#I can't even be mad because the reason for the hate ask is so comical like. out of all my posts. it was the one with human trains kissing

[bruhstation]

this queer trains business is crazy bro😂😂😂 how is someone calling me the f and r slurs in my ask box bro 🤣🤣🤣🤣 DID HUMAN TRAINS KISSING REALLY MAKES YOU ANGRY BRO 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[catinasockinsideabox]

In Dickbabs defense:

I can try explaining most of the pictures here in really short, I hope:

First picture, Barbara is kinda right being mad. Second, Dick was being a bit arrogant and all in that comic. Third picture, I might be mistaken but wasn't her father in danger? Sure, she's not completely excused for kicking him of course, still, try to understand her. Fourth picture... What is wrong with that? That's basically training? Those aren't even real spikes. She's yelling because in A REAL situation like that he needs to be fast. Fifth picture, did you guys even read the AFTER of that one?

Like every relationship, especially at the start, it has their problems. Barbara is holding back because of her legs, because she's in a wheelchair. However, she asked him for some time, he said he's gonna give it to her.

Next picture:

Again, have you read the after?

She's not being serious, she IS mocking but not with actually mean intentions.

"Barbara is jealous and shows her disdain for Koriand'r" um, okay? As if Kory was never jealous of a girl and Dick?

"Barbara dated Bruce!" Another universe.

"Barbara married Tim!" Another universe.

"But Barbara and Jason!" But Jason and Kory?

"Barbara also slut shamed him!" I can't 100% defend her, but she didn't know what actually happened on the rooftop, did she? I think no one knows what happened to Dick that night, Barbara only knows that he and Tarantula kissed. Of course she wasn't happy.

As said, I can't completely defend her over that, however, you can't completely hate on her. Also, that's probably bad writing by Devin Grayson. Helena once kissed Dick in front of Barbara, she wasn't really happy about it but didn't lash out. Plus, if I'm not wrong... Kory slept with both Jason and Roy in the new 52. Yes, that's bad writing and people don't count that, so why do we count this? Please be coherent.

Barbara to Kate Kane: "War? Pfft. I've dated Dick Grayson. You dated Dick Grayson?" How...is that sentence a reason to hate on the ship? I think it is pretty complicated to date our boy. Always missing dates or running off in the middle of them, for good reasons, but you can't blame the girls for feeling bitter about it. And before someone says it never happened with Kory or stuff like that, I'd like to remind you that he and Kory dates when they're in the Teen Titans. A team. Where there's always someone to help out and you're not alone. In Blüdhaven, Dick was alone, he used to mention it quite a lot too.

"Barbara blamed him for getting shot and forgetting about her" Okay, again, can't 100% blame her, but I feel like that was the stress talking. She was worried about him, she tried to get him back, now that everything is over, the whole situation hit her HARD, aka, she's stressing. Which is something I believe they both do a lot. You know... Being vigilantes and all, can you blame them?

You can't base their relationship as a normal one, how it would work for us, because it's not that simple. They both have a stressing and complicated life.

Last note, a little plus.

I've seen people hating on Barbara for this:

Now, I'd like to ask you, have you ever met someone who can't read? I'm adding this bonus because I did know someone like that. And let me tell you: It wasn't easy. If you add the importance and stress of the situation the characters are in, it's even more understandable why Barbara got stressed and lashed out like that.

Overall, you can't tell me she doesn't care about Cass, because she does. Like she does with Dick.

Dick and Barbara have a complicated relationship, but a good built up. It has its flaws, but they care about each other. And I feel like Tom Taylor isn't "trying to brainwash us into believing their relationship is all good and rainbows", obviously I can't say he wrote them all that good. Still, their relationship developed. You know, it happens.

It is built on retcons? Yeah. Is DC built on retcons? Absolutely. Their relationship is NOT the only thing that gets affected by retcons. I do believe that DC trying to erase Dickkory is a bit shitty though.

But in the end, why are you guys so unhinged about a fictional relationship? And a fictional character (Barbara). Some people act like she's a real person who committed war crimes, what in the world did a fictional character do to you? People take this stuff too seriously.

I've seen Dickkory fans acting surprised if someone agrees about Dickkory being better than Dickbabs, as if when you open the comment on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr under a Dickbabs post you won't see the typical comments:

"Kory >>>> Barbara"

"Dickkory >>>> Dickbabs"

"I prefer Dickkory"

"I hate this ship"

"I hate Barbara"

"I prefer Dickkory but..."

To be honest, I always see more posts and comments against the Dickbabs or Barbara instead of ones against Dick and Kory.

[basu-shokikita]

skwisface 46?

Ohh, that's a good one!

From this ask meme

46. (Kiss) out of envy or jealousy

Murderface tapped his feet with annoyance. It had been, what, two hours? Three hours? Yeah, three hours of this!

Three hours of trying to watch TV, and he just couldn't because two fucking idiots kept mumbling and giggling next to him. Why couldn't they go any other place? Mordhaus was fucking huge, so big that he wasn't even sure how many rooms it actually had. And they decided to be annoying right next to him? When he was just minding his business? Minding his violent news business?

Why was everybody always out to fucking get him?

"Ehem!" Murderface cleared his throat, a distinctive sign for anyone with a shred of class to figure out they needed to quiet down.

A couple of blue eyes laid of him, he could tell. Yet, instead of reading the room, they resumed the chatting moments after.

It wasn't even the good kind of chatting anyway. It was too loud to go unnoticed but too low to understand what they were saying. What was the point of gossiping in the living room if they weren't even going to share?! Dicks!

Murderface side-eyed the guitarists, hoping to cast some kind of divine punishment onto them for the crime of interrupting his leisure time.

Toki was whispering something into Skwisgaar's ear and Skwisgaar laughed, muttering something incomprehensible. They were looking at a magazine though Murderface couldn't tell what it was about from his angle. That only made it more annoying.

What was up with them anyway? Didn't they hate each other or something? Wasn't he Toki's best friend after all? That's what Toki said, it's not like he cared but why get so drunk and emotional about their friendship and then act like Murderface wasn't there just because Skwisgaar existed?!

What was so great about Skwisgaar? Yeah, he was...not bad-looking and he was okay with guitar, so what?! Did that make him better than everyone else? Did that make him superior to the human race? Who did he think he was?! Did he think being attractive gave him a pass to do everything he wanted? To treat Murderface like shit? To steal his best friend?! Well he was going to see!

They were both going to see!

Feeling empowered, Murderface got up and strode towards them. The stupid duo looking up in confusion, which only made him feel better.

"Ha!" He snatched the magazine off Skwisgaar's hands and threw it on Toki's face.

"Aw!" Toki whined from the smack, his face reddened. "Whys you-"

"Eugh!" Skwisgaar flinched when Murderface grabbed him by the cheeks. "Whats the-"

Gracelessly, Murderface smacked their lips together. Skwisgaar did a surprised noise against him while Toki loudly gasped in reaction.

“Heh." He smirked as he wiped his lips. It had lasted less than 3 seconds which officially made it not gay.

Skwisgaar’s jaw had comically dropped, wide eyes gawking at Murderface in disbelief. Total defeat, he observed smugly.

Toki, already red, turned redder and stood up. “And whats the fucks ams your problems?!”

“My problem isch that you guysch wouldn’t schut up scho I had to take the matter into my handsch.” He crossed his arms defiantly.

Skwisgaar was staring at his hands like he had never seen them before, his mouth still open from shock. It almost made Murderface flustered. Was the kiss that good?

Almost, because he wasn't gay.

"Y-You can'ts does thats!" Toki stammered, still mad. "Thats-"

"Schaysch who?" Murderface spat. "He totally liked it!" He pointed at Skwisgaar.

