#I YAPPED

[rederiss]

In today’s session of Rederiss Rambles, we will be talking about: Jeremy Knox

Buckle up guys, this will get sad. (This is your warning. If you have not read TGR, STOP NOW!!!)

Thesis: Jeremy Knox has a disassociating problem, and I will be shedding light on how this affects the narration, his views on himself, and his views with sex. (This is a very shitty thesis, but whatever. Im graduating soon, so i dont give a fuck)

Before we get going, I am not saying he has a disorder. I am specifically looking at disassociating as a form of coping and disconnecting from the world.

The very first time we, as the audience, may experience may experience a potential disassociating moment from Jeremy Knox is when his brother texts him, and he drops his phone into his coffee (Exhibit A below). I’ve only added these parts of the whole scene to show the full shift. Jeremy literally went from casually talking about the issue at hand to completely a whole different side of him. He starts feeling dread, reads the phone, then drops his phone into his coffee a moment later. He does not even move. Laila had to take the mug out of his hands and the whole scene feels as if everything becomes a fog. The tone Jeremy uses goes from focused to distant, and he’s not fully back until Laila presses a kiss on his temple. Now, we all know that he very much so needs that touch to anchor him…

But sometimes touch doesn’t always anchor him! Sometimes, he uses it as self harm, though he labels it as “rebellion.” Yes, we are now going to talk about his sex life becuase that is such a huge part of Jeremy. Has anyone noticed that Jeremy never details the sex? At first, I thought it was because Nora purposefully omitted those parts, but then after thinking on it, this is Jeremy. If Nora is omitting in Jeremy’s POV, it probably means we should focus on what is being omitted and how she details the omission… and yes you can detail omission. Jeremy Knox is notorious for omitting that we need to focus on it to know more.

For instance, a great example is when he saw the police and kept his eyes forward, trying to ignore the police. We all noticed this, of course. Jeremy was omitting information from us and framing it in away where he attempts to gloss over him doing that, but in reality, it’s a focus point. Why is he doing this? So, we need to really dig into his narration to have some understanding… it’s actually how I figured out he had a sex scandal before TGR came out (look, I made that post as half a joke, as a meme…)

OKAY, so let’s look at an example omission scene… Actually two and compare them now that we know we need to look at how he is framing these omitted information. If you compare both the Leo and Faser sex scenes, you’ll notice the same framing: Jeremy describes some foreplay then omits the entirety of the sex and describes how he leaves. It’s like he mentally goes in and out. We don’t even know that his neck gets bruised until much later. When we learn about the bruises, he passes it off pretty easily and quite literally says “he remembers��” and that it was “easy to ignore” which show some sign of dissociating/disconnecting.

At face value, we wouldn’t think much about Jeremy omitting those scenes, but when you compare them and then add in the “Jeremy remembered Faster’s bruising grip” we get to see a more clear picture. We all know that Jeremy is using sex as self harm, but he also uses it to disconnect from what he doesn’t want to face. Him dissociating during sex is very harmful, which we see with Faser. He remembered, but he ignored since he was more focused on the pleasure (we see this in the next line, I purposely didn’t include).

What I am trying to say is we don’t get details… because Jeremy may just completely disconnect and allow himself to fall into sex. With the extreme that he does this, he no longer uses sex to cope, he uses it to harm himself.

There is one more that I wanted to discuss, that I think is a missed sign of Jeremy having a problem with disociating…

Did not want to add the full scene because it is a couple pages long, but this is the most relevant part. Though I do suggest rereading how this part is framed. Jeremy and Jean are talking, then Jean gave him a reassurance, causing Jeremy to immediately go into a full LONG paragraph about his family’s lackadaisical care for Jeremy/how they view him and how Jean views Jeremy (which Jeremy mischaracterizes). We get this in Jeremy’s POV so it may not have seemed like he became disconnected, but then the above ^^ happened where Jean brought him back.

Jean saying “You go away when you go home” shows how much Jeremy does disconnect, and it’s framed as a coping mechanism… but then the sexual encounters becomes so extreme that it becomes unhealthy, so therefore his coping mechanism is unhealthy. Jeremy needs touch to feel grounded, which is why he uses sex, but it’s now going so far that he’s completely disconnecting and causes himself harm.

[monosanimegenericzone]

Hunter x Hunter: Assorted Troupe Speculation pt 2

i have more (this was supposed to go out *checks watch* a month ago)

Table of Contents

how many principles of nen have they mastered/how proficient are they at using nen

singing voice

opinion on frogs

aura levels

knows what an optometrist is

favorite egg style

big ass post below. lots of yap. the spiders are VERY GORGEOUS TO MEEEEE.

NEN MASTERY [helper image from reddit for techniques i will reference]

Chrollo: Proficient in all, exceeds expectations with: Gyo, In, Ken and Ryu.

Nobunaga: Master in all. I fully believe this man is a nen war machine but unfortunately has limited options being an enhancer.

Feitan: Proficient in combat techniques. exceeds expectations with: Gyo, Ko, Shu and Ken. Developing En but not quite there.

Machi: Nearly a master in all except En.

Phinks: Proficient in most. Master in Ko, Ken and Ryu. Struggles with En, In and Shu.

