have a match with the Right Hand! Who’s the lead Blademaster teacher/mentor. You don’t have to beat them of course (and in the case of Sooga, you probably wouldn’t), you have to impress them. Hold your own. Get a hit in where you can. Show off everything you know, against the person who probably taught you a lot of it.

Oh and then if you manage to succeed at that?

You fight Master Kohga. And try to do the same. Imagine! Having to try countering all that magic, all that power! It’s a true test, to make absolutely sure you’re good enough for one of the elite martial positions in the Clan!

Afterward, the Master and Right Hand confer and make the final decision whether you pass and become a Blademaster or not. And then you get given your official blade (either type, your choice) and a lil’ feast/party to celebrate you joining the ranks.

*downs the rest of the drink*

Anyway that’s what I think.

(I also think it would’ve been fun in TotK if passing the exam earned you not just a pristine eightfold longblade (easily breakable and lost) but info on the locations of more Clan branches you could travel to to get the pieces of an actual Blademaster armor. Like you could do some kinda additional lil’ quests to get them, to make it more interesting/worthwhile. The Footsoldier-style armor gives you stealth and a set bonus nighttime speed boost for that light fast build. Maybe the Blademaster one could give stealth but the set bonus is proficiency with two-handed weapons? Either letting you swing them faster or they all get a little attack+ bonus?)

*waves glass on my way to bed* ANYWAY THAT’S WHAT I THINK.

[crossbackpoke-check]

tagged by ko @tofumilanesa for wip wednesday! big shout out to writevember for making me feel like i can actually call any of these works in progress… your guide to my emoji code under the cut

wip!

🪻🐈‍⬛ - the doc title is still just. YOWLING but i am like 7/8 of the way done with omega yamo fic and hopefully salem isn’t reading this so i can just drop it over a year later with no warning <3

🫃2️⃣ - DEWEY^2 P2!!!! she is almost done (i am lying) but she is so close i can almost taste it. sorry to my pwp that grew its own feelings baby

😇🤭 (🕒 -> 🕜) - rip i’m not telling you about this one until it’s posted but it IS complete aside from being ao3 formatted and the eight billion edits i inevitably do right before full-sending it

☁️💧 - cloud petey fic, which exists mostly as an embarrassingly large tag on a different blog and is condensing into a narrative about as well as water at 30° N/S. the time loop fic also falls under this description

eternally in progress (short list)

🌑🐕 - tyler borzoituzzi exists… there is an index of scenes/plot points… it plays like a movie in my head…

💯❕- fantastic! ‘verse

👁️👻 - stevie brandon seeing ghosts au, which has eight different (now nine i guess but you haven't seen the mustache adam post yet) plots. sorry

just. rotating like a microwave

🍎 - because they didn’t have a pomegranate emoji, this is what i used for the fic that feels like it should be a 50k connor bedard character study hanif abdurraqib/cathal kelly thesis about legends and mythmaking in sports and eating your young. yes i know pomegranates aren’t actually pomes and apples are but it’s fine

🦈 - the one cat da fuck they doing over there meme but about the sharks just like. in general. more on this at five

tagging @colap1nto, @songsandswords, @whitenikes, @gordiemeow, @acheronist, and anybody else who wants to share!!

[elfsyellowflowerzart]

hey this is a long shot but ill draw a one character fullbody flat colored cleaned up sketch like the things above for anyone who wants to give me 15,000 treasure in flight rising i need to expand my lair, i can finish the art today 👍

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I've always wondered if you happened to have a discord? If not have you ever considered making one?

i do have one! however i use it very sparingly because 1) new people (especially groups) scare me & 2) brain's been fucking weird for a hot minute and i barely talk to people i'm already friends with let alone strangers

[astariondisapproves]

Would y'all be upset if I cleared out my current asks and started from scratch? I have never been able to get my ask box down past 60, and I'm just so overwhelmed rn. I'm conflicted because all of you have sent in some awesome stuff, and I don't want to just not reply, ya know? Plus, you guys worked hard on your submissions and 🥺😭 I also don't wanna disappoint anyone either

[abyssal-ali]

feeling super pick-me rn ✌️but 👀 guess who is soft-launching their personal discord server 👀

[tariah23]

farcille for ship bingo?

(ps i enjoyed your goiji one)

I could write for hours about goiji… a little (a lot) I’m definitely… obsessed-

Tbh, I’ve fallen off of DM a little (I’m gonna get back to it… it always comes down to the fans being obnoxiously pretentious about it and being so loud and annoying, especially about the fantasy racism (taking it more seriously than rl racism and putting it on the same scale… uhhhshajs) while being weird about the actual poc within the story while completely infantilizing the white characters… it got weird fast 😭. I miss it though! Farcille is so cute… when Falin was brought in the anime, I teared up because of how emotional the other characters were, especially Marcille… the way she held her and cried, I 😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.

[stanleyvampire14]

Hi so here’s a little rant/vent I do apologize as I normally don’t post extremely negative things

TW- Transphobia 💀

My mother was rambling about “If yOu hAvE a wEiNer tHeN yOuR a BoY aNd viCe vErSa iF yOuRe a giRL” bs and I just sat there and listened because she was talking to someone else in my family about it and my face was cringing so hard oh my god shut up shut the FUCK up You are bullshitting you don’t know what you’re talking about you don’t understand what’s going on in trans peoples’ heads they’re that way for a reason they aren’t trying to stray from the “normal” they want to FEEL normal within themselves please shut the hell up oh my god

Anyways sorry about that I had to let it out I’m so unbelievably pissed she needs to shut her mouth but I can’t SAY that also I’m not trying to like speak on trans and other peoples behalfs I’m just saying that she doesn’t exactly understand yall and I really wish that she’d be more open but nOOO.

Also if you find yourself agreeing with her “You can’t just change who you originally were” ideas then please feel free to block me because I’m not having that shit infecting my profile. Aka, if you’re ANY kind of LGBTQIA+ phobe then please for the love of all that is holy block me, thanks.

[stevethehairington]

alright besties, just knocked out moby dick so you know what time it is: help me pick my next book to read. well, my next next book. i've decided to read the bell jar next since it's so short but AFTER THAT (since i'll likely finish it this weekend)...

[gemkun]

hi i've noticed how incredibly difficult it is to write threads with people so i think the best approach might be to stick to one thread per person and go from there instead of juggling like 20 asks that are all single instances. if you want to thread with me please give this a like and i will slink over for discussion !

[mmmairon]

Your tag about the intersection between grief and homesickness fucked me up ngl. Im dealing with the grief of suddenly losing my father and I never thought of it like that but you're so right that's exactly what it feels like

oh anon :( I am so, so sorry you are going through this. in my own experience, the first few months after unexpectedly losing my own father felt like when you were a little kid at a sleepover you didn’t really want to be at—everyone sleeps soundly but you have this indescribable, aching feeling in your chest of I just want to go home, please let me go home. it’s smothering, more than unbearable, and it doesn’t leave.

this kind of grief makes you feel like a little kid again. but not in a good way. home isn’t really anywhere anymore without the person who made it feel like one.

I hope your grief eases soon. It’s lifelong, but it does get easier, in time.