"Huh?" Toki grimaced, then followed Murderface's finger. "Skwisgaar?" He asked, when he saw the guitarist unresponsive.

For some reason, Skwisgaar was laying on the sofa with his eyes closed and hair sprawled all over his face, his body seemingly limp. No matter how many times Toki shook him, he wasn't moving.

"Skwisgaar! Skwisgaar!" Toki sat next to him in a panic. "Oh noes, I think he faints! Helps, Skwisgaars ams dyings!" He yelled at no one in particular and it reminded Murderface of Peanuts.

Satisfied, he left the scene as a couple of Klokateers arrived with a stretcher.

He really was a goddamn good kisser.

[bisupergirl]

Can I ask why you don't like Jon Kent? Not that I disagree or anything. It's just that, as someone who really hated Jon's kid years for a lot of reasons (the writing in general, clois having a bio kid at all, etc.), I'm more interested in the opinions of people who hated him from the beginning as opposed to those who are only mad because of the age-up.

i don't like jon because i find the entire concept and execution of his character to be so, so dreadfully boring.

part of what makes him so boring to me is how fully centered around clark he is. he's named after clark's dad, he grows up in a small farm town just like clark, he looks exactly like clark did when he was his age, he's superboy just like clark used to be, he picked up clark's mantle when he came of age and he's carrying the legacy of the house of el on his shoulders—where does lois fit into any of this? there's nothing about jon's character that tells me he's lois lane's son. he's undeniably the son of superman, but what qualities did he gain from his mother? and even when trying to define him as his own character the narrative still centers on clark—what would superman do in this situation? how can jon act in a way differently than clark? it's still all centered around his dad.

and this leads into another reason why jon just sucks to me: i really feel like he doesn't benefit lois's character at all. in the early rebirth era she was relegated to being jon's doting mother and clark's loving wife. sure she got to anonymously write those books tackling corruption or whatever but that never got as much focus as whatever clark and jon were doing as superman and superboy. it's superman and his superson who looks and acts just like him, and then lois also gets to be there sometimes. idk! i think her treatment got better when she was allowed to return to the daily planet, but then obviously her work there doesn't involve jon. so it's either she gets to be an active reporter with interesting stories OR she has to be jon's apple pie baking mother who sits at home waiting for her husband to come back from whatever dangerous mission he's on. not a fan!

additionally—and i've mentioned this before when someone asked me about jon—i feel like most of the appeal of his character (at least for kid!jon) has to do with the supersons friendship with damian and i just don't care. i've lost SO much interest in the batfam over the years and i just can't bring myself to care about superbat jr. don't take this as damian hate btw because i don't hate him at all, the batman & robin series with him and dick is like. one of the first comics i've ever read. and i still have a lot of affection for him, but there's just nothing about his friendship with jon that i find appealing. sorry to damian.

as for aged up jon... i just don't care about him. i actually find kid!jon to be more annoying to look at than teen!jon, but either way i just don't find him super interesting. this is more of an editorial problem than anything else, but i find the way that he's focused on and favored over other more established superfam members to be so, so stupid and annoying.

tl;dr he's boring as fuck and i don't care about any relationship that he has with literally any character. sorry to jon.

[spiritsglade]

also 8, 12, 22, and 26 for Jason!

[character ask game]

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Oh dear. Hard to choose one thing. I think my least favorite is that progression where Jason sees proof that Bruce grieved him -> reconciliation immediately happens. The things Jason is upset about in Under the Hood go deeper than just "Bruce wasn't sad enough when I died :(" and I feel like going with that just... eh. It's not my thing. (Also it generally comes hand in hand with Talia was evilly manipulating him into hating Bruce narratives, which I fundamentally reject.)

Tangentially from this if we're gonna go with a story where Jason is angry about Bruce replacing him with Tim, I want to see Tim go 'no no I figured out his identity and made him make me Robin because he was borderline suicidal and Batman needed a Robin,' I want Jason to react to knowing this information like he did in canon. I want him to be like 'do you really think you figured it out on your own. Bruce doesn't make mistakes like that. He did this on purpose to drag you in.' I'M JUST SAYING, look at what he was saying in Teen Titans #29 (because he somehow knew that Tim figured out Bruce's identity):

You spent weeks tracking the Dark Knight. Solving a mystery no one else could. You discovered who he was behind that mask. […] If someone was really trying to find out who Batman really was. If someone was trailing him for weeks. He'd know about it. […] He let you find him."

Let Jason (incorrectly) call Tim a lying liar 2k25.

Anyway the writing where Jason is appeased by learning that (1) Tim figured out Batman's identity independently and convinced him to make him Robin, (2) Bruce did try to kill Joker but Superman stopped him, (not what happened in that comic, for the record,) and (3) Dick killed Joker temporarily that one time is just... not very interesting to me. To me, their conflict is not one that can be easily cleaned up by clearing up a couple misconceptions. And I feel like this reading also ignores the much more irreconcilable moral divide between what Jason and Bruce believe these days.

Of course this also ties in with the whole Lazarus Pit Madness headcanon which... I flop around how I feel about it but I don't like most depictions of it.

Speed round other things I don't like:

Making Jason a brawler or someone who acts before he thinks. He is a planner!!! Yes he gets angry and lashes out but let him premeditate the lashing out. He's honed it into something that will hurt the other person the most first.

Jane Austen is not his entire personality let him read other books let him enjoy other media let him have other interests. What happened to his love for Poison Idea.

Replacement <- stupid fucking nickname. Jason can do better.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

IF HE HAS PIT SIDE EFFECTS THEY ARE GOLD COLORED !! I AM A GOLD LAZARUS PIT TRUTHER AND WILL BE UNTIL THE END OF TIME

(ignore every time i've written a fic involving green pit water. i had yet to see the light, then)

I have can't shut up disease about Jason so hang on here's a list.

Hair: Black with white streak. Curly. I am anti-ginger Jason I'm sorry

Eyes: Sheila Haywood blue for the angst of it. Brown is a favorite for aesthetic reasons. Juni Ba white, normal UTRH movie green, and Lazarus Pit gold are acceptable. Lazarus Pit green... thin ice.

Scars: Batarang scar necessary and important he always has it UNLESS specifically fanon Lazarus Pit healing nonsense took it away, in which case the fact that it isn't there makes his mental health even worse. I reject the autopsy scar but I see the appeal of making it a vivisection scar. The J brand/scar on his face I also disagree with.

Lazarus Pit erases scars for me, so vivisection scar also wouldn't exist in my heart.

Jason being unable to die permanently is canon in my heart.

Okay bonus here's a silly headcanon that I think I discussed with you before but: a reading of Jason pre-Pit as a Hollow (a body without a soul,) similar to how Oliver Queen was during Quiver (the first arc of Green Arrow 2001). Since Oliver saw Robin in heaven... just saying. Jason's soul was there.

Jason post-Pit has a soul that the Lazarus Pit fabricated and gave him. Pit Madness episodes are actually just when his new Lazarus Pit soul being imperfect, thus allowing demons to temporarily possess his body. But also sometimes his real soul from before gets his turn with the Xbox. You can play this for comedy. You can play this for angst. I think I'm explaining it bad but I think of this concept often and one day I will do something with it.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Honestly just see my answer for question 8 with regards to what I don't like, that still holds true here.

I like it when he's competent and smart and also when he gets to be a bit of an asshole as a treat. I really enjoy interpretations where he takes care of Crime Alley (I know it's a fanon thing). Him being able to flirt up until he actually likes someone, at which point he will forget every communication skill he has ever gained. His compassion esp for victims is the most important thing ever to me. I like when people remember that he was about two millimeters from blowing Bruce the fuck up in the Batmobile. Him believing in his own code of ethics separate from Bruce is also a very key part of who he is!!

