#I do appreciate the compassion op. genuinely.

[yet-another-heathen]

These provide some pretty comprehensive overviews of what Project 2025 entails. But if you read through and find yourself not quite able to believe that all these things really are being pushed for, the entire document is available here for the public to read.

I know that conservatives have difficulty grasping why the rest of us are reacting to the election as though the results will kill us. You can't imagine the democrats putting forth laws to strip you of every right you have, let alone it actually working. You can't imagine knowing that when that happens, the hope is that it will prevent you and the people you love from existing at all— down to preventing us from even being mentioned in law books or historical records.

Even just reading that last sentence sounds overblown and insane, right? Surely it's an exaggeration?

No, it isn't. That much is spelled out in the legal documents above, along with exactly how it will be done. [If you skipped over those links, now is the time to go back and view them. The first is a 3 min video, and the second takes approximately 1 min to read.]

Worse than that, this document spells out how they plan to shift all levels of government to ensure that, even after these four years of presidency, it will be as hard as possible for us to gain back our rights for the next several DECADES, even if we win the presidency in the future. This election decided how the majority of the rest of our lives will play out.

I am a trans man (and, for the record, a disabled veteran who will be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life as a result of my service to my country), living in a red state. My partner, as well as many of my closest friends, are also disabled, queer, and/or women who will be directly affected by the end of no-fault divorce and complete lack of access to contraception and healthcare.

I am not only going to lose my own rights, I am going to have to watch the people I love most in this world have them taken away, too.

I know for you, the matter of who wins or loses the election is a matter of inconvenience and discomfort, at worse. That's the way it should be, for ALL of us. (Including those outside the country who will be affected by this election anyway.)

But that is not what this is. Not for minorities. Not for people like me.

We need time to grieve the fact that the rights and freedoms we expected to live the rest of our lives with are about to be lost. We need time to figure out how to keep our loved ones safe, when leaving isn't an option. We need time to process the fact that, when inconvenience was weighed against our right to be alive, we lost.

Political post ahead, and given this is a site that is (I would say) dominantly Democratic/left/"woke," if you don't want to read commentary from a Republican/conservative/"traditionalist," I completely understand, but this is your warning.

Just dropped (albeit somewhat accidentally) into a Tumblr community about Animation, and what should I see than the first several posts being about the US election and about saying Fie upon Donald Trump. And while I genuinely feel for people who have legitimate fear over him taking up the US Presidency, I also find myself a little bit baffled to see people think the world is going to spontaneously combust if he takes office again.

Yes, I will have my own share of concern if Kamala Harris takes office, and while I don't expect things to get any better than they were under the Biden administration, I'm also not screaming-crying-throwing up over the idea. It makes me uncomfortable, but only because her ideology differs from mine, and it's difficult to be comfortable with things we don't agree with.

Long story short, I genuinely wish peace upon anyone, on any part of the political spectrum, who is facing extreme anxiety over the outcome of the election. I also hope you take a breath and realize it's not the end of the world. Please do yourself that service. You're worth the peace, baberino 🙏

[keshetchai]

I feel like ‘hey it’s fine for this to be how you feel, but acting as if it’s a hard and fast rule when educating doesn’t really work if you’re also acknowledging that it’s just your opinion’ should be easier to understand and yet,

Yeah. I think the original op and I kinda reached our mutual understanding on this but then other people are still going as if I was invalidating the discomfort, or making things up?

The discomfort is understandable and allowed and I respect that. The request that gentiles use specific language is great and fine. But the facts that I presented about actual Jewish mourning practice & liturgy are not obscure, unpopular, or even new, and they're also not my opinion.

My opinion is that you shouldn't mislead people (intentionally or unintentionally) or state things that simply aren't true when asking for someone to respect your discomfort or to acknowledge a preferred practice. My opinion is that educating gentiles, or resisting Christian hegemony — shouldn't mean rewriting current Jewish practice, or past longstanding Jewish history. My opinion is that we ought to genuinely take the intent of the speaker into account, and to ask ourselves if the other person is truly trying to convey kindness and compassion in a time of grief in a way that we do, in fact, also use.

And then ask myself like other things such as:

- did they do this to emphasize Christianity at me (hegemonically, evangelically), or is this simply the language they know and the way they know how to convey this care? I can be uncomfortable either way, but in one case I am uncomfortable with a unique individual enacting a system of hegemony, and in another I am just frustrated with the system itself and not the person. Sometimes articulating that difference is helpful and frankly, healing. We live in a society, idk.

- is it possible that somehow, I have been this person, saying something not technically wrong, but perhaps not the best or most comfortable thing for the person hearing me? (Almost certainly). Intent is not everything, but like, it does contextualize things! It obviously matters if I mean to be respectful but come off wrong footed due to someone else's feelings on something — that's very different than intentionally trying to condescend or diminish.

Op probably did not intend for this to blow up. Tumblr randomly promoted a jumblr post to me, and I responded to correct a fact that part of their premise rested on. Jumblr had this same old discourse back in 2020, and even before that, and like, I reiterated old facts. It floats around and isn't new - this is a common claim people make ("Jews never say rest in peace,") that other people debunk every so often on this site. I don't mind if their conclusion is still "I don't like that."

It's like...analogy: I am not asking everyone to feel comfortable with every verse or mitzvah in the Torah. I understand and appreciate that certain things in the Torah also make me uncomfortable, and those things aren't the same for every Jew. But I can sympathize even if we don't have the same discomforts. I can wrestle with those things, I can emphasize what I think is better or more comfortable within the Torah, what I think takes higher importance in Torah over the uncomfortable things, I can question how I understand the verse, I can question my own discomfort and other's comfort, why we differ and what that means — all of that — but whether or not I'm comfortable, the thing is still in the Torah.

I think I'm also just baffled by some of the responses like - not the ones from op, but everyone else responding to me? The logic is...really weird! I didn't address half the arguments made because they're just strange. And then half of them are like...what do they even intend when they say this? Like this idea that burial and memorial liturgy shouldn't count in a discussion about how Jews talk when memorializing our dead, because it's just "liturgy." That argument made me feel like I was in the twilight zone lmao. I'm not going to apologize for understanding our religion lol.

Also absolutely not a single soul addressed my citing Chabad and Shiva.com (which is expressly aimed at helping even non-jews understand how Jews deal with death, mourning, and burial!) And that is BONKERS to me.

[waywardstation]

I hope I'm not adding any heat to the fire here, and I REALLY hope the slight continuation of this topic isn't making you uncomfortable. (Genuinely sorry if it is.) Unrelated to pokemon fandom stuff, the topic of "fluff vs. angst" is something that has always been really fascinating to me as a writer.

There's one YouTube video I always think about when I see discussion of dark/light content, whether canon or fanfic. Jacob Gellers video about the Legend of Zelda franchise; "Every Zelda is the Darkest Zelda"

It's forty minutes long, but I can't recommend it enough, especially to people who are invested in the topic of light vs. dark content in family friendly media.

There's one "quote" in the video that sums up his point perfectly, and is exactly how I feel about the "fluff vs angst" topic, and I hope you don't mind me sharing it. It's a sentiment I love and take to heart when I write anything:

"The problem, ultimately, is what that darkness leaves you with. I could write 90% of an essay on how any of these games (LoZ) are the darkest in their series, but then you get to the end and... what? "Isn't it crazy how messed up this is?"

It's an empty reading, substanceless. Ironically... it's juvenile. Being "messed up" is not a theme. Darkness is not a narrative. Violence on its own is not mature.

To brand any of these games as "the darkest" is to miss the forest for the trees, focus on the storytelling methods without considering what the stories themselves are doing with them. Heroism shines when contrasted with darkness. Acts of compassion mean more when the stakes are high. A world without joy and humor isn't a compelling world to fight for."

Thank you for letting me share, and I hope you're having a good day or night (haha get it? like light/dark) wherever you are matey

Link to Jacob Geller’s Every Zelda is the Darkest Zelda video on YouTube

No worries OP! It is something that I admit makes my head a little fuzzy haha, but it’s not bad at all! I appreciate you considering my thoughts though, thank you ^^

What a fascinating quote! It makes me consider the use of lighter and darker content. I haven’t seen this video before, but now I’m interested in watching the rest of it. (And I do very much enjoy the Zelda games and wouldn’t mind listening to a video essay on them!!) I can see why you can appreciate this quote!

Thank you for sharing OP! I’ll most likely listen to this tonight; hope you have a good day/night (ha! Yes, light/dark!) as well!!

[blackwoolncrown]

Also my time in organizing I’ve come to feel like there is no substitute for family and family is what I really want to work on/with. I don’t do middleground socializing well. I don’t think that’s a flaw. I am with an alliance that’s very political and while I KNOW that its work is limited bc of the nonprofit industrial complex and its reliance and involvement with general politics I appreciate how straightforward it is. There are emails. We meet up. We approve things. We organize funding. We are not expected to socialize beyond that and no one’s asking me to attend the fucking group chat or gossip.

I’m also organizing my household. I have two partners and a soul sister and I organize long term and gardening plans with them, doing soft direction and delegation and general Femme of the House shit. And that works because we all genuinely love each  other and show up with compassion. And because these are people I CHOSE to be around because I have genuine kinship and affection for them, I trust that things will work out and constantly stay open minded and unlikely to point fingers or feel attacked by their actions.

The middle ground of comradeship feels a little like the idea of there being inherent ‘community’ in spaces where ppl have like interests- it’s bullshit. In reality y’all don’t love me like that and there’s not enough oxytocin in the bond to keep shit going. At the slightest provocation most ppl default into whatever trigger/ego based narratives of victimhood and start acting funky but NOT actually communicating directly like a mature person would with a person who they do not want to lose from their life. Yet since it’s grassroots no one wants it to be ~too organized~ which, aside from the previously mentioned inability to communicate effectively, directly and honestly- is the second biggest problem with organizing today, and I say this as someone who researches what professionals and long term organizers have to say about this---

people are confused about what makes the bad guys bad and in their efforts not to be like the systems we’re trying to take down they avoid proper structure and anything too rigidly organized which is why the shit falls apart. You need structure. No matter how many daisies you wanna paint on your co-op’s sign at the end of the day if no one wants to be the Big Bad Man by imposing a structure and everyone’s still too stuck in their childhood trauma to adhere to one then it’s not going to fucking work. There has to be a base structure everyone agrees to follow.