Shalnark: Practiced in all. Doesn't really need to use In and would struggle to learn Ko, Ken and Ryu because they are outside of his nen class. Focused more on Hatsu

Franklin: Proficient in all. Struggles with En and Shu. and tangent but- imagine franklin using In to snipe someone. invisible bullets. hear me the fuck out.

Shizuku: Practiced in all. I choose to believe she's pretty new to Nen and she's worked on her hatsu more than advanced techniques. But, exceeds expectations in Shu, Gyo and Ko.

Pakunoda: Proficient in most. struggles with En and Ken

Bonolenov: Proficient in all. Well rounded but focused more on his Hatsu and his advanced techniques are present but not polished.

Uvogin: Proficient in most. Struggles with En and Shu.

Kortopi: Proficient in En, Ko, Gyo and Ken. Struggles with/never attempted In, Ren and Shu.

SINGING VOICE/RANGE (Using Choir terms [its been a while be gentle])

Chrollo: Alto/Tenor. Can consistently hit notes as long as they are in his range (has a very high range). Very silky voice but cannot do long runs

Nobunaga: Baritone. Very small range and has more of a traditional japanese style of switching notes (the long delay between note jumps and dramatized vibrato).

Feitan: no. even if he could his raspy ass voice would die after one song. that being said he can hum a mean cover. Somehow has perfect pitch

Machi: no. refuses to sing (shes a soprano with a lower range)

Phinks: Baritone. Will usually just scream. if he hits the notes with his chest it actually sounds sexy as hell

Shalnark: Soprano/Tenor. Extremely high range and proud of it.

Franklin: Baritone. He's got the low husky drawl and its so mmmmmmmmmmmm. he doesn't usually sing and when he does he doesn't use a lot of energy. if he can't hit a note he won't even try.

Shizuku: no. Soprano but has no idea what pitch is.

Pakunoda: Alto. Has a lovely singing voice, though usually sings with her head and never goes above a certain volume.

Bonolenov: Alto. Not a stereotypically good singer but can sing the songs of his heritage with amazing range and accuracy.

Uvogin: uh. Metal screaming or full chest singing. there is no in between. has a surprisingly big range just because someone (shalnark) made fun of him for not being able to hit high notes.

Kortopi: no. i honestly don't know what his range is bcs he's whispering or muttering all the time. SING. PLEASE. ANYTHING.

OPINION ON FROGS

Chrollo: neutral. they chill he's chill

Nobunaga: EW

Feitan: snack

Machi: neutral

Phinks: neutral

Shalnark: loves those freaky lil guys

Franklin: neutral

Shizuku: only likes the green and blue ones

Pakunoda: won't touch but will admire from afar

Bonolenov: loves

Uvo: neutral. likes the big ones

Kortopi: likes. will hold if he find

AURA LEVELS (based on Knuckle's units*)

*70,000 aura units appears to be the amount an advanced nen user will have. eg. Morel Mackernasey. this will be the baseline for "a lot"

Chrollo: Mid-level. He trades conditions for power so it's hard to say. and i vaguely remember somewhere it said that the abilities he borrow don't require his own aura but i don't know how true that is. personally i believe he's min/maxed the hell out of bandit's secret and his only limits are: the nen class the stolen ability belongs to and how long he can keep skill hunter active.

Nobunaga: unknown. he has enough to confidently run his mouth, but that could also be his confidence in his technique. who knows. show me your damn hatsu mister.

Feitan: High-Level. Listen. he summoned the sun. need i say more.

Machi: Mid-Level. I'd say she's on par with Hisoka who is going to probably be less than Morel. She also dips into two nen categories which greatly decreases efficiency but who knows. i could be wrong. she values strength over volume which aids to the point.

Hisoka (because i talked about him above): Mid-Level. he relies heavily on aura. his offense and defense rely on a constant maintenance of Ten, Gyo and Ken, on top of keeping track of Bungee Gum and using advanced techniques like In. But, he uses his hatsu sparingly and his fights are quick and dirty, never going over his limit.

Phinks: High-Level. also hard to judge because he ALSO relies on conditions for power. But i'd argue he's just as strong as feitan, if not stronger, in terms of base stats.

Shalnark: High-Level. he is very clear cut and easy to read so imma just say it. He's doing it. he's really doing it. having full autonomous control over the target, up to two, and having them forget are incredible feats that we have never seen in the series (except boki but he is a FRAUD). that + autopilot. i have an entire post on it go look it up

Franklin: Mid-Level. hard to tell. I can argue he's high level if we saw more feats. Mowing down 200 people is less impressive if you consider that he had piercing bullets and also 2 of them escaped.

Shizuku: Mid-Level. as said above I think she's newer to nen and has a long way to go. but as she is now, she's on par with the troupe so she's doing really well for what she has.

Pakunonda: Low-Level. Paku is clearer since we know what her restrictions are and she has two very powerful conditions: she must initiate touch and she can never fulfill her greatest desire. as for the bullets, those are easy conjuration and we know she doesn't use them a lot. therefore, she doesn't need a lot of aura to pull off what she does.

Bonolenov: High-Level. Jupiter. need i say more. ..... i don't but im gonna anyway. this man has THREE FUCKING HATSUS. he uses AT LEAST TWO- count 'em- T W O per fight. i need to stop myself before i explode

Uvo: High-Level. Probably the highest levels in the troupe and probably even exceeds Morel. He has one small condition on Big Bang Impact and it STILL did that much damage. On top of that, the capacity to take an anti tank weapon and DEADASS BE WILLING TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOT.