LOVE IMMORTAL + ALL-CASTE + [SELECTIVELY] MUTE JASON TODD HEADCANONS. WRITE THEM MORE.

Okay hang on hot take: I don't really... agree? with how people usually write his death trauma flashbacks. Like I am very much an original Death in the Family comic arc truther with how everything went down there, which means:

He was not tied up. The Joker did not spend hours upon hours torturing him and verbally taunting him. (Sorry I am so sick of reading the words forehand or backhand?) Joker beat him up for like... 20 minutes at the very maximum and it's implied that he didn't even intend to kill Jason.

He was not alone when he died. Sheila was there. Even if you want him to hate Sheila forever and ever I think them dying together is soooo important. He wasn't alone.

Jason was not staring at that countdown. I don't think that would be a trigger for him. Even ignoring the fact that he was in and out of consciousness at that point, he spent those last few seconds launching himself to shield Sheila from the blast. Wasn't looking at the countdown.

Smoke inhalation didn't kill him I don't care what Mortimer Gunt's shitty incorrect death certificate says. It also says that he died in Bristol, Gotham. It also says that he was 4'6" (he was 5'4" according to NTT #55). The explosion murdered the fuck out of him. (The original comic says that his body was already cool when Bruce got there, which is nonsensical, but does imply to me that he was already dead dead in the explosion. It wasn't the smoke that got to him.)

I also don't like when fics reveal the Batarang Incident by having Jason use it as ammo when he's lashing out. He would not do that. That is a secret that would have be pried out of him with a crowbar.

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

THROWING A BOMB OFF THE WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. AND, WHILE HE WAS ACTIVELY TRYING TO DISARM IT BEFORE THEN, TAKING THE TIME TO MAKE FUN OF THE CONSTABLE'S BRITISH ACCENT FOR THREE PARAGRAPHS STRAIGHT.

"Hush up, Constable. Daddy's busy." "Bloody hell." "Yeah, 'bloody hell', 'bollocks' and 'bob's yer uncle.' Back the hell up twenty feet. I need both hands to do this and I can't keep the gun trained on you. Step up on me, I'll draw and you'll be having crumpits with Mary Queen of Scots." "What are you doin' there?" "Playing Mah Jong, Mary. Almost got me four melds here--aw, crap. I just found the timer. Looks like it's tea time."

^this entire exchange. I'm never recovering from it. Jason you are seventeen. (Red Hood: Lost Days Issue #5)

[jfleamont]

Hey for your jily muse, out of order <3

Okay this is unforgivable, I know. You sent this prompt over two months ago. TWO. This ask has been sitting in my inbox since the 18th of January, so you probably won't even remember sending this but I promise you I've been thinking about it constantly and waiting to have free time to work on it and I have this tendency to leave things unfinished so this is me working through that as well lol

Without further ado, here it is ❤️

Out of Order - 744 words

Evans is in the boys' bathroom. She's in the boys' bathroom and she's crying.

One of her hands is gripping the sink, while the other fruitlessly wipes the tears that keep escaping.

She hasn't noticed his arrival, and Sirius doesn't bother clearing his throat. “I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason for this.”

She makes a startled noise and turns to face him, her expression a mixture of anger and sadness. It's comical, really, so Sirius laughs.

“There is,” she mutters as she wipes her nose with the sleeve of her jumper. Her voice lacks the edge she usually aims at him— and at James, too, though Sirius can't help but notice a slight difference there.

He walks towards her and hands her his monogrammed tissue - he's never used it for this purpose specifically, but it has proved to be useful during the occasional prank or after a rough full moon - which she grabs immediately. She doesn't thank him, but he doesn't expect her to.

“Ah well, that's all I needed to know. It's not like you're invading my personal space or something.”

She lifts an eyebrow and eyes him curiously, looking more like her usual self. “I'm sorry, is there a plaque or an inscription that I haven't noticed? Does House Black monogram bathrooms as well as tissues?”

“Not that I'm aware of, no. Don't give my mother ideas, though, she might actually try to do that.”

She makes an attempt at a smile, but it quickly turns into a quiet sob.

“Apparently there can only be one crying girl per bathroom, and Myrtle has claimed the one across the corridor as hers so it's out of order,” she explains as she tries to regain control of her emotions, “and I thought this one was empty since everyone is heading down to watch the match.”

“You were right... for the most part. Why aren't you going then?”

“No reason,” she replies, her voice even, but she's not looking at him.

Sirius thinks he knows why. He suspects it has to do with the good luck kiss that Cornelia Kettleburn gave James at breakfast and how quickly Lily disappeared after that.

“Cool. I'm not going either. Fancy going to the Astronomy tower for a smoke?”

She looks taken aback. “I— wait, why aren't you going?”

In truth Sirius wants to go, and James is going to kill him for this, but lately he's been claiming that he no longer has feelings for Lily, and Sirius hates being lied to, so technically this is just payback.

“James got on my nerves so I'm skipping the match in protest,” he adds with a shrug and it's the truth, because it wouldn't be fair to lie. “So, are we smoking or not? Got a fag I can borrow?”

She's not an idiot: she knows this is an olive branch of sorts. Sirius can tell she's deciding whether to believe him or not; after a moment she sighs, and Sirius knows he's won.

“Haven't you got your own? Merlin, you're cheap,” she says while producing a pack of cigarettes from her satchel and handing it to him, a smirk on her face. He's glad to see that she seems to have calmed down significantly.

“I'm trying to quit so I stopped carrying them around,” he replies and grabs one, putting it in the breast pocket of his vest.

“Looks like it's working,” she notes as she fixes her appearance in front of the mirror and readies herself to leave the room.

“Absolutely.”

“Why are you mad at Potter anyway? Thought you two were inseparable,” she asks as she walks towards the door, a step ahead of him so that he can't see her face.

“Can't tell you, it's a secret.”

She huffs. “You lot are starting to sound ridiculous with all these secrets,” she whips her head towards him, her disapproval clear on her face, though he's almost certain this is just another way of disguising her curiosity. “Is this little group of yours a cult or something?”

“It's a counterculture,” he explains as he exits the bathroom, “how else are we going to beat those bigoted dickheads? The only way to fight a cult is with another cult.”

He's just joking, but the idea doesn't sound half bad to his ears.

Apparently Lily disagrees, because she snorts. Loudly. “Not sure about that logic but you do you, I guess.”

“Thanks for the support.”

“Anytime, Black.”

[barrenclan]

Not sure if you know about The Exlied by Katterpies, but I want to hear your opinion on 3 Mama's boys: (WARNING: long)

Rainhaze, Rockfall, and Fallenscar

You already know about Rain, he's,,,, like yours,,,, BUT I can't help but feel like Rockfall and Fallenscar are different degrees of Rain? #mommyissues gang

(not)quick review of each lad

Rockfall: Half-clanned, protag's littermate (Fishwhisker) to an asshole of a mother (and a deadbeat dad) but despite that Rock still hangs out with her? He's never verbally against or for her actions and just cowards or looks away when she speaks. He does everything she says and lets himself be baby-ed by her, maybe out of fear (of her or his clanmates) or familiarity. Protag calls him out on his bullshit after he ask her to help "HIS MOM." Rock tries to say something but doesn't fight and just walks away. From his friendliness to his clanmates, Rock seems well-liked if not a bit of a baby. So....I guess if his plan was to be a pushover so people would like him, it worked. But his sister him and he still helps his mother, even after she disses her own daughter for not being a warrior. Rock is a good guy, but in the hopes to be liked, whether by his mother or clanmates, he becomes an cowardly asshole.