You cannot do the work and lack discipline. You can’t.

[a-lil-perspective]

A little peek of my wip “The Good and the Same”

Featuring Cody and Hunter, in which the two catch up over drinks. This is my first time writing for Cody and I am finding I really quite enjoy it. Anyway, thought I’d share a snippet in an attempt to spark some inner excitement—I’ve been incredibly mean to myself over my writing lately and it’s just been rough going.

———

“So tell me,” Cody took a break from his drink, setting it down with a announcing clank. He hollowed his cheeks, sucking at the residual liquor to be found there. “How are the boys holding up?”

It was easy to appreciate when Cody asked; he was the only one who ever did so without the recurring connotation of ‘performance’ to dress it. Everybody wanted to know if Clone Force 99 held up to their engineering, to their one-hundred percent success rate. Cody genuinely cared about their welfare, and nothing spoke more profoundly to Hunter than someone on the outside emotionally investing in his boys. The Marshal Commander’s compassion went way back.

Hunter felt himself begin to loosen, though he wasn’t entirely sure whether it was from the alcohol, or the company, or a sprightly mix of both.

“They’re good, I think,” Hunter answered, shrugging. “Same old same old.”

Dissatisfied with the ambiguity, Cody raised an eyebrow. “For you four? That sounds rough going.”

Hunter thought about that for a moment. “No, they’re doing good,” he assured. As good as a Clone could get, anyway. “Just a bit bored. Giving me headaches.”

Cody made a sound of understanding. “Sorry I haven’t had more for you all lately. Been pulled away to seemingly everywhere at once and I haven’t been able to gather enough op lineups to keep you occupied for longer than a rotation or two.” Cody sighed with far more patience than was expected of him in that moment. What was meant as a dutiful smile revealed as raw weary to Hunter. “Sometimes I wish there were more than one of me.”

Hunter’s face twitched and then both men erupted into hardy laughter. It was so refreshing and light in a way alcohol had no influence over.

Hunter coughed, swiping at the strained tears that had formed in his eyes. “Yeah, there’s only several million of you, brother.”

“Lucky me.”

Hunter grimaced. “Bit touchy there, eh Commander?”

“What can I say,” the Commander’s equable disposition was working fervently to reset. “We can’t all be as distinct.” He smiled at the way Hunter preened briefly at that before the Sergeant retreated to that frustratingly bashful state of his. Had Cody not been as familiarized with Hunter’s tendencies, he’d have wondered how he ever assumed an authoritative role. For an elite Commando, Hunter’s self confidence could be best compared to that of an oscillating pendulum. Peculiar, to say the least.

“It’s just the hair.”

“I know a couple of troopers who’d kill to have that.” That pulled a wry smile from Hunter.

“I like you vod, but not that much.”

Cody sighed theatrically. “It was worth a try.”

Hunter paused to take a moderated pull from his bottle. He brought it up and tipped his head back, letting it run acridly down his throat before he set it back down with a smack of his lips. His fingers laced around the base as he steered the conversation back. “So what about you? How’s your headache?”

Cody smirked as a peculiar and ever-present strain of it came to mind. “Being a massive pain as usual.”

“Kenobi, right?”

Cody chuckled roughly and tossed back the rest of his drink. “That’s him. Crazy Jetii.”

“You two must get along swell then.”

That was one way of putting it, Cody supposed. His lips steeped up with something reminiscent.

“Yeah, something like that.”

[kitts-mechanix]

I think this is why Transformers struck such a cord in me when I discovered it. Living in a politically unstable country, people at each other's throats, evil on all sides wanting power, and then me, a woman of my own conviction, being told by the public I'm an evil being for daring to go against the majority.

I do want to make it clear that I come to fandoms to escape politics and hate media that makes a big allegory out of today's issues. However the main theme of Transformers hasn't changed much since it first began, it's a story about good vs evil but you see how complicated both sides are, which I really appreciate. I am in NO WAY comparing the Autobots and Decepticons to any parties, but I can compare them to people.

What I love about media like Lord of the Rings and Transformers is that they are not political allegories like, say stuff like South Park or Family Guy (neither of which I've ever liked, all they do is preach hate and trigger you to get angry). LOTR and TF show that things aren't black and white, they're complicated. It's an allegory for humanity. You can see where the dark sides came from, what made them to become that way, and you can see where the light sides are flawed. But both LOTR and TF also inspired me to be kinder. To be braver. That you can hold onto your convictions and fight for them but still be merciful and understanding.

I won't get too deep into my religious beliefs here, but as a Catholic it deeply disturbs me how certain leaders are idolised like they're just below Jesus Christ. The reality is no one person is going to save the world, or the country and at the end of the day they are humans with sin and vice and want something out of this for themselves.

I could relate to D16 so hard as someone who has been betrayed by people I've idolised. Not celebrities but actual real life people. As someone who's been trapped in slaving away under a lie. And when some things passed where I live that I believed were wrong, that's when I felt my inner D16 turn into Megatron. The pure irony is that the people here probably DO see me as Megatron, i.e. the bad guy.

(I believe it was after, because they didn't believe Alpha Trion when he said Sentinel was the enemy, until they saw him submitting to a greater enemy. I think this is a good reminder that all leaders, good and bad, have a higher up they have to surrender to).

It's hard when you see things you know are true and people won't believe you. I suppose I've always felt like the Royal Guard (that's what Starscream and co. were if I remember correctly?). Ostracised by all for my own convictions.

I think no matter where you go in the world there will always be some illusion people are living under. I'm just a woman who wants to seek the truth. Which actually can be quite hard, especially as a young person, because I'll admit I can be naive and I've fallen for some pretty bad things before.

But I think you have a great point about not burning everything down. Sometimes all we want to do is tear down everything, but that only creates more destruction.

Some people criticised Orion Pax for telling D16 not to be like Sentinel and thought he was being naive. But I think Orion could tell that hate was destroying his friend and he didn't want that hatred to consume him, because it IS destructive and offers no good. And when you destroy everything, you destroy the innocent people on all sides who are caught up in this, those who genuinely believe they are doing the right thing.

I remember in the pilot 3-part episode Spike writing that Optimus Prime would make a great President. And by Heavens do I wish we had him as one. Maybe I'm just a blind fangirl caught up in her fantasy but imagine if we actually had someone like OP as a leader. I know he wouldn't be perfect, but maybe he would bring people together and show compassion which is severely lacking in this world today.

I have no words other than I have officially gone from feeling like D16 to feeling like Megatron.

I do not wish to elaborate any further.

[popularspeck]

Oh my goodness; I did not expect for people to actually see, let alone reply, to my earlier post.

I genuinely do appreciate the people who took their time to respond, so I wanted to hop on my laptop and continue the discussion because I think this is such an important discussion beyond the circumstances that it arose in.

First off, I'm just going to say for context that I am a small blog. The purpose of my blog is to support writers as much as I can. I generally don't share a lot about my identity on public social media, but I am a woman and a writer (just not so much on tumblr). In my personal life I am also a social activist, and I’m studying relationships and mental health. I don't write personal pieces nearly as much as any of the individuals I am referencing, so I could never completely understand the kind of burnout that entails. But I have experienced what it feels like to be devalued and frustrated. I'm also going to tag the people who responded in hopes to either keep the conversation going or just get my message out there (isn't that why we're all here?).

Okay so. I think there is a general suspicion that I am the anon that sent that message, which is leading to some added tension. I want to clarify that I am not that anon. I don’t know that anon nor the actual writer they were asking. I have just seen too much of this kind of thing, and I happened to respond to this instance. 

I also don’t want to give the impression that I am telling the op how to feel. I have no desire or power to force someone to react a certain way. I am only sharing my opinion on a public platform about an issue that was made public. When I say “choose love” I don’t mean “don’t be angry.” I mean don’t choose to direct your anger and frustration at someone you don’t know. 

@therealvalkyrie and @whats-her-quirk seem to care very deeply about op, and that is wonderful that they are giving her their support. I only want to offer a different perspective and give support to someone who I feel could be easily overwhelmed by the backlash. To be honest I was going to keep scrolling until I saw all the commenters going at the anon. That was what bothered me.

We all know how easy it is to be cruel on the internet, even if it’s not intentional. It worries me how quickly people were to assert hatred over compassion. Even in my own inbox, I received rude messages from people who seemed to only grace my page to find my asks and leave just because of one post I made. One such anon wrote “I just know you’re annoying af in real life.” Yeah. They’re probably right. I’m sure this is all very annoying to you all. But this is my real life. My blog is not a fake self, but it’s much easier to pretend it is. What kind of culture is this breeding? Someone disagrees with you, or god forbid, wants to offer compassion to someone else and we can say “shut the fuck up” and move on. 

And this all may seem pointless, and even a couple times while writing this did I ask “why should I bother?” But it matters to people. It matters to the random anon in my inbox who expressed a shared distress at how quickly people jumped on the opportunity to be cruel. These responses do inhibit engagement and make people feel unwelcome. That is why I took the time to publicly offer my support, and I maintain that my inbox is open for further discussion.

[smokeybrand]

He Gave Us The Signal

I’ve been giving Batman a lot of sh*t lately and feel like this gives the impression that i actually hate the character. I don’t. I actually really love Batman. His entire mythos is really the only thing i like about DC Comics. I find the way there heroes are represented to be unwieldy and too fantastical for me. I absolutely know how contradictory that sounds because, you know, comic books, but lets be honest; It’s a lot easier identifying with Spider-Man than it is Superman. Marvel characters, from the outset, were grounded in the real world. They were written like real people. I got into comics during the gritty Eighties so all of the comic companies were trying to reintroduce more grounded, grimy, fare. Indeed, my first Batman comic i ever read was the introduction of Killer Croc. The first Bat-book i ever purchased with my own money was The Killing Joke. That version of Bat,an is my batman and, while i have had a roller coaster relationship with the character over the last thirty years, dude remains one of my favorite characters to date. I just wanted to take some time and gush about what i love most in the Bat-verse. Just the comics though. If i included ancillary media like the cartoons, movies, or games, I'd end up writing an entire novel.