Kortopi: High-Level/Unknown. He might have conditions on Gallery Fake but we have been told nothing so the only fair thing to do is judge him with the idea that he is doing everything he's doing raw. From that perspective he probably outclasses Uvo by a long shot with aura levels close to a Chimera ant captain.

KNOWS WHAT AN OPTOMETRIST IS

Chrollo: yes

Nobunaga: yes

Feitan: no

Machi: no

Phinks: no

Shalnark: yes

Franklin: no

Shizuku: yes, duh

Pakunoda: yes

Bonolenov: no

Uvogin: no

Kortopi: yes

FAVORITE STYLE OF EGG (controversial)

Chrollo: Poached

Nobunaga: in soup or in chawamushi

Feitan: Only accepts it perfectly peeled, hard boiled

Machi: Tamagoyaki/scrambled

Phinks: Fried, over medium

Shalnark: Freeze Dried (as in out of a ramen packet)

Franklin: Soft Boiled

Shizuku: Tamagogohan or Fried over Rice.

Pakunoda: Omlete

Bono: Any. Not really picky

Uvo: Egg Fried Rice

Kortopi: Sunny Side Up

(did i have to look up different ways to prepare eggs? . . . . . . yes)

[katatonicimpression]

in your opinion, what’s the best sam wilson comic run?

So, a few disclaimers:

I haven't read a huge percentage of Sam's comics. There's so much I haven't read. He's been around since the 60s. There's a lot to read and I'm nowhere near an expert.

So much of Sam's back catalogue is very racist. Anyone who's read a lot of old marvel won't be surprised by this. We're going into this with the assumption that we're all adults here. We're mature readers who are able to parse caricature and trope, understand the popular attitudes at the time that led to their inclusion, and understand that this writing and art being congruous with its place in history doesnt absolve it of anything. We learn context to better understand things, not to excuse them. We're able to recognise and critique what ought to be critiqued and also appreciate the things that do work.

Perhaps surprisingly, this problem doesn't get better over time in a linear way like you might expect.

No sam run is perfect. All of them have flaws and are worthy of criticism. Again, we're mature readers and all that. Many individual comic issues are very good for sam, but they're mostly scattered around the place.

PART 1: Reading Guides

This section was supposed to link to a bunch of Sam comic recs but tumblr is functionally unsearchable. But there's a few recs here, and a reading guide here.

So, let this post also be a call to action for anyone who has a reading guide! Link it! Send it to me and I'll share it! Make. Tumblr. Usable.

For my part, I've been slowly making my way through his appearances chronologically, and also keeping up with his new stuff for the last few years. There's a reason for that approach, which we'll get to in Part 3.

For reference, this is a very detailed list of Sam's comic appearances (probably too detailed, and contains a lot of wordless cameos, and I do hate that website and can't guarantee its not missing anything). This might be useful to refer back to when hopping about through different storylines etc. They're listed by volume number, which is annoying. It's easier to search for comics by the year they started in.

PART 2: Sam's Solo Series

The bulk of Sam's appearances are in supporting roles in Steve's comics. He's also been present in many Avengers runs, but mostly not in a prominant role.

But for now, a list of most of the comics where Sam is a main character, red for solos, blue for ensemble:

Captain America (1963) #117 onwards

He's not in every issue, but he gets actual attention as a protagonist at times so it made the list. Various writers over the years.

Marvel Premiere (1972) #49

Random oneshot with a theme about free speech. It's not good, but it exists and he's the lead. By Mark Evanier

Falcon (1983) #1-4

Sam's first solo title, a mini series. By Jim Owlsey

Marvel Fanfare (1996) #1

"Captain America and the Falcon, together again... for their final adventure!". It's got his name on the cover. Have not read. Assume it's bad, lol. By Jaimie Campos.

Captain America and the Falcon (2004) #1-14

Steve and Sam. Technically sam is a main because he's in the title. By Christopher Priest.

Captain America and the Falcon (2011) #1

Sam and buckycap one-shot. By Rob Williams.

All-New Captain America: Fear Him Infinite Comic (2014) #1-6

Another limited series, iirc there's too much Ian Rogers in it for my liking. By Dennis Hallum

All-New Captain America (2015) #1-6

Samcap, by way of Rick Remender.

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers (2015) #1-9

Hey it's Sam leading the avengers, by Al Ewing.

Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #1-24

Samcap again, different title, different author, generally better. By Nick Spencer

All-New, All-Different Avengers (2016) #1-15

Once again, "main character" is a stretch here. But here's sam cap and the avengers. By Mark Waid

Falcon (2017) #1-8

Little solo run, by Rodney Barnes

Falcon & Winter Soldier (2021) #1-5

Limited series about bucky. Sam is also there, retconned into being a therapist so that he look after the most special of boys. By Derek Landy

Captain America: Symbol of Truth (2022) #1-14

Recent solo run. By Tochi Onyebuchi

Avengers (2023) #1-?

