#I just think she’s hyper competent at everything

[fanfictionismyaddiction]

Y/n vs. Lando’s Simulator Addiction

Word count: 620

Pairing: Lando Norris x reader

Summary: Y/n is tired of Lando prioritizing his sim racing over romantic dates.

________________________________________________________

Y/n leaned against the doorway of Lando’s gaming room, arms crossed, watching him with an unimpressed expression. His eyes were glued to the triple monitors, fingers effortlessly working the wheel and pedals as if his life depended on it. The sound of tires screeching and engines roaring filled the room.

This had become their routine. Lando had free time? Straight to the sim. Morning? Sim. Afternoon? Sim. Midnight? Still sim. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his dedication—God, she loved how passionate he was—but she was starting to feel like she was competing with a machine for his attention.

“You know,” she finally spoke, making Lando flinch slightly, “I think I deserve some quality time that doesn’t involve me watching you pretend to drive a car.”

Lando barely spared her a glance. “Babe, this isn’t pretending. It’s training.”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “Training for what?”

“This is serious business,” he said, still hyper-focused. “You wouldn’t get it.”

Oh, that did it. Y/n straightened, jaw tightening. He wouldn’t get away with dismissing her like that.

“Okay, McSimBoy. Let’s make a bet,” she declared.

That finally got his attention. Lando paused the game and turned to her with a smirk. “Oh? You wanna bet me? On the sim? You’ve never even raced before.”

“Exactly,” she said, playing up her inexperience. “So, if I win, you owe me five romantic dates. I get to pick them, and no complaining.”

Lando laughed, tilting his head back. “This is the easiest bet I’ve ever made. And when I win?”

Y/n shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

He grinned. “Alright, then. You’re on.”

What Lando didn’t know was that Y/n had been training in secret for weeks—with none other than Max Verstappen as her coach.

“You know,” Max had said during their first training session, “this might be the most fun I’ve had in years.”

Y/n huffed, gripping the wheel as she tried to keep up with him on the Red Bull simulator. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or scared.”

“A bit of both,” Max smirked.

Every day, Y/n had dedicated hours to perfecting her skills, learning everything from racing lines to braking techniques. Max was relentless, but she loved every second of it. The best part? Lando had no clue.

Lando sat in his usual seat, all confidence, fingers flexing over the wheel. Y/n took her place beside him, cool and composed.

“Ready to lose, love?” he teased.

She simply smiled. “We’ll see.”

The lights went out, and the race began.

Within the first lap, Lando was concerned. By the second lap, he was nervous. And by the third? He was absolutely terrified.

Y/n was fast—not just “surprisingly good” fast, but “how the hell did you get this fast?” fast. She nailed every corner, executed flawless overtakes, and blocked him with zero hesitation.

Lando, gripping the wheel in disbelief, finally shouted, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”

Y/n grinned. “Guess I do get it after all.”

Max, watching the whole thing from Y/n’s phone on FaceTime, burst out laughing. “Lando, mate, you’re getting cooked!”

Lando’s eyes widened. “MAX?! YOU TRAINED WITH MAX?!”

“Oops,” Y/n said playfully. “Forgot to mention that part.”

Despite his best efforts, Lando couldn’t recover. Y/n crossed the finish line first, throwing her hands up in victory.

“YES! YOU OWE ME FIVE DATES!” she cheered.

Lando sat back in defeat, running a hand down his face. “This is the most betrayed I’ve ever felt.”

Y/n leaned in, pecking his cheek. “You’ll live. Now, start planning date number one.”

And just like that, the simulator had finally lost its grip on Lando Norris.

[woof-verine]

okay but emancipated teen laura who has her own apartment and her whole life together wayyyyy before logan and wade do

[nostalgebraist]

Honestly I'm pretty tired of supporting nostalgebraist-autoresponder. Going to wind down the project some time before the end of this year.

Posting this mainly to get the idea out there, I guess.

This project has taken an immense amount of effort from me over the years, and still does, even when it's just in maintenance mode.

Today some mysterious system update (or something) made the model no longer fit on the GPU I normally use for it, despite all the same code and settings on my end.

This exact kind of thing happened once before this year, and I eventually figured it out, but I haven't figured this one out yet. This problem consumed several hours of what was meant to be a relaxing Sunday. Based on past experience, getting to the bottom of the issue would take many more hours.