Fallenscar: Fallen is a different kind mama's boy. Fallen's relationship reminds me of Dustfeather to Rainhaze. I don't think Fallenscar's mother (Crowstar) was a bad mother, Fallen seems like a good guy. Crow is a war criminal and a bloodthirsty killer, while she says she doesn't like killing children, she'll 100% kill everyone else. Despite the murder, Crow made sure he'd be taught to the clan's most pacifist and well-respected cat (Cloverfall), Fallen grew up to be a kind and caring cat, if not a bit spinless. He had Crow who loves him so much she made him deputy (maybe because it's hard to kill people in power), Whisperleaf his paternal uncle who loved him despite his hate for Crow, and Cloverfall, a sister figure and his former mentor. Crow could have easily pushed Clover and Whisper away and kept Fallen for himself, but she let him (maybe made him), be ANYTHING but her. This brings us to the big reveal, that Fallen knows TO SOME EXTENT what Crow has done. It's probably skewed but instead of being against the killing of others, Fallen blames Crow's former leader, Autumstar, for all the trouble with the other clans (there was a long-ass war btw). This ignores the fact that Crow is heavily disliked for killing old clanmates for trying to stop her from more killing, possibly continued the war after Autumstar's death, albeit briefly, Crowstar killing the leader of the other clan with no remorse, and later manmining Rockfall's mother. Like dude. Fallen was alive for 3 of these events and still loves his mother. I don't think he's stupid enough to say 'mommy did nothing wrong' but it's crazy and INESTERING AS HELL I LOVE IT IT'S SO FROSTPAW AND CURLFEATHER.

In conclusion,,, I just wanted to talk to you about this 'Mama's boy' trend and tell you I LOVE complex grey people giving birth to nice kids only for them to become complex grey people because they love their parent. I love Rainhaze and he's just as grey as Fallen and Rock FOR COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASONS. bro i love both PATFW and TE I'm so mad for them thank you for making it I'm just so hyped

@the-exiled-comic GET OVER HERE KATTI THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT YOUR GUYS!!

I love these in-depth analyses on Rockfall and Fallenscar. :D Well written! Sandywing and Dustfeather definitely share a lot of parallels, and I can see Rockfall and Rainhaze interactions proceeding very simiarly to each other. It's a fun type of character to write!

[crepes-suzette-373]

I once wondered if there's an "evil version of tsundere", and I just finally remembered that there are. It's called tsungire or yangire. Basically it's like tsundere and yandere, but without any visible "affectionate" (dere-dere) moments.

Like, I usually say "tsundere" here because it's what people know more, and I haven't found the correct term yet before, but I think yangire/tsungire are more appropriate terms.

Well, you can argue that the "dere" is sort of there in the anime, but it's not really there in the manga.

The tsungire and yangire are typically just cranky/crazy by default, but they might sometimes have a target of obsession. Sometimes, there's even a very very very lowkey "dere" feelings for that target. Doesn't have to be romantic, but it's things like caring, affection, concern, companionship, etc.

If/when they do, they don't make an obvious show or talk about it. Outwardly it's just a constant stream of barbed wire, and if the dere is actually there, it's kind of hard to filter out from all the violence/insults (according to Pixiv anyway).

That's it. That's what Niji is doing. He's really like a feral alien who doesn't know how human behaviour works and even if he's being nasty it's fascinating to look at.

This here is probably the yangire:

And then it feels more like tsungire here:

(basically that whole part of Germa returning to cover for the Straw Hats' escape, starting from him taking the initiative to ask about the Straw Hats on the phone)

More serious analysis (sort of) below.

Niji acting like this to Sanji is about the same like Law insisting he doesn't like Germa in the comics, but rambles on and on and on about them to the point that the fandom for the most part just agree that "He totally is a Germa fanboy".

I wrote this post about why I think the brothers actually all wants to get along with Sanji, they just have a very terrible perception of what is "normal" and what to do when something is "not normal".

And see, my read of why Niji in particular is so fixated on Sanji is this:

Until proven otherwise, I think this means they had to re-train Niji to also take over Stealth duties because there will be nobody to wear the Stealth suit. And I think Stealth Black missing is what's making Niji so crazy about this.

Not necessarily because he hates doing stealth, but for some people, the awareness that "something is supposed to be here, but isn't" is very aggravating. Even if they don't actively interact with or particularly need "the thing", just knowing that it's not there makes them abnormally hyperfixate on the "thing" instead.

In this case the "thing" is a "someone", but the point is the same.

For whatever reason, there is this "shadow" of the Number 3 space that is constantly present in Germa. The number 3 raid suit exist. There is the number 3 chair ready for Sanji somehow. It's like they can't ever forget that "number 3 should be here, but is gone" no matter what they do.

And because Niji is probably the one affected the most, both because of his personality and the practicality of how things work, he is the one that lashes out the worst.

He doesn't like that Sanji isn't there. When Sanji's there, he's behaving "wrong" and that makes Niji mad.

(Plus, the alternate take on the Stealth technique is that it actually has nothing to do with Stealth, but he himself called it that because he's just so fixated on "Stealth Black" missing, which is kind of even worse)

Also:

Once again, now that we know Sanji can do this, I desperately want to see him and Niji both do that vanishing act to an enemy and just kick that enemy to oblivion.

[my-supernatural-rewatch]

Episode 12: Faith

Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode Faith

So I've been waiting for this episode. It's literally my favorite of the entire season. We don't get much in the way of backstory but it is a tour de force for Jensen Ackles. (More on that below the cut.)

When Dean is electrocuted during a hunt and told he only has weeks to live, Sam finds a faith healer to help who might not be as benevolent as he seems.

Okay so before I start, I want to talk about Jensen for a minute. This blog's main focus is Dean not Jensen (which is why the caption on the main photo I post always says it's DEAN in the show not Jensen...I don't want to muck up the Jensen tags with this stuff and I think the fact that I focus on Dean is proof enough I'm a Jensen fan. No need to belabor the point). But it would be remiss of me not to note that the main reason Dean is such a great character is because of Jensen Ackles' performance. Period. He took a character they seemingly wanted as comic relief and turned him into (IMO) the main character, with a deep, rich, history and emotional baggage that kept us compelled for 15 seasons.

And as good as Jensen has been up to this point in the show, he fucking kills it in this one. We get dying Dean, recovered Dean, guilt-ridden Dean, angry Dean, sad Dean, and soft Dean. He covers it all and does it effortlessly. I will continually mention here that it's a crime against God that this man never even got an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Dean Winchester, let alone the actual Emmy...and this episode is one of those instances where I want to know what the fuck is wrong with the Academy?

Back to the show.

So while battling a Rawhead (a fucking what?) Dean, using an amped up taser (he tells Sam it's 100k volts) electrocutes both himself and the monster, killing the monster and wounding his heart so badly the doctors tell him he's going to die within the month.

Sam can't have this so Sam goes a little wild trying to find something to help Dean, including calling John. Except Sam doesn't ask John for help (unlike when Dean called John)...Sam basically says "Dean's gonna die, I'll figure it out."

I hate John so much. Have I mentioned this?

One little interesting note (I found it interesting anyway) - Sam gives the hospital a medical card for a Mr. Berkovitz. Did he tell the hospital that was Dean's name? I need to know these things.

We get a rare glimpse of one of the Winchesters (Sam) talking to the cops about the case they just solved. (Basically just, 'we heard the kids screaming and ran in.')

Saving little kids and Dean getting hurt in the process sent me to the series finale and for a moment during season 1 I was mad at Sam again for not trying to get Dean help....let it go...let it go...(never!)

Shout out here for what a good job the makeup department did making Dean look like he was dying.

Good lord, my little heart.