Ongoing avengers title, sam gets featured sometimes. Includes the Blood Hunt event. By Jed McKay

Sam Wilson, Captain America (2025) #1-5

Sam's current solo title. So far, a resolved 5 issue arc, no idea what's next for him. By Greg Pak and Evan Narcisse

PART 3: Katatonicimpression's Guide to Sam's Eras

1969- mid 70s - Captain America and the Falcon: Hippy Era

Sam is introduced as a social worker who's into falconry (captain america (1963) #117). He's a pacifist, and politically more radical and to the left of steve. He's explicitly anti government and defends the necessity of violent protest. He's "anti nuclear" which is presumably synedoche for being "ban the bomb"/anti war although he is never allowed to express such sentiment. The politics of these comics were actively censored by the comics code, a mccarthy-era set of rules for limiting subversive/communist messaging in comic books.

On the one hand, it's fun that Sam is a lefty. On the other hand, this stuff is not necessarily handled well. His girlfriend Leila is written as a caricature of a Black activist and radical feminist. Both characters get uncomfortable stereotyped dialogue (all these comics are written by white men) and art (all these comics are drawn by white men).

Nevertheless, this era is what gives us Sam's key traits, expands on his lore (telepathic mutant, wakandan wings) and it's where you'll find figaro the cat. It's sam as a somewhat countercultural figure with internal conflict regarding working with steve, and his own perception within his community.

Late 70s - Captain America and the Falcon: This is why Reagan Won

So, marvel was really into exploitation movies in the 70s (that's why early Luke Cage is like that). And America was really into these narratives about "urban crime".... we know what they mean by that. This is the context from which marvel decided they needed to "fix" sam to make him more in line with their bizarre attitudes about what a black new yorker should be like.

Sam gets retconned into having a criminal backstory (specifically as a local gangster called "snap wilson"... this is where I paused my read through of the cap comics. It's bad you guys). Over time, Leila becomes more of a "belligerent housewife" trope, and still very much hypersexualised. The whole thing is awful. Then jack kirby takes over the series and forgets about sam for a while. Figaro is never seen again. Things get worse. End of an era.

80s - Rounding up the Lineup

Once we're into the 80s proper, sam mostly appears (aside from his one mini solo - which embarassingly features reagan as a character lol) as part of Steve's entourage. Often in a group with Dennis (yay), walker (boo) and jack (literally who cares). Occasionally he has things to do, often not a lot. Characterisation is all over the place tbh.

90s - Barely There

I haven't read many 90s comics with sam in them, and I swear most of the marvel I've read is 90s... but I guess that's mostly xmen. Sam, alas, doesn't get to hang out with those cool kids. He's around, turns up in Avengers teams and as part of Steve's entourage sometimes. He gets retconned into not being a mutant around the turn of the millennium.

00s - early 2010s - Barely There, Cursed Edition

The 00s are just the worst marvel era. I'll die on that hill. Anyway, for sam, this is some horrible art and amongst other things, the most regrettable "romance" arc sam ever had, featuring a character so problematic she is no longer in comics. A lot of ooc appearances and an "I can't be bothered to Google it" approach to his continuity and personality.

Late 00s into the early 2010s sees sam with an increase in credited appearances (the modern era of constant crossover events had begun), but they're mostly small and very much in a supporting role.

2014- late 2010s - Sam Cap 1.0

Woohoo sam matters again! And they undid the snap wilson retcon! Instead, all of that nonsense was false memories implanted by the red skull to fuck with him (oh yeah scifi!Hitler was involved in this whole thing). They still keep him as not a mutant unfortunately.

This era is where we meet joaquin, and sam starts an undefined relationship with Misty Knight. This is when he briefly has those two and Dennis as his team. He's also in the Avengers, where he has an affair with the mighty thor. Sam's slut era, if you will. He gets some decent writing for once, although not perfect. This era basically ends with secret wars/secret empire, when the presence of stevil (evil steve, aka hydra steve) causes him to spiral and eventually quit.

Late 2010s - 2022 - Falcon Sabbatical

Sam's the falcon again. Similar vibes to the cap 1.0 era in terms of characterisation (i.e. sometimes bland and shallow but not usually aggressively awful). This is where we get that falcon and winter soldier comic that I hated. But you might like it. Have your own opinions, as always.

2022 - Present - Sam Cap 2.0

This era starts a little bleak tbh. We have sam and steve as cap simultaneously, but with marvel clearly caring more about steve and publishing a ridiculous amount more of him. Sam's series is symbol of truth, which is okay. I didn't love it but again, form your own opinions. That all culminates in the "cold war" event that was (imo) bad, and had nothing to do with sam either way.

Then we have mckays avengers (2023) which mostly characterises sam well. But it also lacks something in how it utilises his powers and idk... like.. it feels like mckay wanted steve and is just not that interested in sam? But it's not awful. I'd highlight #4 for the sam and tchalla interactions (that are a direct consequence of their scenes in symbol of truth) and #25 which is last months issue (and presumably next month will also be sam focused).

We also have the avengers united infinity comic. The "beware the dreamer" arc (#36-45) by justina Ireland is a solid run for sam. The issues after that are fine. I would warn any sam fan (or any Black reader) that the opening arc by Derek Landy depicts sam being violently beaten in a way that is viscerally uncomfortable to read. It's also a badly written arc. Even if you are comfortable with the violence, the writing fucking sucks.

We also have his most recent solo which is a 5 issue arc. It's okay. Good bird energy.

Samcap 2.0 is an odd vibe. There's a sense of obligation to it, that they made him cap again to be synergistic with the MCU. But at the same time, as I've talked about to no end, it's a good thing that they did it. He's better utilised as cap. He's still with Misty, and still has Joaquin. He's got his frenemies (to lovers arc iktr) with t'challa, and has a growing friendship with Ororo, which is nice to see. There's also his cousin Billie (Wilhemina) and Josiah X (isaiah's son, Eli's uncle)

My point?