My options in the short term are to

A. spend (even) more money per unit time, by renting a more powerful GPU to do the same damn thing I know the less powerful one can do (it was doing it this morning!), or

B. silently reduce the context window length by a large amount (and thus the "smartness" of the output, to some degree) to allow the model to fit on the old GPU.

Things like this happen all the time, behind the scenes.

I don't want to be doing this for another year, much less several years. I don't want to be doing it at all.

----

In 2019 and 2020, it was fun to make a GPT-2 autoresponder bot.

[EDIT: I've seen several people misread the previous line and infer that nostalgebraist-autoresponder is still using GPT-2. She isn't, and hasn't been for a long time. Her latest model is a finetuned LLaMA-13B.]

Hardly anyone else was doing anything like it. I wasn't the most qualified person in the world to do it, and I didn't do the best possible job, but who cares? I learned a lot, and the really competent tech bros of 2019 were off doing something else.

And it was fun to watch the bot "pretend to be me" while interacting (mostly) with my actual group of tumblr mutuals.

In 2023, everyone and their grandmother is making some kind of "gen AI" app. They are helped along by a dizzying array of tools, cranked out by hyper-competent tech bros with apparently infinite reserves of free time.

There are so many of these tools and demos. Every week it seems like there are a hundred more; it feels like every day I wake up and am expected to be familiar with a hundred more vaguely nostalgebraist-autoresponder-shaped things.

And every one of them is vastly better-engineered than my own hacky efforts. They build on each other, and reap the accelerating returns.

I've tended to do everything first, ahead of the curve, in my own way. This is what I like doing. Going out into unexplored wilderness, not really knowing what I'm doing, without any maps.

Later, hundreds of others with go to the same place. They'll make maps, and share them. They'll go there again and again, learning to make the expeditions systematically. They'll make an optimized industrial process of it. Meanwhile, I'll be locked in to my own cottage-industry mode of production.

Being the first to do something means you end up eventually being the worst.

----

I had a GPT chatbot in 2019, before GPT-3 existed. I don't think Huggingface Transformers existed, either. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

I had a denoising diffusion image generator in 2021, before DALLE-2 or Stable Diffusion or Huggingface Diffusers. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

Earlier this year, I was (probably) one the first people to finetune LLaMA. I manually strapped LoRA and 8-bit quantization onto the original codebase, figuring out everything the hard way. It was fun.

Just a few months later, and your grandmother is probably running LLaMA on her toaster as we speak. My homegrown methods look hopelessly antiquated. I think everyone's doing 4-bit quantization now?

(Are they? I can't keep track anymore -- the hyper-competent tech bros are too damn fast. A few months from now the thing will be probably be quantized to -1 bits, somehow. It'll be running in your phone's browser. And it'll be using RLHF, except no, it'll be using some successor to RLHF that everyone's hyping up at the time...)

"You have a GPT chatbot?" someone will ask me. "I assume you're using AutoLangGPTLayerPrompt?"

No, no, I'm not. I'm trying to debug obscure CUDA issues on a Sunday so my bot can carry on talking to a thousand strangers, every one of whom is asking it something like "PENIS PENIS PENIS."

Only I am capable of unplugging the blockage and giving the "PENIS PENIS PENIS" askers the responses they crave. ("Which is ... what, exactly?", one might justly wonder.) No one else would fully understand the nature of the bug. It is special to my own bizarre, antiquated, homegrown system.

I must have one of the longest-running GPT chatbots in existence, by now. Possibly the longest-running one?

I like doing new things. I like hacking through uncharted wilderness. The world of GPT chatbots has long since ceased to provide this kind of value to me.

I want to cede this ground to the LLaMA techbros and the prompt engineers. It is not my wilderness anymore.

I miss wilderness. Maybe I will find a new patch of it, in some new place, that no one cares about yet.

----

Even in 2023, there isn't really anything else out there quite like Frank. But there could be.

If you want to develop some sort of Frank-like thing, there has never been a better time than now. Everyone and their grandmother is doing it.

"But -- but how, exactly?"

Don't ask me. I don't know. This isn't my area anymore.