After Dean tries to cheer up Sam with jokes (Dean thinking about someone other than himself, even while he's dying) he gives him the hard truth:

"I'm gonna die, and you can't stop it."

Sam, realizing he's the one in charge now, replies with a defiant, "Watch me."

And here is where it starts. The whole "My brother can never die" stuff that will make Sam and Dean fight for the next fifteen years.

When Sam calls John to fill him in about his oldest, he literally says, "Just wanted you to know."

He can be a passive aggressive ass, huh? (Not that John doesn't deserve it.)

Sam is surprised by Dean at the motel. He's liberated himself from the hospital because:

"I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot."

Because even in the episode where Dean's humanity is on full display, the writers want to remind us that he's kind of a dick. (he isn't, but the writers want us to think he is for some goddamn reason.)

So Sam tells Dean they're going to see a specialist and Dean thinks that means a doctor and is PISSED when he discovers it's a faith healer. He goes all grumpy into the tent, meeting Layla, someone else who needs healing and has been to the tent a few times but never chosen. He softens around her and even flirts with her before heading in. (We also find out Layla is NOT long for this world. She has weeks if even that apparently.)

Dean has a great line in regard to good and evil: "I've seen what evil does to good people." (this is pretty much the theme of the episode.)

Against his wishes AGAIN, Sam makes Dean sit closer to the front (Dean had chosen seats near the back) and when he makes a crack about the pastor wanting people's money, the pastor hears him and ends up calling him up on stage.

Dean tries to get him to choose someone else and when that fails very reluctantly takes the stage.

Throughout this episode Dean makes it very clear he doesn't think he's worthy of saving. SEASON ONE we get this from him and Cas clocks him on it all the way in season four.

So the pastor lays hands, brings Dean to his knees, and Dean passes out momentarily....healed when he regains consciousness.

The next day Dean visits the pastor and his wife because they found out aguy Dean's age died from a heart attack the same day Dean was healed. While Dean is there to get info, he very earnestly asks the pastor flat out:

"Why me? Why save me?"

And my little heart breaks a bit.

The pastor's response: "I looked into your heart and you stood out from the rest."

So Dean needs to know: "Whad did you see in my heart?"

Get ready for the entire reason for this damn show:

"A young man with an important purpose. A job to do and it isn't finished."

This isn't good enough for Dean, though. He's just not buying it.

Meanwhile, Sam finds out that the guy who died was perfectly healthy and died at the same moment Dean was healed. When Dean returns to the motel and Sam has to tell him this news, it does not go well.

Dean: You never should've brought me here.

Sam: Dean, I was just trying to save your life.

Dean: But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me.

Sam: I didn't know.

Couple of things here: I think it's 100% possible that Sam had no idea that Dean would react badly to someone dying in his place. Because at this point, Sam still really doesn't know a fuck ton about his brother. But I also don't think it would have mattered either way. Because I don't think Sam was thinking JUST of saving Dean, he was thinking he didn't want to be alone. Dean brought him on this journey and he wasn't going to let Dean off so easy.

Oh I skipped a part...when Dean is leaving the pastor's house, Layla and her (rightfully) cranky mother are trying to see him and the pastor's wife Lee Ann won't let them. The mother goes off on Dean, not understanding why after he got his miracle he's still taking up the pastor's time and she barks at him:

"Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?"

And she's right. In a way. And Dean agrees with her...except he can't tell her that, so he just stands there silently while inside he's agonizing over what has transpired.

So anyway, Dean, of course, figures out that he saw a reaper when he was healed and that Roy, the pastor, is somehow controlling it. Can't kill a reaper, so Dean wants to kill Roy. Easy Peasy. But Sam won't let him. They have to do it the hard way and find the things that are binding the reaper to Roy and voila they're done.

So blah blah blah,stuff happens. Sam figures out how the victims are being picked, while Dean gets that job of stopping the next healing.

And guess who the next person was to get healed? Layla. So Dean first tries to convince her not to let him heal her and then Dean yells fire and interrupts the healing. Dean is no one's favorite except mine right now.

If there's a season 16 of Supernatural, I'd love one episode where Dean if not deals with at least acknowledges how traumatic his life has been. It's incredibly cruel that not only was he healed before Layla but that HE gets tasked with having to prevent her getting healed.

When her healing gets stopped Layla asks Dean why...but he doesn't tell her. Because right now we're in "we don't tell civilians about the monsters" mode...which doesn't last long. But at least if he told Layla she would have had a better understanding. She was a nice person, it would have helped, I think.

Layla walks away from Dean but not before sincerely saying, "I wish you luck. I really do."

KNIFE IN DEAN'S HEART

He responds with, "Same to you." And then under his breath he says, "You deserve it a lot more than me."

KNIFE IN MY HEART

So Dean and Sam figure out that it's the wife, Sue Ann, not the pastor who has bound the reaper and they have to go back that night to the pastor's house because he's going to do a private healing for Layla.

Sam thinks Sue Ann is evil but Dean sees things more rationally and tells Sam she was desperate to save her husband and did something bad. But now she's using the reaper to punish people she thinks deserve it and notes:

"God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work."

Dean really does get all the best lines.

I won't lie. Every time I watch this episode I think that they could let Layla get healed and let one more random person die. I mean Layla dying is just as random. She got a brain tumor...that was random.

And then I realize that's a little bonkers but still...

Dean notes that if Layla doesn't get healed at this session she's going to die soon and Sam tells him they can't play God.

But they kind of play God with every hunt, don't they? (that's me asking, not Dean.)

So Sue Ann's plan is to kill Dean while Layla gets saved. Poetic, huh?

But that doesn't happen. The reaper tries to get Dean but Sam stops Sue Ann before he can kill Dean (but destroying the thing that binds the reaper) and then, guess what? Reaper kills Sue Ann just as Roy is trying to heal Layla and...nothing. His power is gone.

The episode ends in literally one of the more depressing ways we've seen. Sam contacts Layla and tells her Dean wanted to say goodbye...so she shows up at the motel and Sam fucks off to leave them alone.

Layla tells Dean Roy couldn't heal her and Dean notes it must be hard to be disappointed with something you had so much faith in and we get this nugget of wisdom from the dying woman:

"If you're gonna have faith you can't just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don't."

She's a bit of a Mary Sue but, still, she's not wrong.

Then the gut punch. As Layla is about to leave, Dean says something we won't hear him say again:

"I'm gonna pray for you." (And we know he means it.)

Layla considers THAT a miracle and I finished watching the episode sobbing.

And Dean probably did too.

(I'm gonna go cry again.)

Some notes for posterity:

Significant music in this episode: Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult used in the absolute best way while showing a reaper chasing down and innocent victim. Chills. I got chills.

Everyone in town knows their first names are Dean and Sam but when Dean is in the hospital Sam gives the nurse a medical card with the name Mr. Berkovitz on it.

Sam drives the Impala when they go to the faith healer's tent for the first time because Dean is too sick to drive.

This is the first time we see a reaper.

This hunt takes place in Nebraska

Recognizable Guest Stars: Julie Benz as Layla

[bloggingboutburgers]

As someone on the ace spectrum, I feel many of the things you feel regarding relationships. It's great to see. Though I do have one burning question, do you hate depections of romance in general? I understand getting annoyed by pointless romance in stories but your comics portray you as disliking depictions of any romance in general. If you do feel that way, it's fine. I'm only asking because I want to know if I'm reading your intent right.

Aah, if my comics portray me like that then I didn't do a good job TwT I don't dislike depictions of ANY romance at all!