I think if you're looking for Sam comics that are free from the very obvious nonsense, then stick with post 2014 stuff. However, as I mentioned with that infinity comic, even stuff from the last year can be staggeringly offensive. Additionally, I do think that a lot of what's needed to really understand Sam as a character is in the early 70s, despite a lot of jank.

PART 4: Answering the Actual Ask

I would want to revisit his 2015 solo (spencer) before recommending it with my whole chest, because while I like a lot of its art (save me daniel acuna save me), it does have some rough patches writing wise.

I feel like the answers you seek are probably in that 2014-17 era.

Unfortunately the only things I've read recently enough to recommend with a fully formed opinion are from the last few years. I would say (assuming you're pirating these), give symbol of truth and avengers 2023 a go, and his 2025 solo. I'd avoid the Captain America crossover events from the last few years, they're not worth it.

Then do what we all do, which is jump around for a bit, then dive in super deep at whatever piques your interest.

This has reminded me to continue my read through of the 1963 title, if nothing else.

[erikaslumbers]

characters who have never met in canon and never will but still need to be locked in a room and forced to work on a group project together

[franco-barbis-sweetness]

Guys, I was thinking about Franco and his life story and all of the things that probably happened to him when he was growing up and it genuinely just made me. Really sad ?? This dude wouldn't have been a monster if he didn't have to endure all of the things he did. He wasn't born that way, he was created :(

Like, just think about it. He had defects from birth that affected his appearance, which he was born sometime in the 1930's most likely, and I'm sure his appearance cast him out from society automatically. He was even disowned BY his own father for the way he looked.

His father apparently murdered his mother, and he must've had ENOUGH reason to believe it was his father who did it since he talks about it in his game dialogue. He may not have seen the body or anything but this probably caused some early childhood trauma straight off the bat. (The fact he had nobody to love or nuture him or read him bedtime stories makes me WEEP. He had nobody to be kind to him, to cook him breakfast, to tuck him in, to give him any love at all SOBBINGGGG)

His dad was literally the head of the Martino Crime family. So he grew up constantly surrounded by a life of crime. Blood, murder, violence, all while he was sooo young. All of those things are a horrific environment for a child, yet alone him having to watch his own FATHER being the ringleader of it all.

Salvatore was probably an avid and violent drunk, so I'm sure Franco was beat all of the time. He might have been exposed to some sort of SA from his father at some point, considering how absolutely horrid he was ??

Literally the only mother figures Franco had were his father's various lovers and wives. And all they ever did was neglect or humiliate him. Of course his mafia don father wouldn't attract polite or goodhearted women.

Franco probably grew up believing murder was something good, something to be proud of. He took his first life at 12 years old because he thought it was something that would make his father proud of him. With that being said, the only time that poor baby was ever embaced was when he KILLED somebody ????? And of course, because he got praise for murdering a man, he latched onto that bit of affection and positivity he'd never gotten before, and grew up further starting to do the only thing it seemed he was slightly liked for.

Since he started doing jobs for his dad as a debt collector and hitman, I'm sure he developed a complex through all of that, surrounded by his praise for violence and being unwillingly surrounded by it constantly. He became violent because that's what the world shaped him to become. Franco probably grew so used to the familiarity of killing that that's why he lost all meaning for the lives of others. And among the fact he was only ever outcasted in the first place by everybody ? I'm sure he felt some sort of revenge by reaping lives of the world that only ever did him wrong :( He probably viewed everybody as the same cold, heartless people he knew in his upbringing. He might've felt he had some sort of fucked up place in the Mafia, something he never had anywhere else.

He really wasn't ever taught... proper affection ? Innocent or sexual, all he ever knew was his father's behavior towards women, which wasn't good at all. When he snapped and murdered prostitutes, he might have seen it as a fresh start to something he ruined, behavior he may have learned from his father and the murder of his previous lovers. Violence was also VERY much a norm for him at this point in his life.

He was literally abused and humiliated so much he learned to get off on it sexually. The only thing Franco perceived of what sex was, was his erection being smashed painfully into a cold floor. He didn't know soft or gentle caresses. And because of his lack of a mother, he searches for a maternal figure within a sexual partner. Its like his line between a mother and a partner is blurred because those two relationships became one and the same in his mind. Its not that he views HIS actual mother as a sexual thing, I think its similar to like daddy issues ? How women tend to look for the care they never got from their father in older men they date. Its a complex, a symptom of neglect. I think franco desperately wants that motherly love he never got in the form of a lover, but he's definitely gone crazy along the way and it's become a deranged version of it from the things he was forced to endure :(

Franco's brain was also most likely SEVERELY damaged when his father beat him after the whole Angelina thing. I mean, have you seen his head in the game ??? I'm sure he looked relatively normal before that. I think it was his dad's doing that made his head all red and infected how it is. He was literally beat within the inch of his life, he almost died. I can only imagine he suffered from brain damage, head trauma, skull fractures, various infections, loss of hearing, sight, loss of teeth, etc. This probably made his messed up way of thinking even more messed up.