Cassandra Cain

I love Cass. Love her. I think she is the best addition to the Bat-Family, period. Aside from injected a bit of Asian representation into a mainstream comic with little to no fuss, her character is the most compelling one since Bruce, himself, to get that shine. Progeny of super-skilled assassin, David Cain, and one of, if not, THE best martial artist in all of DC, Lady Shiva, Cassandra is a one woman wrecking crew. She was hones as a living weapon since birth, for the sole purpose of brutalizing man. Cass is an AR-15 with legs. She is easily the best warrior, including Bruce, among the Bat-fam and yet, the most delicate. Watching Cassandra grow from a violent mute into the woman she was right before the New 52 was a pleasure. And then she was erased for half a decade. That sucked. However, her recent reintroduction as Orphan has been pretty chill. I like the relationship she has with Duke Thomas. I liked how she could feel compassion for someone like Clayface, even if no one else could see the same thing she could. I love Cassandra Cain, man. I loved her as the bet Batgirl. I loved her when she had her title snaked away and became Black Bat. I'm loving her as Orphan. I like what Cass has become so far. Here’s hoping they don’t f*ck her up going forward.

Knightfall

I actually really like Knightfall as a concept. I don’t much care for all of the other sh*t that goes on after the book, Azrael Batman was a mistake only redeemed by his White Knight revamp, but i tend to gravitate toward arcs where Bats is given the full-court press and Knightfall is one of the best. It also introduces Bane, a character i am rather indifferent to but still respect, as a proper force of nature. To this day, his breaking of the Bat has been a defining moment in the Bat-mythos, one that has lingering repercussions like The Killing Joke or No Man’s Land.

Damian Wayne

Damian took a few years to grow on me but i love the little dude. he’s like a mini version of his assault father and i love it. There is so much sass packed in that little kid, it’s ridiculous. That said, he is not to be taken lightly. Damian Wayne is child of Brice and Talia Al Ghul, through what can only be seen as a drugged rape at some point. We’ve seen this idea flirted with a few times, the first i can recall being Ibn Al Xu'ffasch from Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come. When i realized who that character was, i was shocked and intrigued. It felt like there was a ton of potential there and a proper missed opportunity for mainstream DC comics. A decade later, we were properly introduced to one of the best additions to the Bat-Family in decades. Not better than Cass, though. And, before you get at me about that super deepcut, questioning my Bat-cred and everything, yes, i am aware that, technically, a version of Damian exists in the main Bat-contnutity dating back to the Eighties. Son of the Bat is a thing that i acknowledge but that kid as never names and had no character so i prefer to think the 06 introduction is the real origin of Damian. Plus, kid got a pet cow. That sh*t is adorable.

Joker

I wanted to put Joker War here because that was the best Knightfall story I've read in years but then i hesitated because i realized how much i loved Endgame. And then A Death in the Family. And then The Three jokers. And then The War of Jokes and Riddles. And then Emperor Joker. and then White Knight. And then The Killing Joke. And then The Man Who Laughs. And the Mad Love. And so many more that escape me at the moment I'm writing this. I realized that it was Joker, himself, that i loved so much and for good reason. Joker is, quite literally, the best comic book antagonist of all time. He’s so malleable, evolving over the years with the times and trends, lending his distinct clown chaos to some of the best Bat-stories ever written. The ambiguity of his identity coupled with the fact that he knows Batman’s entire history is absolutely horrifying. The fact that he refuses to even assault Bruce on a civilian level because “it’s not fun” is absolutely contradictory and solidifies his position as pure, antagonistic, chaos for the Batman, alone. There is no Joke without the Bat and i love that dynamic so much. I love this character so much!

The Court of Owls

I really enjoyed this whole arc. Thomas Wayne Jr. The Talons. The whole clandestine cabal of elites, poisoning Gotham for their own gain. It tickles my tin hat sensibilities while being something that makes all of the sense for the cesspool that is Gotham City. The Court of Owls was easily one of the best narratives to come out of the overall abortion that was the New 52 and i appreciate Scot Snyder for bringing it to us. This narrative fleshes out a lot of underlying aspects of the mythos, gives a bit more agency to and intrigue to Dick, and allows for a myriad of potential stories where Batman is effectively pitted against Gotham, itself.

Jason Todd

I was never a he fan of Todd as Robin. At that point, it was just him and Dick, and Dick was a MUCH better character. In my opinion. I enjoyed his introduction, though. Snatching the rims of the Batmobile was kind of a brilliant way to differentiate him from goody-goody Grayson. If I was old enough to vote, I definitely would have voted to kill him way back when. Fast forward to his resurrection in Under the Red Hood, and I am hooked. His super edgy, Punisher-esque, vigilante justice is fantastic to see. Todd is understandably brutal, violent, and unforgiving. His solution to crime is a bullet between the eyes and that makes for the most interesting dynamic with his pops. More than that, outside of the Bat-family books, Todd is thriving. I love Red Hood and the Outlaws. The current run, not the original. Mostly his relationship with Artemis but I adore the big brother position he took with Bizarro, too. Jason Todd started out as a ridiculous replacement for a beloved Robin, got beaten with a crowbar then exploded, resurrected decades later to take on the mantle of the man who killed him, raved through Gotham on a one-man mission to destroy everything that was the Bat or Joke, and eventually settled into being the black-ops branch of the Bat-fam. I respect his growth as a character and I love his relation ship with Artemis to bits. That feels super right. That Trinity, the Dark Trinity, is my favorite and it absolutely has everything to do with Jason Todd's utter bad-assery. His new costume his sh*t, tho.

White Knight

I’ve literally wrote an entire essay, gushing about my love for this Elseworlds universe. You can search for that on this blog by looking up Bat Kino or White Knight to bring up my detailed fangasm if you’re curious but, in short, the White Knight universe is the best Bat-anything I've read in years. I really, really, liked Endgame but White Knight is so much more compelling a read, it’s hard not to give it the edge.

Harley Quinn

I’ve written in part about my love for Harley in my post about my disdain for Punchline. I love Harley, man. Watching her growth as a character has been a very real privilege. She’s been handled incredibly well by the writers at DC and watching her popularity grow over the years has been very refreshing. Harley always had the potential to be great. Her introduction in the Timmverse was one that sent ripples throughout the fandom so, when she was moved over to the comics, it made sense she’d be a hit. More than that, comic stories are free from the constraints of television censors and we saw an absolute evolution of Harleen over the next three decades. Harley went from being a lovesick whipping girl, locked in a violently abusive relationship with one of the worst psychopaths in all of DC, to a brilliant vigilante and trusted ally to the Bat-family I love that Harleen has found real love with Ivy, even if DC keeps shenaniganing that relationship. I love that she uses her PhD whenever she can. I love that she is one of the most complete, nuanced, and fun characters in the entirety of the Bat-fam. Harley Quinn is a real gem and one of the best things about modern Batman. Even is I do miss the old jester outfit.

There is, legitimately, SO much more I can reference because Batman has a very LONG history full of content to adore. Off the top of my head, Bat-Cat, Hush, Bluebird, We Are Robin, Year One, Damned, The Dark Knight Returns, The Long Halloween, Signal, Beyond, Gotham Girl, Thomas Wayne; It's like an embarrassment of riches. If I listed everything, I'd be here all day. Just Joker stuff, alone, is more than enough to fill several of these lists. I really, genuinely, love Batman which is why it's so seeing him written so poorly as of late. The climax to Joker War was excellent, I'll admit that, but the lingering issues with that OC Punchline chick taints that triumph for me a little bit. The idea of The Batman Who Laughs and the entirety of the Dark Multiverse is absolutely intriguing, but look what they did to my boy. They massacred my boy with all of this literal godhood nonsense. And don't even get me started on this Ghost Killer guy. I thought Clown Hunter was a little bit of a shark jump but this guy? Word? Batman is a great character with one of the best rouges galleries in comics (Spider-Man give him a run for his money) and one of the deepest, richest, histories to pull from. He is a character that has endured for eighty years and I know he's weather this panicked stunt writing as of late. I just have to remember the stuff I love and try to tolerate the rest. Even after taking the worst kind of hit, Batman always finds a way to stand back up.

[iamdeltas]

X, T and K?

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM This depends a lot on what I’m focused on at the moment (also, not all my faves count. Generally if I feel like a fave character has enough fans to defend them or whatever, I’m not gonna feel like I need to defend them. For instance, Elsa. Does Elsa have her haters? Sure. But she’s also crazy popular, so who cares if a few people hate her? That’s why she’s not on this list, even if I do like her.) but here goes, not in order tbh, just off the top of my head: Kamala Khan, always my girl, I adore her so much and I saw a post one day talking shit about her and I wanted to throttle OP. Anyway. Kamala is the best. I cannot wait for her MCU debut. Cassandra, from Tangled: the Series. I adored Cass right from the start, and of course, right from the start, I saw people shitting on her for, IDK, daring to *gasp* not like Eugene, I guess? Wow. So yeah, I’ll die defending Cass, she’s the best, even if she made some bad choices in s3 but hey. Who hasn’t stolen an ancient powerful artifact and gotten manipulated by a demonic Eldritch being, amirite? Della Duck, from Ducktales. I adore Della, she’s such an interesting and complex character who has made her fair share of mistakes but is also trying her best. The whole discourse post-”Timephoon” really showed me that she’s a character I’d die defending as well because holy shit were people shitting all over her for... daring to ground Louie, her son, for literally causing a spacetime disaster because he wanted to make money. Sigh. Anyway. I adore Della. Anna of Arendelle, from Frozen. Oh, Anna. So many people just flat out ignore you in favor of your sister, which is so unfair. Anna is wonderful and determined and optimistic and honestly such a badass? Like that (sadly deleted) scene said, her love could hold up the world. (Fun fact, part of the reason I desperately wanted my brain to get off the Frozen traintrack it was, ah, frozen on from June 2019 to January 2020 was because it resulted in me fixating on how much people flat out do not care about Anna, which wasn’t a fun time!) I am very glad she gets to be part of the bridge with Elsa but am sadly unsurprised that people continue to ignore that and just insist that it’s only Elsa who’s the Powerful, Wonderful, Most Amazing Fifth Spirit. Anna who? Granted, the movie could have emphasized that it’s Elsa and Anna who are the Fifth Spirit, together, but still. 