There has never been a better time to make a GPT chatbot -- for everyone except me, that is.

Ask the techbros, the prompt engineers, the grandmas running OpenChatGPT on their ironing boards. They are doing what I did, faster and easier and better, in their sleep. Ask them.

[gourmetofglut]

On Emilia, Fandom Double Standards, and Summary Culture: A Thread

*Some Unmarked Arc 7 and 8 Spoilers ahead.

To preface this, my rambling will be a lot less structured with fewer screenshots of supporting evidence than I usually provide. This is more just my stream of consciousness edited down into something readable. When it comes to Emilia, I also fully admit to having a bias.

Her character struck a chord with me when I read Re: Zero for the first time, and I don’t hesitate to admit that. Alongside Otto and Subaru, I felt many of her issues reflected some things from my own life as an autistic person, even if it was perhaps unintentional.

The struggle with social interaction, the difficulty with maintaining friendships, the inability to stand up for oneself in fear of burdening others, etc. Even how she was treated by society kind of matched up with that, even if the discrimination was more analogous to racism.

Now I’m just me. My interpretations are just extensions of my experience. My self-indulgent rant here is me merely commenting on my perspective of quite a bit of ongoing community discourse I just find tiring, often feeling misguided at best and actively bad faith at worst.

My general frustration with Emilia's discourse is that I feel a lot of it blows the worst aspects of her writing out of proportion, actively ignores her best writing, and/or makes statements about the content the person fully admits to not having read.

The latter in particular irks me, as it seems to be representative of a bigger issue in this community, that I will cover in more detail later.

In a lot of ways, Emilia’s treatment kind of reminds me a lot about how female characters are treated in Shonen's discourse.

Sure, the narrative doesn’t always treat them the best, but anything positive is buried under a hyper-focus on negatives even if they take up a fraction of screen time. People judge them based on out-of-context panels or summaries without ever touching the scenes themselves.

If they are too competent, they’re a boring “Mary Sue” or whatever buzzword people are using that day, while if they don’t solve everything instantly they’re a useless burden on the plot who are carried by “plot armor,” or once again whatever buzzwords people are using that day. Often, many female characters have been ascribed both labels, without people stopping to consider how contradictory these elements.

And this kind of discourse, this contradictory mess based on hearsay and summaries, is the kind of thing that frustrates me.

I think the best example of this in regard to Emilia is how people discuss her flaws. All too often, people act like her flaws don’t exist or are “stupid,” something that comes off frustratingly ignorant for someone who's been in many of the same places she’s been.

I knew what it was like to realize you needed to cut friends out of your life who treated you as less of a person. I knew what it was like to have to be forced into growing to stand up for yourself, moving away from a parent who infantilized you just because of who you were.

I knew what it was like to have to fully address things about myself I wanted to bury and act like didn’t exist. To act like these experiences weren’t real like they were things no one ever went through, is such a strange thing. Perhaps they aren’t handled the best in places, something I feel is fair to discuss, but of course, nuance can’t exist in these discussions. Or how about the way people talk about Emilia in other arcs?

While I don’t like how Emilia is handled in WN Arc 5, I think the LN highlights how she’s developed in a similar way to how the same arc is used to highlight how Subaru has developed. She stands up to Regulus, beats his ass for the women unable to stand up for themselves like she had once been able to, and resolves to save them despite the impossible circumstances just like how Subaru often does. She refuses to give into despair and wait to be rescued as she once did, being core to Regulus' defense. Yet, of course, none of that is focused on.

Instead, we have to deal with inane discussions about a few sentences in the totality of her arc, throwing out hyperbolic statements about how a random shitty joke “ruins” her character or something. Her role as a narrative foil to Regulus?

How her focus on names in the arc tie into themes of identity? Her breaking of fate by freeing the wives? Nah, she's little more than a "Mary Sue" because she achieves something against Regulus/she doesn’t do anything despite literally being one of the main reasons they won.

Similar things apply to Arc 6. It’s an arc not focusing on her, but it does go out of its way to showcase her development. Her relationship with Ram? Her perseverance in the face of an enemy she can’t do anything against in Volcanica? Her helping Subaru in the same way he helped her, fully swapping roles with him? None of that matters in the face of a 10-sentence scene where Reid pokes her tits.