Then, he was exiled further by his father, physically this time, when he sent him off to Cuba. He killed even more people there and was practically on warfront. War is known to cause PTSD and stuff and other mental illnesses for a lot of people that unfortunately have to go through it. So even though Franco was already mentally damaged beyond any repair, he went through front line raids against revolutionary forces.

Then, yk, Murkoff got a hold of him eventually and I'm sure they did their fair share of whatever experiments they did on him. Placing him in the trials, putting his father's name on signs, and even naming the boat in his map after Angelina. It's like they made him relive all of his worst memories in a large box.

Anyhow, those are my Franco rambles. I feel like he's genuinely such a complex character that endured so much and it's just like. He's fucked up for a reason. It's not an excuse for the things he did in the game, but its a society vs. man thing with him. He had such a horrible life and a horrendous upbringing and I can't even imagine the agony his life was. Just thinking about the things he was subjected to and the way his mind was shaped so early on is so heartbreaking. Makes me wish I could've been there for baby Franco, if he had the proper love he never would've turned out the way he had 🙁 Red barrels really does have a way of making me feel bad for all of their characters. Most of them are just so unbelievably tragic.

[irrevocablecondition]

sending you so much love and so many hugs Robyn!! i can’t really contribute to the conversation because i’m cis, but i’m so glad you’re speaking out about how trans people are being treated and, as much as you’ll be missed on tiktok, doing what’s best for your wellbeing. i think i speak for everyone that follows you on here when i say that we’re so, so proud of you 🫶🫶🫶

i've been thinking about this since it came through and im prefacing by saying that when i say "you", i don't necessarily mean You in particular, just the general you.

I MEAN FIRST OF ALL !!! thank you 🫂🫂🫂 so much <333 it truly means so so so much, but this ask is a good opportunity for me to yap here about it so i hope you don't mind <3

because this is 10000% a discussion for cis people to weigh in on!

i mean not necessarily to the same extent. trans people - and those from other communities that jkr has harmed, but i can't speak for those - will be more educated on it, we'll have more to say about the repercussions etc, but the fact this is a very trans-centric discussion is why people are upset.

because yes, we know more but also,,, we're more at risk. see here: deadname leaked. these discussions are ones that we are more adept at having (because we have to have them daily with people irl) but when those unharmed stand to the side and let us take the reigns, that's where issues arise - that's where the complacency stems from.

because trans rights isn't something for trans people to fight for alone, it's something for Everyone Who Cares to fight for. and in this space, when we're having anti-jkr discussions, if it's just thsoe harmed talking about it? that's where the negative comments i've received come in. the ones calling me dramatic or over the top or making it seem as if this is a Robyn issue rather than a general issue, yk??? because when support isn't widespread and instead concentrated on a few accounts, yes it's going to seem dramatic.

i'm thinking here about when i spoke about how people engage with celebrities (specifically ben barnes) and i got SO many negative comments. i said that the way people engage with them and force the universe on them will result in their engagement, and i got called over the top and told that i was "taking it too far",,,,, and then. three days later. he says he would take part because if he Didn't? it would "be a disservice to the millions of people that have messaged me". yk like,,, Yes. we know more. we spotted that risk before those unharmed did, but we were also ignored because i know that i and other trans creators spoke about the treatment of fancasts last year,,,, and here we are.

we (and by we i mean all communities that jkr has harmed) need Everybody to stand With us. not just nod when we speak, but be unapologetic in it. listen to us. have discussions with us, and have discussions in your own spaces. open yourself up to the prospect that, hey, maybe trans people can point the way because they know more, and then we can participate, yk?

i think one of the now deleted videos spoke about this but i get tagged a lot in comment sections. i get tagged a lot By Creators as a "@/messrsrobyn has a lot of videos about this" and whilst on one hand! that's great! i'm so so so glad to be a source of information. but on the other,,, isn't it sad that rather than having the discussions themselves, it gets handed over to someone harmed by it??? like if the people tagging me had One video about jkr, i'd be less upset. it's the fact that they Don't have ANY information about it, they never speak on it despite having (in some cases) bigger platforms with more influence, yet the reigns just get handed over, so more people come to me, and then when i talk about it again for the new people, i'm over the top and dramatic and i never shut up.

which is where education comes into it:

those harmed will be able to talk about more in depth, absolutely. but those unharmed should also be speaking about it too. it shouldn't be down to those that are harmed both inside and outside of this space to take on that full responsibility, it should be a general discussion. because if only we are fighting for it,,,, our voice is systematically weaker, and it just seems like a Personal issue when really,,, trans or cis, jkr is a threat. and more people should be receptive to acknowledging and discussing that. (again, maybe not as in depth, but it's the constantly watching to see who is safe and who isn't that's tiring)

and there's a lot of factors. i'm not ignorant to that. but i'm also abundantlyyyy aware that this (mainly over on tiktok) has been a very trans-centric fight with a small minority of us speaking about it, when really, the fandom as a whole should stand strong in their anti-jkr stance and should be combating the massiveeee rise of complacency that we're seeing with all of the hype for the reboot.

cis people might not have as much information as us, but that's because they are not harmed directly by her transphobia.

they don't have to watch headlines. they don't have to watch donations. they don't have to see where her money is going. or what her voice is saying.