Alex Danvers, from Supergirl. Still my favorite character on the show! I don’t think she gets bashed as much as mostly just ignored? (I’d say poor Kara gets the brunt of the bashing. It’s very sad.) Unless Lena stans get confronted with the fact that their fave is doing some highly Unethical Things, then they start pointing to Alex for some reason and start saying, Yeah Well, Alex Works For A Shady Government Organization, So Who’s The *Real* Bad Guy Here? (Me: ....it’s still Lena, but go off, I guess.) I guess I just generally relate to her overwhelming Big Sister-ness and the high pressure she puts on herself because what a Mood, amirite? I feel that whole, anxiety that your parents will be disappointed in you because I feel that every day! I also adore how dedicated she is and how smart she is (something the fandom and the show often seem to ignore...) Connie Maheswaran, from Steven Universe. She’s the best! And she was totally the MVP of Steven Universe: Future, telling off all the Gems for making Steven’s problems about them because that was the last thing Steven needed! She’s practical and smart but at the same time so adventurous and brave and willing to stand up to protect the Earth! It’s very admirable. Steven Universe, from... you know. I’ve always liked Steven but I think Future gave me a greater appreciation for this kid. This poor kid has had to grow up so fast and basically play therapist for his Gem moms as well as for Gems who literally tried to kill him multiple times. His compassion is so admirable but wow did it result in him putting himself last! I have a soft spot for these types of characters, the characters who care so much about other people that they forget to care about themselves. (Alex Danvers is in this category also.) I know some people got mad about his downward spiral in Future, but honestly the complaints just strike me as being mad that Steven dares to have his own problems as opposed to being the Happy Boy Therapist Who Fixes Everyone Else’s Problems And Has Zero Problems Of His Own. Martha Jones, from Doctor Who. Oh, Martha Jones, you’re a star. I had a group of college friends who I watched Doctor Who with back in the day, and they hated Martha. (Most notable exchange: one of said friends saying that she thought Martha was just “too smart” to be relatable. Said friend was a physics major.) I hope the Martha hate has cooled down now because Martha always deserves so much appreciation. She had to put up with so much in s3 (incidentally, I think about s3 sometimes and I wonder why the fuck 10 is my favorite Doctor. Honestly, he’s such a dick in s3. Martha Deserved Better.), and I’m so glad she was able to be one of the few companions in NuWho with a nontraumatic exit. I hope she’s living her best life, wherever she might be now. Ninth Doctor, from Doctor Who. Gosh I love Nine. Those same college friends who hated Martha also told me to skip s1, and I’m very glad I did not listen to them. I’ve always liked Jerks with Hearts of Gold, and Nine definitely is that! I just adore how while he had such a gruff and battle-scarred demeanor, he was so sweet and genuinely kind. He’s a puppy in a leather jacket! And not only can he be genuinely soft and sweet, but he’s also just so silly sometimes? Absolutely not what you’d expect from his general appearance but he can be quite a goofball! I love that for him! And while I may not like Doctor/Rose as a ship (honestly I just don’t tend to like Doctor/companion ships at all), his relationship with Rose was so sweet. I also just enjoy that, underneath all the weariness and the surface-level cynicism, he is actually very optimistic.  Twelfth Doctor, honestly, same deal as Nine. I’m very annoyed with people who dismiss him as being the Grumpy Doctor because he’s just so genuinely kind and compassionate? He might genuinely be one of the most compassionate Doctors I’ve ever seen. He even extends kindness to his worst enemies. There’s something really beautiful about that. Being kind, even when it might ultimately backfire on you and might not even work, because why not try? He’s just a punk rock grandpa trying his best, how can you hate that? He’s got some sick guitaring skills btw. He should join a band. (I know Peter Capaldi is in a band, so that just makes me want 12 to be in a band even more.) Sometimes I think there should be a band in the Whoniverse made up of some of the Doctor’s regens but then I get stuck on who’d be in it besides 12. Maybe 2 can be in it, with his weird flute thing. Anyway. His relationship with Clara was great (mostly because of how destructive and codependent it was lmao) but I just genuinely adore his connection with Bill. I’m always here for found family, and Bill being 12′s Earth granddaughter just warms my heart so much! Thirteenth Doctor, but actually the opposite deal of Nine and Twelve. I once saw a post saying that most Doctors can be split into one of two categories: grump with a heart of gold or charming goofball with a dark side. And, despite the two characters I just listed being in the former category, I think I tend to prefer the latter? Mostly because I see plenty of Jerks With Hearts of Gold but I feel like I don’t see as many heroic charming goofballs with a dark side. Anyway, that’s absolutely what 13 is, and I appreciate the layers that she has and am constantly annoyed at people who only see her surface level cheeriness and think that’s all there is to her. I really love it when characters Aren’t What They Seem and 13 exemplifies that. To borrow a phrase from a post I saw a very long time ago, 13 is so facile. She’s so physical, taking up so much space and constantly moving, but is so touch-averse. She talks so much and is very friendly, but is incredibly emotionally constipated and keeps even her so-called best friends at an arms length. She talks a lot about hope and compassion, but boy can she be hella violent and feral! Love That For Her. T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything) Oh absolutely. Off the top of my head: Cassandra is a lesbian. And that’s that on that. 13 is touch-averse! (Also stop yelling that she needs a hug! She doesn’t want one! It’s okay to not want hugs, that’s not a crime!) Alex can cook. Cooking isn’t even that hard?  K -Say something nice about someone in any of your fandoms Ooh, this is hard cuz there are a lot of people in any of my fandoms that I feel like I can say nice things about! Let’s go with Supergirl since I’ve been neglecting that fandom a lot. Uh. I adore @wizardofahz ‘s fics about the Superfam! I’m always craving more gen fic and she delivers! I love her characterizations of everyone, especially her characterizations of Alex and Kara. 

[searchingwardrobes]

Fortunate Son

 Happy Birthday, @superchocovian! I hope your day has been an awesome one! You are a super supportive, wonderful part of this fandom, and I hope you know how much you are appreciated. The lyrics to “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival have often made me think of Killian Jones, and I have therefore wanted to do a Vietnam-era AU for a very long time. I listened to it on repeat, trying to wake up my muse, and this fic happened. I hope you enjoy these 2,000 words of angst with a happy ending!

When I think about the Vietnam War, I think of the Army, the Marines, maybe the Air Force, but I never think of the Navy. I did a modest bit of research for this fic just to make sure this was half-way realistic, and what I learned blew me away. Yes, the US Navy fought in Vietnam, but it wasn’t in the way we usually think, shooting torpedoes on war ships out at sea. Vietnam really didn’t have those types of ships, so the US Navy had to improvise, creating what became known as the “Brown Navy.” The Vietnam coast is all rice paddies and marshes, and the country is a network of rivers, so the US Navy built these riverboats to patrol the coast, putting Navy seaman up close and personal with the Viet-Cong. These men looked just like we usually think of the US Military in Vietnam, wearing that jungle green, carrying machine guns with bullets strapped across their chests. The thing was, it wasn’t the type of combat they were trained for. Needless to say, Killian would have been messed up just as much as any other Vietnam vet from things he had seen, and Liam most likely would have died a very gruesome death. My mind was honestly blown learning about this, and even though I don’t directly describe these things in this fic, it definitely shaped the tone it’s written in. Can we say angst?

Summary: He was a nobody with nothing. No family, no direction, no future. He didn’t even have a left hand anymore, for God’s sake. And she was the president’s daughter. A Vietnam-era Lieutenant Duckling story.

Rating: M for language, war & drug references, and sexual situations (come on, this is a Vietnam-era fic, what did you expect?)

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @whimsicallyenchantedrose @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @winterbaby89 @kday426 @teamhook @bethacaciakay @snidgetsafan @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @shireness-says @let-it-raines @distant-rose @optomisticgirl @wellhellotragic @welllpthisishappening @killian-whump @hollyethecurious @ohmakemeahercules @xhookswenchx @gingerchangeling

 Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand. Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh. It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, no.

The first time they met he was a naïve petty officer who had never seen combat. His brother, who had just made Lieutenant, stood next to him. Elsa had teased them that they were chosen for the photograph because they looked so good in dress uniform. Killian was just cocky enough to know she was probably right, and he hated it. As for Emma, her blond hair was pushed back with a turquoise headband, slightly teased and sprayed like current style dictated. Her sheath dress was a swirl of psychedelic colors and her knee-high leather boots were a bright and shiny white. He could tell by the fake smile plastered on her face that she didn’t want to be there. Neither did he, truth be told. He didn’t want to be a prop in her politician father’s photo-op. He certainly didn’t want to fake charm to a senator’s spoiled daughter, either.

He looked her up and down, unable to deny what a stunning figure she cut in her outfit. She could easily have been an actress or a model. But the slight roll of her eyes irritated him. She was nothing but a spoiled princess being dragged around by her rich and influential daddy. Her mother scowled at her and gave her a subtle jab to the ribs. Killian tried not the laugh, keeping his own mask in place. The serious, intense look of a US Naval Officer.

Senator Nolan posed shaking their hands, then with his arms around them. He seemed like a genuine, caring man, and Liam chatted with him amiably. But didn’t these politicians use their charms to earn votes? Killian had a hard time believing it was genuine.