I do get annoyed by pointless romance, and I get annoyed at the fact that romance is the go-to plot point for everything, and presented as the reason anyone ever does anything of importance. I get annoyed at the fact that it seems to be treated as a rule that a person or character can't have a strong, inimitable, unbreakable bond with another person or character if it's not romance (when really those kinds of bonds can happen in so many more ways!!), or worse, that a character can't be important overall if they don't have a romance arc. It's so shoved in everyone's faces to excess that it pisses me off!

But with that said, it's not exactly the romances I'm mad about (as long as they're well written, really, one's gotta at least try to make it believable), it's the lack of portrayal of everything else. I may not understand how romance works from a first-person basis, but I've shared several times in response to previous asks that if a fictional couple is written well, in a way that even an aro like me can understand, then I can root for them as all hell (and I can be pretty loud cheering for them out loud to my screen, lol).

But yeah. Again. Not mad at romances per se. Mad that they're treated like that's the only important thing there is ever, that's all.

[ultfreakme]

and on our agenda is JonJay. How many times have I told myself not to go under comments on Tumblr, but this time misfortune took me by surprise. It was about Bernard, I decided to go into the comments, which was my main mistake. The author of the post wrote that Jay is worse than Bernard, since he can control the minds of other people (I don’t remember this at all, I know about his ability to pass through walls and any solid objects) and how Jon can meet with him. God, there was no explanation, but if this person meant that Jay forced Jon to fall in love with him by penetrating his mind, then I'm leaving this planet. How blind do you have to be when you read a comic book so as not to read that Jon agreed to help Jay himself, since people needed help. And he didn’t fall in love with him right away either, rather after Jay met the superfamily, like, yes. I’m still It's still killing me that people think Jay is the worst option for Jon, although if you ask my opinion, they couldn't find each other better. Jay literally exposed himself for the sake of Jon, what else do they need for them to believe in his sincerity. By the way, they don’t have any thoughts about the setup from Nicky to Damian. Sorry, but it still really annoys me, like ,how so. I'm still wondering why people love Bernad and Nika more than Jay. Maybe you have an answer, I don't know. (I love them too, but this injustice is killing me)

Anon, I get you so much. I answered something like this before but I love ranting and the Jon Kent tag is filled with Jay hate so I'll do it again. The reason why people hate Jay is:

Racism and Orientalism

People think Jon should've ended up with Damian

He's associated with Jon's age-up

Potential covert biphobia

None of the Jay haters have actually read SOKE. The 'mind control' rumors started spreading and becaus basically 70% of tumblr DC fans haven't actually touched more than 3 issues of the comic books and out of context panels in their lives, they don't know that Jay's NEVER 'seduced' Jon. Which is, by the way, a classic offensive stereotype assigned to Asian characters; that Asian characters, especially ones who are into men are all seducers. This is primarily applied to women but now its being applied with Jay.

It's funny because Jon WAS affected to be attracted by an actual telepathic character; Imra, aka Saturn Girl.

And this is where the biphobia comes in because Saturn Girl dated Jon, it was a disaster fire relationship in a book that mischaracterized both of them.It's implied that Imra accidentally used her powers to make Jon be into her, but NO ONE talks about it because it's a seemingly heterosexual relationship. Also she's a white blond girl. It's far easier to target the sparse Asian rep we get.

Nika and Bernard also don't get as much hate because of this reason. People can talk around it all they want, but they are more loved and accepted because they are white. If either of them were POC, they'd be getting the same treatment.

The DamiJon shippers for some reason got it into their heads that Damian x Jon is going to be a thing and now they're mad that they're headcanons aren't real. Like I can't even be kind about this because these assholes have been nothing but racist, clogging up Jon's tag by not tagging anything right, and have also attacked actual content creators to the point they've had to respond to them to tell them to STOP.

Nothing will get these people to like Jay, because they don't actually care about comics, storytelling, the messages these stories bring, the characters, or anything really. They just care that their headcanon vision of Jon's gone and it isn;t easy to project their "sunshine baby" tropes on Jon anymore since now he's actually got adventures of his own outside of Damian. And those adventures happen to be with his boyfriend Jay.

[jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear]

Hey! This is Anon from the "love OC's ask". I just wanted to thank you for defending the OC's from idtiots on internet. Like the post Amor made about Scarecrow's work still being used was such fun thing to read. To have someone call it cringe just because they add something about they OC in regard to the post is upsetting. They even added warning before OC part so people can skip it! I adore Amor headcanons either they are about Jonathan or her OC and relationships with them. But why do you think Scarecrow has such toxic part of fanbase? Like they even don't acknowledge his "canonical" comic partners. Like Sherry Squires was big part of Masters of fear! Jonathan or Linda Friitawa and her relationship with Scarebeast! Jonathan? Why are some people so mad that Jonathan has a partner, be it canonical, OC or self insert?

Misogyny and fetishization is your answer, as mentioned in a previous ask. This isn't just Scarecrow, it's any and all shippable male characters. If given the choice between shipping two males who (more often than not) never interact / absolutely hate each other, or shipping a canon male/female ship, they're gonna ship the gay stuff.

Look, I have absolutely nothing against shipping an lgbtqia+ pair, but don't think you're being sneaky when you very obviously ignore or erase canon in any capacity to make your ship work. Note, this isn't just a problem in the rogues fandom, it's ALL fandoms. (it can also be said that erasing a characters culture or skin tone falls into the same bucket of oh fuck no. Ever see people complain about Damian Wayne being drawn to look white? It's a real issue; and not just in comics)

This is a multifaceted issue. The majority of pop culture is straight and white. Obviously we're getting better. I see more gay ships in popular shows, I see more non-white characters with real stories and lives that aren't used for a racist joke ala family guy

I totally get wanting to explore dynamics of different ships, or shipping what you as a person are attracted to. That is always OKAY. Wanting to see yourself as the hero, for example, is okay. Characters like Tiana did SO MUCH for children who previously didn't see themselves as a disney princess.

Let it be known, your average gay male ship isn't an issue. Nor are most fandoms or people in said fandoms. Most people genuinely just ship for fun. Many are multi shippers. Many have m/f and m/m and that's being really general and not mentioning trans ships!

Its when very loud minority send death threats and tell others to commit suicide because they're shipping a female presenting self insert with a popular male character in a fandom dominated by a certain gay ship.I was once told in an anon ask that I should give up talking about my OC because why would Scarecrow love her when he has Riddler? Riddler is SO MUCH better, nobody cares about my stupid OC!

That's not why I stopped, but it didn't help

Not only that, but men in general greatly dislike popular female characters, not so much for shipping reasons but because they can't imagine a world were men are not in the spotlight. And then there's the problem of straight women blatantly creating fetish content about gay men.

it's a huge can of worms, there's so many strings attached to this issue. I honestly don't know if I am giving the problem justice.

[maoam]

What is your opinion of Korrasami? I always feel uncomfortable when I say that their ending is poorly developed because at no point in the seasons did they show romantic interest. I know that this changes in the comics but the truth is that I was never interested in it.

You guys love sending controversial asks to me. It's okay though, if anyone likes the ship a lot then just scroll past this or something.

First of all let it be known KA is nowhere near the worst thing about tlok. I don't want to go on a rant about the show so in case you want to know how I feel about it, this guy explains very well how poor the writing is in the show, how disrespectful it is to Atla and how Korra's character is poor. [link]

But yes, KA was poorly developed. Or more like not developed at all. And not just the romance, but the friendship as well.