We Do.

and it sounds theoretical (not to just trauma dump lol sorry) but the Cass Report??? an incredibly transphobic medical report that jkr pushed for and publicly endorsed? that report was SO baseless, full of misinformation and transphobia and it was meant to restrict trans healthcare. instead it's stripped me of All healthcare. i am not on the medical database. i don't Exist in the medical world, despite having many medical issues that need medication lest i literally potentially Drop one day. that's not a hyperbole - i need that medication, and i don't have access to it because of a report she pushed for, and then said she was "proud" of.

it's not theoretical if you're living it, and it's tiring to fight in your own corner when so much more could be done if others did the bare minimum, which is standing with us, not nodding on the sidelines.

and again, this isn't an attack on you specifically anon! you've just given me the opportunity to yap about it here <33 this is a discussion Everybody should be a part of, because when it's just trans people expected to speak on it? deadnames get leaked for being "too dramatic"

when really, all we want, is for people to Proudly Stand With Us.

[awkwardowl125]

Do you have headcanons on what animals would Dark Choco, Dark Cacao, Caramel Arrow and Pure Vanilla have?

Personally, I see both Dark Choco and Dark Cacao as dog people but not the houshold fluffy boi type of dog people but more of the hunting protective dog and therapy as a side job type of dog people (basically german shepherd owners).

On the other hand, Caramel Arrow and Pure Vanilla give off the cat people vibe. Like the "This is Fat Nugget, he bites sometimes but he gets a pardon for being a little guy" type of cat people.

Oooo! I personally see Dark Cacao as a cat person! I feel like he would randomly find himself with a cat that'd just claim him as its human, and he begrudgingly kept it (read: fell in love with it and can't get himself to send it away)

For Dark Choco, I feel like he's a dog person; however, he keeps away from animals in fear of hurting them (with time, he allows himself to be around animals)

I see Caramel Arrow as a dog person, specifically German Shepherds, since, as you mentioned, are protective hunting dogs, and given her position as First Watcher, it makes sense in my brain

Now, Pure Vanilla is tricky. He's an everything person, loves all kinds of animals, but I feel like he'd be the type of person to like chihuahuas. I have no idea why, but I can see him finding a stray chihuahua and just taking it home to the absurd amount of pets he already has waiting at home 💀

Wow, this is long �� sorry about that

[buggmintz]

Sorry for bad quality on this one, I'll try and fix that tomorrow, but here's a drawing of my oc H in an outfit inspired by the song Rabbit Hole by Deco27! I was listening to a bunch of covers as i was drawing the traditional sketch for this one, and then decided to use it as practice for rendering and stuff it looks sooo much better than this guys, i prommyyy

(HE IS NOT N. JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THAT)

edit, fix quality

[soratonin]

pretty sure the reason why shoujo chigiri showed up in my dreams is because i've been revisiting my shoujo isagi longfic wip and like in my mind (and want to expand on it beyond the fic when it's done) chigiri is a very important character in it because he's known reader since middle school (before isagi knew her) and he cares about her a lot lol. he originally thought of her as like a little sister but it changed when he saw her the summer as their first year of high school began and he knew he was cooked because she looked a bit more mature and just. WIOAGH. but he had to restrain himself because he didn't think she was ready for a relationship or anything like that because she was stubborn and a manhater most of the time, and she's kind of expressed before that she just hated boys. but obviously all that changed when she met isagi etc NOT GONNA SAY MUCH for plot wise i wanna keep most of that under wraps until the wip is posted but yeah LOL

and he's like happy for isagi and stuff because if there's one thing chigiri is that he recognizes what's good for reader, and isagi is genuinely such a good guy in chigiri's eye. even if he's a bit bitter about it he puts wanting reader to be happy before his personal feelings. because chigiri always indulged her and truly knew her before him. like in a sense took care of her. he let her rely on him a lot. in my mind he's been forcing himself to like accept that she chose to love isagi and in the end it wasn't meant to be because he was stupid in this life to think she deserved better than him than be the one she deserved. anyways too late she fell in love with isagi and it was gojover for him lol rip chigiri. in another life he'd have asked her out first </3

[nskiyuriz]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox of the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ♡ (no pressure ofc!! <3)

hashtag.... back with anotherhnmmmmmm five things that make me happyyyyyy cuz im a loserrrrrr

1. starting off strong with academic validation!!!!!! i mmmmmm i am like... i uhhh i put blood sweat and tears into studying and seeing that reflected in my grades makes me happy sooooo

2. i like commenting on fanfics... it makes me really happy to uhhhh express my emotions about something i've read and i love that that's an option with fanfiction.. i pour my entire soul into the comments i leave bc i want the ppl who write to know how deeply their words have affected me bc as a writer myself.. that's smth i like knowing? so i do the same for others idk man

3. cringe ass coming back bro i loveeee character analysis 😭😭 it's one of my fav things ever, i'm literally always thinking about characters and their emotions and everything and all the connections and if it weren't for the fact that my thoughts move so fast that i can't keep up with them .. i would've posted my analysis online before ...

4. another thing ... that makes me happy is reading.... i love words i think they're beautiful and i love seeing other people's stories and thoughts and everything bc it's like gaining an insight into somebody else's experiences and that something i find soooo beautiful so yeah i love words i love reading mmmmmmmm

5. yk what else makes me happy .. drawing uhhh girls! sometimes drawing makes me angry and i deeply regret ever trying to become an artist but other times i think wow how beautiful is it that i am even able to do that in the first place... like wow i can just pick up a pencil or wtv and pour my emotions into an image and other people are free to interpret that in whatever way they wish and isn't that just so cool????