They gave the family a tour of the base, camera clicking away. Killian’s blood pressure intensified every time he heard the blonde girl’s bored sighs. Right before the Nolans boarded their private plane, the photographer asked for pictures of the Nolan women shaking hands with Lt. and Officer Jones. Liam went first, smiling politely as the camera flashed. Killian was polite as well. To Mrs. Nolan, that is. When he reached for Emma’s hand, however, the rogue in him took over.

Instead of merely shaking Emma Nolan’s hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it, then winked at her audaciously. She scowled at him and yanked her hand away.

Yet he did note the pink in her cheeks, and he swiped his tongue over his bottom lip at the sight. She narrowed her eyes further and crossed her arms over her chest. Her cheeks however, had now deepened to a delightful shade of red. Served the snooty Daddy’s girl right.

 Some folks are born made to wave the flag, ooh, they’re red, white, and blue, and when the band plays, “Hail to the Chief,” ooh, they point the canon at you, Lord. It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son.

The second time he saw her, he was more bitter and completely broken. Then again, so was she. Gone were the teased hair and go-go boots. In there place was a long, golden waterfall of tangled curls and a billowing hippy dress. Her face was hardened, yet a spark still lit her eyes. How they got her to come, he wasn’t sure, but the light in those jade eyes flashed with intensity as she handed her father each purple heart. Her gaze flickered to the blunted wrist at the end of his left arm, but then quickly rose to meet his eyes. He expected pity, maybe even compassion, but not the look of understanding. Did she recognize him?

“Thank you for your service to your country,” her father said as he pinned the purple heart to the chest of his dress uniform.

They had warned them that the first family likely wouldn’t mingle at the reception, so he was shocked when she was suddenly there at his elbow.

 “We met you before, at the base in Norfolk.”

He blinked, not expecting her to remember.

“Um, yes, yes you did.”

 “You had a brother.” She was fidgeting, grasping the fabric of her dress in her fist.

“Yes.”

She took one tiny step forward. “What happened to him?”

He swallowed, the plate he held in his one remaining hand trembling slightly. “He didn’t come home, I’m afraid.”

“Neither did Graham,” she whispered. He suddenly realized where he had seen that look in her eyes before: in Elsa’s when Liam’s body came home in a flag-draped coffin.

They both had reasons for the loss of innocence in their eyes, the hardness in the set of their jaws. A lost brother, a lost fiancé. It was a common tale. Frantic, desperate sex for just one night was a common tale lately, too. People broken by this war – this conflict that is – trying to fill the empty spaces with something to feel. But he was a nobody with nothing. No family, no direction, no future. He didn’t even have a left hand anymore, for God’s sake. And she was the president’s daughter. The God-damn secret service probably knew they fucked.

The president’s daughter! What the hell had he been thinking? She was gone the next morning, of course. He had expected that. What he hadn’t expected was the note.

Sorry I left. It’s complicated. - Emma

 Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord, and when you ask them, “How much should we give?”, ooh, they only answer “More! More! More!” It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son.

The next time he saw her, he was glad five years had gone by. Glad because three of those five he had drowned himself in rum. It could have been worse. He could have been tripping on acid like so many other vets. Could have ended up homeless.

Thank God for Admiral Nemo. He’d come to the squalid apartment he was sharing with Scarlet and Jefferson. Scarlet, who had a worse habit with whiskey than he did with rum. Jefferson, who unfortunately had fallen down the rabbit hole with harder vices. Nemo had practically pried a bottle of rum out of Killian’s hand and dragged him out of there. A year of AA meetings and physical therapy on his arm, and Killian was working alongside Nemo in the private sector. Ships could carry more than troops and weapons, after all.

The day she dropped back into his life, she was dressed professionally, in one of those dresses that looked like a trench coat, and her boots weren’t quite so tall or quite so shiny. Her hair was a bit shorter, the curls softer. Her mouth fell open a little when he walked out of his office, her face turning a shade paler. He smiled at her kindly, gently, trying to assure her that she needn’t be embarrassed. She wasn’t the first grieving woman to tumble into bed with a broken sailor, and she certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Emma had a camera around her neck; she was the photographer Nemo had hired for their new company brochures. Their conversation was brief, polite, and Killian couldn’t help the feeling of loss that washed over him as she began to walk away. Then she paused.

“Killian,” she said, turning around with a smirk on her face, “you look good.”

All he could do was stand there like a complete idiot with a goofy smile on his face.

She found him later, when she was done taking pictures, and he managed to ask her for coffee. Her face went slightly pale again, her eyes going a bit wide, but she said yes. This time, it was her hand that shook as she grasped a mug of hot chocolate. The more he tried to engage her in small talk, the more nervous she seemed.

Finally, he sighed into his own mug of black coffee. “Look, Emma, I think I read this wrong. I was happy to see you again, and was foolish enough I suppose to think fate caused our paths to cross again. But you’re clearly nervous, and I don’t wish to push -”

“No,” she cut him off, “it’s not that.” She took a deep breath, then blurted out, “I had a baby five years ago . . . It’s yours.”

She may as well have punched him in the gut. She babbled on about how she tried to find him, but he’d left the military, so there wasn’t really a way to contact him. Her mother had mentioned pulling some strings with the FBI, but she didn’t want to invade his privacy.

“I hate everything my parents stand for,” she barreled on, “so no way was I letting Big Brother hunt you down.”

She bit her lip as she searched his eyes, and he had a flash of memory. Emma beneath him, long blonde hair splayed out on the pillow, moaning and biting on that full lower lip of hers as she came. He shook his head to clear it.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” she whispered.

 “I’ve thought about that night a hundred times.” Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to say. It was probably completely out of context. He held his breath thinking he’d put his foot in his mouth until a smile slowly spread across her face.

“So have I.”

 Some folks inherit star-spangled eyes. It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son.

He met Henry for the first time on Emma’s front lawn. He was riding a bicycle on the grass, with no training wheels. He kept falling over into the grass, then jumping right back on again. An elderly woman sat on Emma’s front porch swing, watching over him. The babysitter said her goodbyes, and Emma pulled Killian down on the porch steps to meet his son.

They didn’t tell Henry that night who Killian was. They didn’t tell him the next day either when they took Henry to the beach to look for shells. They didn’t tell him the month after when Killian made them pancakes after staying the night. No moment ever seemed right, until the day the three of them sat on a blanket at the park having a picnic lunch. Killian knew if he was going to use the ring in his pocket, he better let his son in on the truth.

His son. His son and Emma’s.

He still had nightmares sometimes; of men cut down all around him, the muddy marshes turning red with their blood. He still could never forget Liam dying in his arms, choking on blood. So much blood. His dreams were often red with it.

Yet Emma was there when he woke in a cold sweat, and he knew in the deepest part of him that she always would be. His son rested against his chest when he was tired, his brown hair wet with sweat, his limbs loose as jello. Despite the death Killian had seen and been a part of, this innocent child slept peacefully in his arms.

Emma’s tender smile and Henry’s wide and trusting eyes made him hope again, made him believe again. That maybe, just maybe, he was the most fortunate man in the world.

[spockandawe]

This ask meme is tough! Mostly because I want to ask about all characters but should narrow down. Your thoughts about them are very interesting to read! Hmm, how about Skids? Or Trailbreaker?

Oh man, so. My shameful secret is that I don’t... have many feelings relating to Skids XD I like him just fine, but I was never able to pull together that many strong emotions about him, and even the end of his story doesn’t move me terribly much. I was more torn up about Ravage than I was about Skids :V So I’ll answer both of these, but the Skids answers are probably going to be disappointingly short! 

Skids:

First impression: [impression not found]. My first time through, I was struggling hard with the robot identification learning curve, and the blue-and-white bots were the last ones I started recognizing. It was in the middle of my second readthrough at best before I knew who he was from scene to scene :P

Impression now: Hm. It’s... not much, honestly? He’s a good boy, he’s had a hard time, he’s very nice. I don’t know what it is, something about him just persistently refuses to register emotionally with me.

Favorite moment: Oh man. I know this one. It’s... the smelter scene. I’m a sucker for that kind of gut-wrenching tragedy, and that was amazing.

Idea for a story: *sweats nervously* Oh, actually, I wouldn’t mind exploring his friendship with Getaway at some point, especially Getaway finding out that the only autobot casualty of his little djd adventure was his nominal best friend.

Unpopular opinion: That I don’t find him appealing or interesting, maybe? He’s... fine. But I know a lot of people love him and he never had a good emotional hook for me

Favorite relationship: It’s gotta be Getaway. That dynamic was okay, but then it got extra interesting in terms of the shit Getaway was willing to pull behind the scenes, and how cold he could be even with the people he’s nominally very close to. Getaway fascinates me on so many levels, and as little as I’m invested in Skids, he’s phenomenally likable, in-universe and out, and the decisions Getaway makes relating to him and the resulting consequences... those fascinate me.

Favorite headcanon: Oh wow, I’ve got no idea. I don’t really have any? Maybe that he and Getaway were totally hooking up for ages while they were doing spec ops work together?

And! Trailcutter!!!

First impression: Also didn’t have one of those :P He was fairly background and I didn’t have a transformers background to preemptively attach me to him.

Impression now: Oh my god, he breaks my heart. He’s such a genuine sweetheart who’s clearly been having a rough time for a while now. He’s so friendly and well-liked, and the drinking problem is clearly a problem, but cybertronians who fought in the war have very skewed standards for what’s an acceptable amount of ‘fucked up’. And then!!! When he’s turning it all around and getting his life back under control! He dies because he decided to show compassion to someone who arguably didn’t deserve it, and... he was killed, because he was kind. It’s so fucking tragic, it wrecks me.

Favorite moment: It took me a while to realize spotlight: trailcutter was a thing that existed, but after I consumed that content? The scene where trailcutter is dead, lying on a slab while megatron looks at him, and you can see that rodimus has put a rodimus star in his hand. I was already fucked up about his death, but that took it to the next level. It’s not quite right to say that he wanted recognition, but maybe... that he wanted to be appreciated. And him struggling to get a rodimus star early in the quest when rodimus was tossing them around like candy, and then rodimus putting one into his hand after his death, that still tears me up.