I really dislike how Asami's character was handled in the show. During seasons 1&2 she was just an obstacle to makorra. Then when the writers realized many people hated the love triangle, they decided to force some forced friendship down people's throats in season 3, despite the fact it made no sense for Asami to even want to be around Korra. So after treating her as an obstacle in a love triangle for two seasons, do they finally give her development or a storyline? Nah, they make her Korra's personal servant and a bank account. She is there just to follow Korra around, tell her she is the avatar and to agree with whatever she does. And the relationship is very one-sided, with only Asami giving and receiving nothing back from Korra. I laughed when Korra said "I'm glad whatever happened with Mako hasn't come between us" because the reason it didn't was because Asami is a doormat. And come between what? You two had no relationship prior to season 3. You interacted once in season 2. Once. Then in season 4 Asami becomes even more of a cheerleader to Korra, telling Korra she can do no wrong. While Korra shows no enthusiasm towards her. Korra is someone who wears her heart in her sleeve, she can't hide her feelings at all, like we saw with Mako. So yeah her acting so meh about Asami the whole show didn't leave me with an impression she cared about her much or found her interesting as a person. And the one time Asami wasn't passive and told Korra she doesn't get to tell her what she should do about her father, the fandom was mad at her lol. And the one scene in season 4 she tried to console Korra, she couldn't do it, but instead Tenzin came in and did it instead. So yeah, great writing there. Ironically, they give Korra and Mako better scenes in season 4 (don't get me wrong, I'm no MK stan). That's not how you write your endgame couple.

And I disliked how the show pretended Korra wasn't responsible for what happened with Mako at all, that it was all Mako. Which was obnoxious, but considering the show constantly acted like the sun shined from Korra's butt regardless of what she did, it's not surprising. And this is how the shippers act as well, that Mako just used poor Korra and Asami, while Korra did nothing wrong. Lol. She was happily enjoying Mako's attention without caring about how it made Asami feel. And Asami didn't properly call her out either, because she's a doormat and she would prefer to follow Korra around than be alone after her father went to prison I guess (this is me trying to rationalize the shit writing, I know the writers didn't care whether it made sense or not).

Wow that became longer than I intended but yeah, not a fan. I peeked the comics a bit, and still didn't care about their relationship. Lots of explaining how they totally felt like this about each other for quite some time. In the end it's just damage control. If people like it, good for them, but I wasn't impressed.

[gffa]

Can I ask your opinion on something? It's about Jason and the way hes written in a lot of batfamily comics, because I can't shake the feeling that in a lot of stories he's in theres is this rather... condescending attitude towards Jason. They are always writing him as this angry impulsive idiot who can't deal with a case or have plan of his own and basically needs Bruce and the others to save him.

For example, take Cheer, a lot of people been calling the best story Jason had, but it still repeats so much of the annoying tropes that Jason gets: He's written tob e really impulsive and dumb and prone to mistakes that the others would never make, and who Bruce to explain him to not attack drug addicts, and them you have to flashbacks that are there to retroactively insert instances of him being a "bad robin" who would torture a random person for no reason and killed someone before he even became robin. And whole story gives the idea that the only reason Jason can be good in anyway is because Bruce stopped from going bad.

then In the failsafe arc when Bruce is praising Tim he has to make a mention about how Jason hated training as a robin, which is not the first time Bruce has compared Jason negatively to prop Tim.

And now in The Gotham War, Jason gets brainwashed by Bruce with that failsafe thing. And it's treated as this big awful thing... until one issue has passed, and then Jason's already resisting the symptons long enough to try to save someone but not enough to actually succeed at by himself, and Bruce saves him by giving him a piggyback ride that treats Jason like child. And Bruce leaves without fixing what he did.

Like compare Jason now with the way he was before the New52 in stories like Under the Hood or the Lost Days. Jason back them as more often than not a villain, but he was a good villain, he was intelligent and competent in a way he is simply not anymore, and makes so mad that nonee these modern stories seem to actually respect him as a character and just make really made and it just ruins most Batfam media for me.

Take this for what it is--someone who is not as deeply into Jason's character as others are and who is more of a general fan (and specifically a fan of my own Blorbo)--but my feeling with Jason's character is that DC doesn't really know what they want to do with his character and so he gets written as incredibly inconsistently by various comics because of it. So often when I look at the bigger scope of his appearances, it's not clear if he's supposed to be a villain, a villain on the way to being reformed, an antihero, a misunderstood hero, or what. And that also tends to influence his relationship with Bruce on a narrative level, how much Bruce is "right" or "wrong" about Jason or even often how he acts around the other Batfam members, especially if he gets an author who is a fan or if he's just there to be the impulsive hothead who needs others to step in. To some degree, that's just how comics are--every character is written as the dumb idiot sometimes when they're not in their own book. I often Suffer as a Dick Grayson fan or a Tim Drake fan or a Barbara Gordon fan, when I pick up another character's book for them. There can be great appearances in non-titular characters' books! But a lot of the time, when I'm reading, I have to look at the title and go, okay, Blorbo's not going to be treated as well as they should because this isn't their book. And I think that's a big chunk of what happens with Jason, one that gets exacerbated because it's not really clear what his role in the group is meant to be.

(Like, there is a VERY noticeable difference in the way Jason is written in Task Force Z--a book designed to center around him--versus when he shows up in a cameo in another book. Or there is a VERY noticeable difference in the way Dick is written when he cameos in a Batgirls book versus who he's written in his own central title. Comics, you know?) So, you're not wrong that Jason gets written weirdly a lot, but I don't see it as totally unique to his character, because it's somewhat just kind of part of the landscape of comics and somewhat just that Jason gets it more intensely than other characters because he never really had the solidification of who/what he was supposed to be in the comics, like even when Tim is written really badly and they refuse to let him evolve, at least you understand what his role is in the family, so a lot of authors have a baseline for how he should be treated. (And I don't know how well he actually does/doesn't sell comics, which is often a big influence in how a character will get treated in stories they appear in, like Bruce is probably DC's single biggest seller, so he's always going to have a baseline of being intended to be cool and heroic--mileages vary on how that comes off, but I think the intention is there, even when writing him as fucking up sometimes--like Jason is tremendously popular in fandom, but does that actually translate to selling comics? I have no idea.) I think it's fair to say that, look at almost any character in the Batfam, and they'll have a period where a lot of fans feel like they're being written the way you're describing Jason being written right now--I could probably find you people who would say similar things about Dick, Tim, Damian, and Babs right now, too, that they're being written as incompetent and like they need someone to hold their hand just to cross the street without messing it up. But also that you're not wrong that Jason is probably getting the worst of it and it's one of those things that I often have just had to learn to roll with when it comes to comics or else just walk away. (Sooooo many times I had to nearly walk away from comics because I dislike what's happening at a certain point and, often times, I have had to walk away. I walked away from DC because of it. I walked away from X-Men comics because of it. I walked away from Thor comics because of it. It's only recently that I came back to DC to give them another chance and, honestly, I'm only staying because I'm getting what I want for my Blorbo. That's kinda how comics often are, if you're here for a Blorbo, rather than here for the entire roster. /says without judgement, as I know what I am too)

[kaccvcate]

Hello! I saw your Hattiesburg comic and gonna ask. Do you know anything else abt the Hattiesburg punk scene? I’ve been having a hard time finding anything going on pink related

The best shows are at the Tavern and the Switchyard, but right now all the best bands are broken up because we're all struggling. Devastantem broke up because JJ's bandmates were mad about the way he treats girls, Zach Ross (lead guitarist/mastermind of Sloppy Dragon Jackknife) is recovering from major brain damage after a suicide attempt. I actually just got three friends to agree to start practicing but we haven't met up yet. Three people in the local scene died from suicide in the last year or so, so it's been hard for everyone. Plankers and the Two by Fours got "cancelled" because when Plankers was in high school and turned 18, he didn't break up with his 16 year old girlfriend (they had been together for three years by that point.) These kids look for any reason to tear apart musicians they think are better or more successful than them, and it's something that's been going on in Mississippi a long time (even Elvis Presley sold "I Hate Elvis" pins.) If it was the 50's they would probably "cancel" us for being satanic and playing black music.