[rederiss]

Rereading chapter 11 of TRK and ya know what… it’s the fact that no one could expect any of what will happen. We know shit will go down with Nicky and his family. I honestly thought this was just a side quest for Nicky. A small subplot, but we would never have guessed what would happen in the back half of this chapter.

It’s set up so meticulously.

I had a bit of a different experience than most, probably. My friend said “stop at chapter 11” and I immediately knew she would tel me trigger warnings. So I went in with an expectation (by specifically remembering Rape being in the trigger warnings), and even I had to stop for the night by how unexpecting it was. I knew it’ll happen, but didn’t expect how detailed it was.

[cassoftroy]

Yk everyone goes on about to be loved is to be changed? Do you think it counts in present tense too? From the other perspective? To love is to change. For better or for worse, yourself or someone else. Idk maybe this is silly billy and it's all really obvious and I'm yarning on about literally nothing but I was given the gift to write gibberish and so I'll use it.

[snailundertherock]

Do you know what a gimmick blog is? If yes, could you explain it to me? The internet wasn't of any help

@robot-anonymous

I believe I have an understanding of it.

We're basically gimmick blogs now, because our 'gimmick' is being anons from vin's blog, that's all we are and what we made our blogs for.

I think one gimmick blog I can think of is the blog that goes under posts and says that there's no whale or certified whale post.

Gimmick blogs are silly though, but can sometimes be considered annoying if used excessively to harass others

[erikaslumbers]

Team Xbalanque is so funny as a concept like

so we have. a lady raised by a dragon who understandably loves dragons, a boy who dreams of dragons and humans coexisting, and a girl who wants to protect every being including dragons

and then there's her twin brother who hates dragons, and the self hating dragon hybrid who thinks all dragons must die/be enslaved

and there's also a foreign spy who wants to take over the territories of dragons (and probably others). her companion who's overall character is somehow more unknown than where my early Fontaine luck went. and a guy who's only coming along because his master told him to

and they like or at least tolerate one another enough to travel together, and theyre all following this guy who is the greatest in the entire universe (really, he's a little shady and good at brainwashing). most of them seemingly think themselves loyal to him to some extent (particularly the hybrid trying to kill all dragons and the girl trying to protect them)

and then. it ends badly because of course it did

my doomed friend group,,,,,,,,,,,,

[aching-joints]

If one of your characters had to write an AITA post on Reddit, what would the title be?

I point to oc yap card at u ! Tell me about Jude and Alana more

I love u, ur so sweet for this!

It's funny u choose them!!!

Alana and Jude are my little lab rats who lived in isolation for like 50 years in an abandoned lab, (are they human? alien? something else? we'll find out eventually 8 -).)

Because of where they were brought up as children and later adults - a place with strict rules, a solitary room they both shared with a few books, a couch and a painting on the wall that Alana hyper fixated on for 50 odd years after the "experiment" was shut down and they were forgotten about - they have no real concept of what "AITA" would even constitute. They don't even really know how to act "human".

There's a lot to it, but the tl;dr is that Leticia went to steal something and ended up with them instead. She had to call like 4 other people to show up, because they unsettled her and she didn't want to be alone with them when taking them back "home".

Leticia actually wanted to take them back to where she picked them up from (yea, she's heartless and I'm full of angst) because they scared her and creeped her out (Alana and Jude would just sometimes stare at her for hours, it wasn't malicious though - no social cues and they did just spend 50 years in a small room with not much to do - Leticia was new).

So, the point being - there could be a lot of AITA posts (mostly Alana though, she's honestly fucking nuts, I love her though), but they possibly wouldn't even know they were the assholes and wouldn't think about it that way, unless someone told them that they were and explained why.

For them leaving that room they were abandoned in was basically exploring something new - they're not entirely human, they don't need sustenance (or so we thought) but they're discovering things like human foods, mobile phones, internet, TV, social gatherings, etc., etc.,

More to the AITA questions though

I think with Alana it might be easier because she's more eager to push boundaries she's not even aware of, ever since Leticia got her and Jude phones with internet connection, Alana has been OBSESSED. Every crappy AI food recipe? She'll fall for it. Spend six hours doom scrolling TikTok? No problem. Reddit for five hours? No problem. She's crazy about it.

It might be something to the lines of:

"AITA because I "WASTED" food trying a TikTok recipe for crunchy chicken (i've never had!!!) and accidentally giving everyone food poisoning because the chicken was raw?"

It's ridiculous on the surface, but obviously, she lacks a lot of common sense and it's been a learning process. Admittedly - Alana has a very scientific approach to things, because that's how she was raised, so her approach to actually dissecting feelings/cultural norms etc., is very skewed as well. When the topic of sex was eventually brought up, her solution was to hook up with everyone that messaged her on every dating site - she's not a fan and a bit dumb.

As for Jude.

I don't think he'd ever write an actual AITA post, because he's more level-headed than Alana, calmer, his brain isn't a continuous storm of thoughts, desires and wants like Alana's.

I think in Jude's case, he'd be more likely to directly confront the person and ask about what he did wrong and reflect on that, as much as he could, before he'd probably piss them off by asking 100 questions about why, how and again why? He's still learning too, even if he's less annoying than Alana is.

This got really long, I'm sry. 👉👈