Idea for a story: I’d love to write something for trailcutter/megatron, but I’m still waffling on what angle to take. A drunken start is lots of fun, but also megatron being so high-handed about perma-activating his FIM chip is pretty choice. And trailcutter deciding that he’s going to read megatron’s autobiography/manifesto is such an interesting development that never got the chance to be explored, because he died tragically in the same issue as it was introduced. Their personalities are very different, but in a way that feels complementary. And it does so in a way that’s different from my other megatron ships with his personality opposites :P I don’t have a great handle on how to write trailcutter, and I don’t have many ideas for feeling that out before diving into a bigger story, which is a shame. 

Unpopular opinion: Ooh. Hm. I don’t honestly know what anyone’s trailcutter opinions are? I think that some of the stories I’ve seen with him don’t feel quite right in terms of how I’d characterize him as a functioning alcoholic, but that’s more of a quibble than anything

Favorite relationship: This is also hard, we don’t get to see him having many relationships :P I wish I’d gotten to see more of him with Hoist, just feeling out what made them choose each other as roommates and how they feel about each other. But I’d also like to see more of him with Megatron after Megatron sobers him up and puts him in a position of authority. Mainly, I’m into any relationship that sees someone getting close to him, because he feels lonely in a way that tastes a lot like Swerve

Favorite headcanon: I wish I had one XD This is a situation like Rotorstorm, where I’ve got a lot of vague undefined feelings about his personality that need an actual story as a scaffolding to hang them on display. I do have a lot of emotions about Trailcutter, but they’re not in a shape that makes them easy to lay out in response to a question like this

[alaska-riversong]

FanX with David Tennant

Last weekend I had the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to meet my idol not once, not twice, but three times. I finally have the time and opportunity to sit down and write about my experience last weekend so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I’m sitting here looking at my pictures and yes, I am drinking my “David Tennant in my Dreams” tea from Adagio Teas. It’s my process, don’t judge me.

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore David Tennant. Many people have questioned my sanity as well as my life choices regarding this, but I do have my reasons. While David doesn’t have the body of Chris Hemsworth, the dreamy sky-blue eyes of Tom Hiddleston, he does have magically majestic hair, deep soulful golden-brown eyes, a smile that lights up the darkest corners of the universe, and a very talented left eyebrow. David is also a talented actor and has an enormous range where he can play comedy, drama, and anything in between with equal ease. He has played a bouncing puppy-like world-class lover in “Cassanova”, a grumpy disgruntled lethargic detective in “Broadchurch”, everyone’s favorite Doctor in “Doctor Who”, and a truly evil narcissistic villain with no moral compass in “Jessica Jones”. But the main reason I adore David Tennant is that even though he is a successful and brilliant actor, he is genuinely nice, and a very decent human being who treats his fans with respect and dignity and is truly a humble and gracious individual. If you have the opportunity to meet him, I highly suggest that you do. You will not regret it.

Believe it or not, I have tried to find anyone who has actually met or interacted with him, that either doesn’t like him or has something negative to say about him. So far, the only negative thing I’ve heard was from his co-star Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) in Doctor Who that complained that David and John Barrowman had farting contests in the Tardis. In the grand scheme of things, while it’s a little gross and juvenile, I don’t find that to be overly bad. He is loved by all of his co-stars, his directors, and has been known to be a man with very little ego and very easy to work with.

It would take too much time for me to write down absolutely everything that happened at FanX (the official name of the Comic-Con I attended), especially if I went over every detail of each of the 3 times I met David, so instead, I will give you an overall experience of all encounters and highlights. I had a photo-op on Thursday, an autograph signing later that afternoon, another photo-op on Friday morning, and David’s panel later that afternoon.

One of the best things about a Con is finding other people who share your passions for a particular fandom franchise. I was able to geek out about Star Wars, Firefly, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and David Tennant (who has been in 3/5 of those fandoms). Most of Thursday was spent standing in line with other fans of David Tennant, and as much as I hate standing in line I really enjoyed talking to other people who loved him as much as I did. We swapped stories about how we discovered him, our favorite role he’s played, and whether we’ve met him before. We also swapped stories of our knowledge of him and his roles, what we adored about him, and what we were looking forward to when we met him. Half of the crowd dressed up in a variety of costumes from Doctor Who or other projects David has been in, and we acknowledged each other’s efforts and creativity. It was a glorious validation of adoration for a skinny Scottish bloke. David’s lines were the largest, most crowded, and most excited lines in the entire Con. There was also quite a bit of squealing (not from me) but from others.

If you’ve read my dissertation about my first meeting with David, you’ll remember me saying something about time being one of the most precious things an individual can share with you. I have met 4 celebrities in my life, 3 of them (David, Catherine Tate, and John Barrowman) were extremely rewarding and enjoyable because the celebrities actually focused time and energy (even though it was only for a few seconds) with me as an individual fan, the other celebrity just wasn’t into it. There is a scene in “Galaxy Quest” where the actors of the show are at a Comic-Con and most of them are not happy to be there, just signing things in an assembly line, and ignoring their fans. There are some celebrities that do this, but David is not one of them.

One of my favorite things that happened while waiting in line was being able to observe David interacting with other fans to see how he treated others. How a person treats others, especially when they think no one is watching, is a great barometer for who a person truly is. Here is what I observed: David treated every fan with the same dignity, graciousness, energy, and humility. EVERY … SINGLE… ONE!!! He did not give his fans a half-hearted cookie-cutter greeting, he gave each fan (or group of fans) an excited high-pitched individualized greeting that let them know that he was just as excited to meet them as we were to meet him. He looked everyone in the eye or at least tried to as some were reduced to hysterical giggling and couldn’t bear to return his intense gaze. When it was your turn to be in his presence he was completely focused on you, even for the brief amount of time you had with him. If you made the attempt to interact with him, he made the effort to interact with you and did not let the handlers (employees at the Con whose job it is to move the crowd along) bully him or you. Every fan got their moment with David. He did not avoid contact with his fans especially in the photo booth; he shook hands, he put his arms around them, he held hands, he made funny faces and goofy poses, and genuinely looked like he was having a good time. He was game to do any crazy pose or situation as long as you requested it and it wasn’t overly inappropriate. There were only two instances when I saw his countenance fall from his jovial demeanor; both times happened when he was not interacting with anyone directly and when he thought no one was looking. The fall in countenance was not necessarily a change in mood or demeanor but rather a relaxation or break in activity. He did not seem tired, angry, or upset it was simply a pause so he could take a deep breath and continue the energy. As an actor, he is trained to react, and nobody has better facial reactions than David Tennant. He rarely has a stoic expression (unless he’s playing Detective Alec Hardy in Broadchurch), and the myriad of natural facial expressions that came across his face while dealing with several uncooperative pens was extremely entertaining. I wish I could have taken a video of it.

The Con was set up so that the celebrity guests could travel between the photo ops and autograph areas behind secured walls without having to interact or be seen by their adoring fans. David, however, chose to be seen and traveled between events amongst the unwashed masses. Other celebrities would come out behind the magic curtains and wave at their fans, but I don’t remember seeing anyone traveling in the common area between events. If you’ve ever watched him in Doctor Who or seen David move you know he tends to run and is very fast. I honestly believe David doesn’t have a slow speed. The man is 6’1 with a 7ft stride and can cover great distances quickly, he is very fast. There is always a security detail around David because of his popularity, this detail is usually made up of handlers who may or may not know much about him and aren’t exactly trained in security, they are simply human barriers to keep the fans from tackling David. I saw David, surrounded by about 6 individuals in FanX Security t-shirts traveling between venues and it was quite comical. The first time he was doing a slight jog, but moving briskly while the handlers were running to keep up with him. The second time he started off in a brisk walk that swiftly turned into a jog, that basically left the handlers scrambling behind him as they realized their charge had outrun them and he was left unprotected. As the crowd cheered, David smiled and waved acknowledging their adoration when he passed by.

My first interaction was a photo op. All I wanted in this photo was an opportunity to the nearest equivalent to a hug I could get. I wasn’t nervous, but I was excited. When it was my turn, he looked me in the eye, smiled that glorious smile and gave me a very high pitched and excited “Hiiiiiiii, how are you?” I honestly can’t remember what I said or even if I responded coherently. He held his right arm out welcoming me to stand beside him and like a moth to a flame I snuggled up to his side. David takes thousands of pictures with his fans, smiling for most of them, and he has a fake smile that he uses to save his face from going into permanent paralysis and a genuine smile. Knowing this, I wanted to say something to him that would entice him to give me a real smile. I wrapped my arm around his tiny waist (to put things into perspective I have an 18-inch reach and my arm was slack with my hand on his waist), and he put his hand on my back. I squeezed just a little to see how huggable he was and I was not disappointed. For a skinny guy he is extremely huggable and cuddly and if you take a good look at both photos, he is leaning into me. Before the picture was snapped I said something to the effect of, “I flew all the way from Alaska to see you on stage in London as Don Juan,” or at least that is what I intended to say. I honestly believe he gave me a genuine smile because of it. After the camera flashed David turned to look down at me, I also think he even squatted a little to be more on my level, touched my right forearm as he very deftly moved me in front of him to escort me out of the booth and said, “Oh wow, thank you for coming so far, I really appreciate it.” He was still looking me in the eye as I was excited and babbling something about it being the best experience and best performance I’d ever seen. All of the above was only in the first encounter. The encounter lasted maybe 10 seconds but it’s something I will never forget because he was kind, he was gracious, he was humble, and was genuine.