I know Gatorfight also got cancelled, supposedly for something their guitarist did, but I can't remember what it was cause I remember thinking it was complete bullshit - they're one of the most popular bands, and when everyone in a small southern town knows you, they start making shit up, and lots of idiots believe it, cause we got lots of idiots. Luckily like me, they are also more popular on the internet, so they're still recording stuff and doing one show a year. One day I dream of opening for them 😻

Genuinely the social dynamics fucking suck here, I'm dreaming of making it big so we can have our own venue where we prioritize the music and not the popularity contest.

[gaykarstaagforever]

Welp. They did it. My psychic intuition was right (or, this was just the most frustratingly ironic thing that could possibly happen, so naturally I assumed it would):

The 8th and final episode of Kindred: The Embraced is THE BEST episode of the show.

I'm almost tempted to call it good. I can't, because I realize this is only in context of the rest of this show, which is frustratingly awful. So it's not good. It's...acceptable. Like, an okay CW show. It's inoffensive, and has some interesting things in it. And that is extraordinary art, in context. The rest of this show is painfully hilarious garbage. This is the one episode that isn't. And the fact that that feels like the movement of the Holy Spirit is only more proof that this show was bad.

They fix everything in this episode. All the stupid poorly-conceived nonsense in the other episodes, the inexplicable faction infighting, the inconsistent character behavior, the total lack of spooky vampire action - they acknowledge all of that, and fix it here, in the last episode of the series. Way after the point where it would matter. You idiots.

They even explain why they refuse to call them vampires in the show! Julian actually gives a shit about violating the Masquerade (sort of)! It's amazing!

This episode feels like a solid real-world Vampire the Masquerade roleplay, and that is all we motherfucking asked for, guys. It turns out the San Francisco Brujah are NOT evil comic book villains (mostly), they are legitimately mad at the San Francisco Ventrue, because the Ventrue have casually broken Kindred law and murdered an entire generation of local California Brujah for petty, bigoted reasons. This flips the whole script. The Brujah go from being lame mopey bad guys to being actual people who have real legit reasons for doing what they do.

The Ventrue being lying assholes who deserve all the bad things that happen to them is the most pure World of Darkness thing about this. They even explain that Julian sucks ass as Prince specifically because he was set up by his primogen / adviser to be that, because Archon was trying to force a hippie dipshit vampire to rule San Francisco with a flaccid hand as a means of atoning for his personal war-crimes against the Wine Country Brujah. All of this was his stupid selfish fault, and when he realizes in this episode that he's failed spectacularly, he lets the new Brujah primogen shotgun him to death, in exchange for that guy letting Julian the Nice Guy Vampire stay in power. That Brujah, Cameron, is ambitious to be Prince himself, and also hates Julian personally for actually doing the killing of the Brujah years ago that started all this. But he accepts that Archon ordered it, and that Julian was, at the time, just his enforcer stooge whom Archon lied to to get him to do it. And we know Archon isn't lying, because he confesses all this to Daedalus before he has much of a reason to. Like, these are suddenly undead people who are making sensible decisions with their brains. It's amazing.

The interaction between Julian and Caitlin is also really good for once, here. All of this Brujah-Ventrue backstory only gets exposed because she gets him to agree to leave the city for a couple of days, and he doesn't demand to know where she's taking him (which happens to be the exact place where he did all those Brujah murders). Which is dangerously stupid, and everyone knows it, including him. But he's an idiot who is in love and he does stupid shit like this and it ruins everything, and yeah, that's who he is. It's not good for him or anyone else, but it's consistent with his lame character. And that's sort of why Archon made him Prince in the first place...?

Caitlin and Julian boringly puttering around Wine Country is great. It's lame and includes mediocre sex, but oh man, is it 100% what these kinds of people would make themselves do and pretend they enjoy it. I loved it. Especially when vengeful Brujah hillbillies crash the party and immediately decide that thretening Caitlin is Julian's easy weak-spot. There's knife-fighting and they turn into wolves and chase eachother around, and Julian gets absolutely fucked up. It's very satisfying, and makes sense in context.

As does Caitlin finally accepting that he's a vampire, and healing him by feeding him her blood, which he is very much against. These two have a real Vegan Vampire / Dutiful Emo Girlfriend Twilight-trope thing going on here. Before Twilight did it. And while I'm no fan of that IP, I accept that vampires are a metaphor for any society's complicated sexual problems, and this is America, so we are absolutely going to be like this with this. It's kind of compelling, here. Stephanie Myers should have ripped more of this off (assuming she did; she probably did).

The thing here with Julian suddenly getting a little psycho about Caitlin knowing about his vampirism as a Masquerade violation is good as a Vampire the Masquerade thing. It just doesn't work here because why the hell does he suddenly care, after 7 episodes of being generally whatever about it? She spent the whole last episode helping you save a baby from the Nosferatu, dude. And what about goddamn Frank, the human cop you basically explained vampirism to one time, just as a lark? This makes no sense in the context of this show, up to this point. But I still like it here, in this episode that has suddenly decided to give a fuck. Julian also makes Caitlin think knowing about him is merely part of some half-remembered fever dream, using his subtle vampire mesmerism powers. Which, again, is very World of Darkness, and something this stupid show hasn't done up to this point.

...They don't resolve the Frank the Cop thing. He's in this, but barely, and it's obvious that while he was supposed to be the main protagonist at the start of the show, they immediately realized that Max Payne battling vampires wasn't a thing the 90s was ready for (for shame; but also, I understand. We hadn't even had The Matrix yet. We were children). So they were probably going to kill Frank off or make him a vampire soon after Episode 8, if they had had time. Because if they suddenly care about Masquerade violations, he's the most glaring one.

Lillie and Sasha even get (brief) time to shine, here. Sasha has a moment of standing out as a self-aware Brujah, even if she's still being treated like property by the new primogen Cameron, and it's in a conversation with worthless dipshit Cash (he gets no redeeming arc. Cash just sucks forever).

Lillie is confronted by Cameron for being a literal vamp Toreador who is using her sex-powers to play Julian and everyone else. Which is the nice way of rationalizing all the stupid shit she has done up to this point, and would have been a good new direction for this character. Cameron even warns the other Brujah to avoid eye-contact with her, and keep her virtually imprisoned in The Haven. Good on him. She's responsible for like 75% of the deaths in this show.

A shame her actress didn't get a chance to run with this new arc. It would have been fulfilling whatever potential this character had to be more than a goofy dick-hungry brat, which is all they did with her up until the literal end.

Again, it's still this show, and this show sucks. But they seemed here, in Episode 8, to finally realize it, and had a plan to fix it. I'm not going to say it's a shame they didn't get the chance, because they had eight episodes to sort it out, and actively didn't, until the very end. You came out the gate with a weird premise for a mid-90s TV show; give it your best, or don't bother.

If they had tried this 10 years later, someone may have given them more than eight episodes, and this could have turned into an okay psuedo-Supernatural. And that's about the only good thing I can say about it. There was potential here, at least eventually. But they did what they did when they did it, and history was unkind. Oh well.

...Also they don't say 'vampire' much in the show because that's a random human word for a monster based on an incomplete understanding of what 'the Kindred' are. And this explanation might be from the Vampire the Masquerade books? Kind of? Except those still led with the word VAMPIRE, so get over it, guys.

I am, in general, glad I'm done with this show. It was a chore, until the last episode. Sometimes it was funny-bad, but not usually. It was just boring and frustrating and dated in all the worst ways. And, worst of all, a shitty rendition of an IP I really like.

Watch Episode 8 and see what might have been. Then promptly forget about it, as I hope I do.