My second interaction was an autograph later that same day as the photo. I got in line an hour early for the very first autograph session at 4:30 but didn’t get up to the front of the line until the 7:30 session. You could purchase a $100 autograph or you could purchase a customized autograph for $130 where he would personalize an autograph on something you brought, or on one of the stock photos available on the table. I brought one of my tickets from Don Juan for him to sign. For those who don’t know how this works, when you buy your ticket for a personalized autograph you tell the person you buy your ticket from exactly what you want him to write on the item he is signing and they put it on a sticky so he can have the proper spelling and make the line go faster. I simply wanted him to dedicate it to me and sign his name. After the fact, I realized I could have had him write sooooo much more… maybe next time. My sticky note just said, “To Cindy”. When it was my turn, he looked at the sticky note and very excitedly (and again high-pitched) said, “Cindy, Hi there.” Hearing him say my name in his Scottish brogue and then look me in the eye was just unreal. I beamed like an idiot and reminded him again that I came from Alaska to see him on stage. While looking me in the eye he replied, “Oh, well thank you, I’m so glad you came…” he looked at the tickets and continued, “Great seats too. Thank you for coming Cindy.” I’m sure I babbled something about how much I enjoyed it but I was only focused on what he was saying.

I was a little disappointed in myself for not saying what I truly wanted to say to him but I knew my time was limited and I knew I wanted this experience to be positive for both of us, so I strictly kept to the topic of his stage appearance of Don Juan. What I wanted to tell him was that seeing him on stage in Don Juan in 2017 was the first time I had felt true joy since my mother and sister died in 2016. I wanted to thank him for giving me an opportunity to see him on stage and finally allowing myself to feel something other than despair. I also wanted to tell him how happy it would have made my mom to know that I got to meet him and to find out that he drinks Diet Dr. Pepper (which he happened to be drinking while signing autographs). I knew that if I even attempted to say anything like this I may not be able to hold my composure in his presence and I didn’t want to be that fan that cried. I also knew it would dampen the jovial atmosphere that David tends to generate. Maybe someday when I have more confidence or time I will tell him. But for now, I was happy for what little interaction I had. He said my name twice, he looked me in the eye, he interacted with me as an individual and gave me a gorgeous smile. All in all, it was a great experience.

Thursday was really exhausting, and it was very hot at the Con. I had brought 2 Donna Noble related outfits to wear and had worn the first one on Thursday. The second one was the long gray dress-length shirt and purple cardigan with jeans from “Silence in the Library”. Because it was so hot and because my gray dress-length shirt was long enough, I decided to go as pants-less Donna (no mas pantalones). I wore a sign on my back that read “Donna Temple Noble, Best Temp in Chiswick, Sometimes she forgets…, If found, please return to: Wilfred Mott, Sylvia, The Doctor.” I don’t think David saw it but a few other people did and even recognized my costume. I even had one brave teenaged girl tap me on the shoulder and said, “I don’t know if you know this… but there’s something on your back” (this is a reference to a Doctor Who episode “Turn Left” not the sign on my back). It totally made my day and justified my costume choice. I also added an Alaskan element of a scarf of forget-me-nots, Alaska’s state flower and something that is very integral to the storyline of Donna.

My third and final interaction with David was a photo op first thing Friday around noon. I knew I wanted a pose with my sonic screwdriver and this time I remembered to bring it in with me to the photo booth. When David saw me, he said “Hiiiiii” again in a high pitched excited voice but this time it was slightly different. The way it was pitched indicated to me that he either recognized me from yesterday or recognized that I was attempting to dress as Donna Noble. I’d like to think he recognized me from yesterday, so that is what I’m going to assume. Again, he held out his arm to welcome me to stand beside him. I held out my extended sonic screwdriver to him and he took it looking me in the eye asking, “Oh, do you want me to hold it?” I somehow blurted out the concept that I wanted us to hold it together, to which he very happily complied. He placed it in my hand and then wrapped his hand around mine, he then wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. He was sooooooo close to me I could feel his body heat and when I realized I was close enough to kiss his neck I internally whimpered (at least I hope it was internal) and fought the urge to just nestle into the crook of his neck. You’d think that a man that tall and skinny would be hard, stiff and immovable as a tree, but you’d be wrong. He was soft, squeezable, and for the record, he snuggled into me, not that I was complaining by any means. My suspicions of him being a cuddler and a really good hugger are somewhat confirmed but I believe more research may be in order… for science. I don’t remember if I said anything after the photo but I do remember him handing back my sonic screwdriver, looking me in the eye, smiling, and thanking me for coming.

Seriously, how can anyone not love this man after an interaction like that???? Remember, he interacted with everyone he came into contact with, with the same enthusiasm, energy, humility, graciousness, and kindness. He is a human being worthy of the adoration and passion his fans give him. You cannot say that about all celebrities, but David is worthy of the time, effort, and money that so many people eagerly spend on him.

No, I did not have the forethought to smell him. I was too busy trying to remember to hold my stomach in, look him in the eye, breathe, and try not to say something stupid to remember to inhale his presence. After the pictures were taken I do remember feeling the sense that he probably smells of sunshine, joy, and the wishes made upon shooting stars. Sorry, I really wished I had taken a big whiff of his essence, but I do know he was very pleasant to be around. Maybe next time I will get to sniff him. Rest assured, there will be a next time.

[liminalweirdo]

not to be even more unpopular but I really hate it when people butcher a character to achieve some kind of aesthetic or ideal. This is largely because I genuinely don’t understand why people do this, and I know these things are so subjective, and I’m sure some people out there are doing the whole eddie 2.0 thing with Mike well and believably and with care and that’s fine, but here’s the thing, i guess:

why do people so often want characters to be so different from the character they actually are? why are certain characters so often changed in fandom until they are, frankly, unrecognizable?

Particularly in (mlm) pairings, and particularly when characters are not hegemonically acceptable/attractive; if they are overweight (adult Richie Tozier) they’re slimmed down. If they’re dirty with stringy/greasy hair (Boris Pavlikovsky), they’re spruced up and made clean and politically correct. If they’re kind of a dumbass (affectionate) (Mike Wheeler) they are made suddenly Super Smart and intuitive and, apparently, just made into the character everyone finds attractive atm. In other words, they’re made into someone else.

I see character’s personalities and appearances changed so significantly and all I can think is ‘If you don’t actually like this character, why are you shipping them?’ If so many aspects of a particular character have to be altered for you to appreciate them — particularly when the change makes them somehow ‘more attractive’ or ‘more palatable’ (Boris for example, also played by Finn Wolfhard, has MANY bad takes and incorrect ideas. In the book, he hits girls and uses racist slurs, but you can’t erase that from who he is. Film Boris is Boris lite, I’m sorry.)

Altering characters for no other purpose but aesthetic and palatability shows a lack of nuance and understanding and compassion for these characters that I honestly find disturbing. It plays heavily into things like pretty privilege, even with men — how being hegemonically attractive makes the shitty things these characters do okay or, at least, more acceptable than if they were ‘ugly.’ Or how if a character is kind of a fuckup they are often just automatically made ‘Better’. The tasteful, quirky flaws get to stay, but their more distasteful flaws are magically erased without any kind of personal journey to actually get them there.

Often, fandom conversations like this lead to me genuinely asking: ‘why does this character have to be attractive before they can elicit sympathy?’ or ‘why does this character have to be cleansed of all their negative traits before we can accept them? (as worthy of love)’

People are not so cut and dried, why should characters have to be?

Why do people take characters they supposedly love and then change almost every aspect of them?

Anyway, I hate eddie 2.0 mike because op is right, it’s not mike! It’s eddie. if you want eddie, write eddie.

Anyway, I’m so so glad that someone said that Mike should be, uh, yeah, Mike.

unpopular opinion but i don’t think mike’s final pokevolution is leather jackets, long hair, silver rings (eddie 2.0) bc that’s not mike—it’s an imitation of his idea of freedom. when he’s really free, it’s gonna be dnd t-shirts and open button flannels. black jeans and converse, cargo jackets and medium length hair—a grown up version of his favorite childhood looks. not karen, not eddie. mike.

[frivineral1976-blog]

I was 14 and it was the first time I had been left alone for the summer. My parents were very protective and only allowed it because my grandmother lived a block away. I was sleeping late (because why not?) and naked (just the facts) when I heard my door open. It YOUR normal, however, and its a pretty good normal to have, IMHO.I encourage you to go so far as to thank and acknowledge those men in your life, because even that little ounce of appreciation and validation is often all we need to have to know we are doing/did a good job. If your baseline is "well yeah, he the dad" then it your job to let him know "yeah, you the dad. And a damn good one at that!"Facilitating that sort of appreciation is positive communication and an expression of genuine compassion, which is only good for your relationship(s) and exactly the type of thing that ultimately transforms that negative, traditional mindset in others.TL;DR You not wrong, but it all too common. Also Diane doesn believe he going to be a better person, she lying to bojack and herself for her own selfish reasons. She already discussed with that rival manager who defends that sexist guy, that he can do anything to make it alright anymore. So why the change of heart? Now you could be naive and believe she really has that much respect for bojack. But I try getting a Twitter account for this kind of stuff if you don have one. I do customer service at work but we a small company so I can give everyone email attention. I used to do support for a company with millions of users and we had a ticket system and those are kind of the devil sometimes, especially when your company is big and wants you to wrap all support requests ASAP (and some get bumped over and over because of the priority lists).. Yeah I am super taking my time and making the most of the planting of bugs which I think is sooo fun. I'm also taking a ton of pics of the possessed, and everything else in the world. I want to make one wall of cool town scenes for my sims house. Oh they got time for that too. Anything to deflect and mislead about the truth of the Russian puppet in the White House. When we done locking up these fuckers, I say we dismantle Fox News. I have been experiencing a small part of this in my life recently. I am attempting to switch to a plant based diet, and my husband is a meat/dairy eater through and through. I obviously don have a problem with this, but it sometimes hard to resist the temptation when he like, "Want a bite of my cheeseburger?" Something that helped me is explaining to him (and as a result, reaffirming to myself) why I making this change. I got 무주출장안마 my back to my dad eventually, but he was a changed man and i was 무주출장안마 a changed boy. I guess thats why they say times change. Anyway i can change anyone oil in ten minutes flat but i haven been hugged in a decade and don even know what it means to be human. Even on the drive home, you will begin the longing to return to the Miter Basin; yet if you never make a return trip, you can rest assured knowing few folks will ever step within its confines a first time.IF YOU'RE GOING..This hike requires a wilderness reservation during the peak use period from June 28 to Sept. There obviously going be a lot of push back from those that are currently affected by these new rules so no surprise, but it better to have actual discussions then a bunch of negative trolls circle jerking each other in the comments. Also I feel bad for the OP that basically have to keep defending themselves for posting what they feel is an accomplishment. Maybe this sub wasn meant for progress pics.

[thesummerstorms]

What kind of relationships do you think Etain has with the various nulls?

Ordo: 

Ordo & Etain’s relationship starts out really rough, to say the least, but you can see some turn around by the beginning of  Order 66 and definitely by the not-canon-ending where he tries to revive her and then sobs at her funeral. I want to say that they eventually actually end up pretty close friends. Gena has said before that she thinks Ordo actually ends up closer to Etain than Darman, and I kinda love that (especially the irony). 

I do think they squabble. They root for opposite sports teams, and Ordo’s type A while Etain’s definitely not so they drive each other crazy sometimes. Sometimes they inadvertently offend one another or are a little too honest. But It’s a good friendship. They’re supportive and honest and unreasonably loyal and gossipy. Etain has probably threatened to beat someone up for Ordo as if he wasn’t a super soldier twice her size. Etain also probably kept sending him letters when he went incommunicado for mental health reasons, not to pressure him, but just because she still loved and was thinking of him.

I like to think that, even though they aren’t living in the same place, Ordo and Etain try to raise their daughters to be at least somewhat close? Mirja and Koa are only two years apart, the same age difference as between me and my cousin, who I was super close to growing up, but I haven’t really discussed it with Gena.

Anyway, tl:dr Ordo and Etain go from “constantly in disagreement” to “probably still in disagreement, but in a loving sibling kind of way, absolutely have each other’s backs”.

A’den: 

So I feel like Etain has a decent respect for A’den long before she meets him just because she and Dar write letters constantly and Darman respects A’den. (She may or may not ask after him while Dar is stationed on Gaftikar, out of principle, after she asks after Dar and the rest of the squad.) 

I don’t feel like they probably meet until after Order 66, and Etain is not exactly at her best just then- but there’s still probably mutual respect there. A’den is, by all accounts, a man who smiles a lot, loves food, and has a sense of humor, and I think Etain would appreciate that about him when they interact, and A’den has likely heard good things from Mereel and Ordo- but Etain is at a place where it’s hard for her to bond very deeply with him. Then it’s more or less one thing after the other until Mereel dies and she and Dar flee.

More than likely, I think they become actual friends more after Mereel comes back from the dead. Mereel shows up at the safehouse he left Dar and Etain in pretty miserable shape, and of course as soon as the Nulls know, they immediately converge. Since Ordo’s travelling with an infant, A’den might actually be the first to show up? (Probably startling the hell out of poor, sleep-deprived Darman who sees him in the kitchen at 1 am and just blinks a few times before…. “Sarge?”) He and Etain start talking a little more after Dar and he bond over foodie stuff, and they stay friendly, even if she’s not as close to him as Mereel or Ordo.

At some point much later they probably have to haul Mereel out of some situation (or Mereel hauls them into a situation idk), and find they actually work well as a team for short durations.

Jaing

Everyone makes a point of “don’t tell Etain about the gloves”, but let’s be real guys. She knows. The emotions in the Force don’t lie, and she knew Ko Sai as well, which makes the impression stronger.

Jaing is easily the Null Etain is weariest of. It’s hard because she’s instinctively someone who reads emotional undercurrents, and while she feels threads of violence and anger in all the Nulls, Jaing wears his against his skin as trophies.

I don’t think she ever confronts him about it, even when it unsettles her.

He;s still family. She’s tortured people before and there’s no one in the family (except maybe the children) who aren’t capable of some terrible things. She appreciates the way he looked after Fi, or what she saw of it for those few days on Mandalore before she went into labor. He’s capable, and she respects that the same way she does for all of them. 

But at the same time, I think Jaing will always be the one she holds herself the most emotionally distant from. She would absolutely go after him on a rescue op if needed, out of shared bonds to other family and loyalty and duty, but they’re never gonna be close buddies.

Prudii

The mun forgot Prudii existed again, whoops.

Coughs, and links you to this post. And this post. Which have Etain: !!!!!!!!!!

I honestly don’t as many particular headcanons for Prudii at the moment. Etain pretty much auto-extends the same loyalty to him before she even meets him by virtue of his being first Dar and then Ordo and Mereel’s brother. I very much feel like she has hung over a staircase banister throwing pebbles at him at some point, but I can’t justify that?

Someone with a more developed sense of Prudii as a character is free to propose things, but I was rereading his scenes and nothing ..really..stuck?

I’m so sorry Prudii; I am failing you.

Komr’k

So I feel like initially Etain starts out a little off balance around Kom’rk. They’re the Null who, other than Prudii sorry Prudii, she probably knows the least about, and they don’t meet until after Etain’s death experience. Kom’rk has this weird balance of weary aloofness and bluntness going on, and I think that keeps Etain a little distant at first. She can match them for bluntness at least some of the time, but aloofness is harder for her to deal with. 

She grew up in the Temple, she has a mask she built for distancing herself from attachment to the people around her, and she retreats back into it at first, her emotional state at the time not helping matters any. (Possibly Kom’rk thinks her either cold or in shock at first.) But at her core she’s someone who wants desperately to be emotive and touchy-feely and reach out to everyone.

Eventually when they’re less weary of each other and Kom’rk’s more social side comes out a little, things relax between the two of them. I feel like while Etain is still in recovery, Kom’rk would be one who would pick up on her ambiguous feelings re: Kal, especially given their similar (if for different reasons) feelings and absolute willingness to call a spade a spade, and perhaps that ends up being an eventual basis of support for the two of them?

I want to say they end up having occasional lunches when their different travels have them in the same side of the galaxy, and since Kom’rk seems to be into some of the same social scenes as Mereel, maybe some occasional sight-seeing? But idk.

Mereel

Oh gosh. This is gonna be long, isn’t it? I tried to bookend with the most developed relationships, but… Listen, Etain loves Mereel. 

I think she probably wanted to try and steal the CipQuad from him on Trip Zip, but they don’t really get to know each other well until she’s pregnant and isolated and terrified on Mandalore. At which point Mereel shows her both massive kindness and genuine respect for her ability and competence, both of which Etain is practically starving for at that point. There are very few people who genuinely give a damn about her, not as a Jedi or because she’s carrying a clone’s baby but as herself.

She’s not used to being cared for. 

 He sees her when she’s incredibly vulnerable and gives her both some compassion and a sense of control/purpose back, and it pretty much cements a friendship from her end. We don’t know what all went on during their two months together, but obviously Mereel also felt close to Etain because he lets himself show an incredible amount of vulnerability back to her rather than laughing or playing it off as a joke like he does literally anywhere else.

I think they stay really close. When Etain needs reassurance post-death and Dar is still stranded on Coruscant, Mereel’s the one she trusts enough to be open with. I think they’re pretty casually affectionate with one another, and she worries about him, particularly after Kal destroys the cure and he goes off alone. (For good reason, as it turns out.) Mereel, of all people, actually gives her spiritual guidance that results in her seeking out Tarre and Ranah, pretty much instantly lands on her “unbelievably lengthy letters” sending list with out even any surprise from Ordo, is a fabulous Uncle to her kids. She trusts him in a way she doesn’t trust many people other than Dar. Perhaps goes to him for advice on occasion, though she also tries to give him advice she knows he’ll never follow.

(I also… I really ship Etain/Mereel? It started as a crack ship and then I started thinking about it too much and… oh no. It’s definitely a poly arrangement, though idk about actual Mereel/Etain/Darman. I’m not even sure how canon this is to me now bc it got all invested in my feelings and my brain betrayed me. But in whatever verse or AU it does happen it starts with a mix of closeness/vulnerability and guilty ust, and then after years of a strong friendship between them, develops into something open, less a demand or formal arrangement than their trust/care finding another avenue of expression. Possibly after Mereel dies bc the timing would be sketchy otherwise. Or ,again, in a different verse? Idk. Stupid overly invested crack ship.)

[ultimateminds]

A little long for Instagram I do ho ope you take the time to read it. Reflections of the past few months; *Immense feeling of gratitude *Unconditional love, at the same time careful as some take advantage of it. *Learnt how we can be genuinely caring and others seem to think there is an altering motive. *Learnt that is their lesson to learn and to not change who I am. *Loss of two loved ones *Experiencing kindness from people *Seeing people’s true nature during theses times *Being there for a friend experiencing difficult times, as simple as cooking a meal *Regular contact with a friend in hospital for a month, unable to visit and dropping off a meal for their partner. *Appreciating the peace and stillness *A little restless of what the unknown future holds *Accepting and embracing the unknown *Ready to take more risks and open to new opportunities and being aware not to miss the signs. *Grateful for genuine people in my life, a knowing that being a good human being is not about what work you do, what degree you have, who you hang around, where you live, how much money you make,what dress, shoes you wear, car you drive etc *Have open and honest conversations with friends without feeling you have to walk on eggshells. *Life can be enjoyed and appreciated in its most simplest form. *How consciously I am living and mindful to look after myself *Where I am in my life at the moment is because of the choices, sacrifices, commitments I made, risks I took, and the awareness that my own well-being comes first. It’s not about luck, so when I hear someone say “You are lucky “, know that all that we are is due to working on ourselves developing ourselves in being the best version of ourselves. The greatest lesson; “It’s in the giving to others,even when we feel we have no more to give and we feel empty. That is when we experience wholeness” We all have our own thoughts and reflections. Take the time to sit still enough to listen to your heart , pay attention to your thoughts. Who knows what you may discover. Enjoy your day and everyday With Gratitude Christine😀❤️#ultimateminds #reflections #compassion #love #give #unconditionallove #beyourself #care #wholeness https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1VuTaFm9m/?igshid=edg6kg0h0gdq