Arcs 7 and 8 are perhaps the most egregious showcase of these issues. In general, the Vollachia saga does not focus much on the Emilia Camp. Hell, some of them contribute nothing. Yet still, Emilia gets a fair bit to do. She’s able to read people like Vincent, within seconds of discussion and connects down to the root of who people are quickly.

She cuts through the bullshit of people like Priscilla and Vincent quickly, forcing them to meet her on her level rather than act all high and mighty. She forces her way into the hearts of those who refuse to see reason like Madelyn.

More than ever, she showcases her true merits as a member of the Emilia Camp during high-stress situations like Vollachia. She’s a lot like Subaru in that way… Which brings me to my next point: Fuck, do people understate how similar her and Subaru are.

In a community that will analyze every little detail to find even a hint of parallels between Subaru and other characters, to the point of sometimes actively ignoring existing characterization, Emilia seldom gets highlighted. She goes through a similar arc of regaining self-worth, a similar of grappling with heroism, a similar arc of really figuring out who exactly she wants to be to others. She does the whole “wanting to believe she’s giving her full effort so someone else will tell her it’s alright that she failed and then gave up” thing in Arc 4 that matches what Subaru himself did in Arc 3. Hell, even her parental figures in Fortuna and Guese are written to be close parallels to Subaru’s parents (though with Fortuna being akin to Kenichi and Guese being akin to Naoko), something I’ve seen highlighted maybe once ever by someone other than me despite her backstory with them being in the SAME ARC.

It’s just a weird double standard, with people displaying an unwillingness to give her the same level of engagement they give other characters.

On the other hand, she also suffers from the same thing as many other Re: Zero characters where she gets reduced to ONLY her dynamic with Subaru. She has a lot of relationships with other characters around her like Puck, Ram, Otto, Priscilla, etc. that rarely receive attention. This is not unique to her of course (don’t get me STARTED on Julius, Reinhard, and Otto’s treatment by the community) but it is notable with her when the story itself goes after Subaru for ignoring her own autonomy separate from him. This is something people love to point out in regards to how it helps Subaru as a character, but when it comes to Emilia, many engage with her through the exact same kind of thought.

Because Subaru is the only character who matters.

Because anything beyond Subaru only exists for him. Even if an arc has nothing to do with him, even if a character is actively used as more of a foil for someone else, it all has to tie back to him. The world revolves around Subaru.

And it’s not like I don’t get it. Subaru is fascinating. He’s literally my 2nd favorite character in fiction. I’ve gone at length talking about all the little things I love about him so, so, so many times because doing so just fills me with joy.

I just want characters to be able to exist, interact, and do stuff outside of him without everything having to immediately loop back to him.

Going back to Emilia though, I do want to make it clear at this point that I don’t think Emilia is perfect or anything. I guarantee you that many of the things that frustrate you frustrate me a HELL of a lot more. I do think she should have a bit more page time in certain arcs, I do think Tappei has the narrative treat her weirdly sometimes, and I do think she is infantilized often. I will be the first to point out scenes I think undercut her development or treat her like a child. I could ramble all day about a few scenes I dislike throughout Re: Zero and I have gone at length about my issues with how Tappei fetishizes her.

I just think it’s kind of disingenuous to have this be the only discourse around her. To many in this community, a character must be perfect with no flaws or trash that ruins the narrative. Nuanced discussion, analyzing a character for their negatives and positives, can’t exist. Instead, we’ve got to mention the stupid Divine General joke even in the in-universe narrative that seems to disregard it for the 10th time. We have to talk about the snarky one-liner from Otto that is so strangely mean and condescending it feels out of character for him.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t discuss it, but the overwhelming amount of focus on these singular moments as compared to other characters who get the same treatment narratively can be frustrating. We loop back to these singular sentences repeatedly that people saw in a summary or screenshot rather than reading the arc because that’s the only way half this fandom engages with anything anymore.

And once again, I think that’s really what irks me. I think I would be a lot more fair towards the general discourse if I felt like it was coming from a place of good faith; from people who were reading the thing they were talking about. But that’s not exactly what’s happening, is it? Instead, you see people quoting AI translations about as good as a 5-year-old’s book report, you see the same screenshot shared by those who “haven’t read the arc yet, but,” and you see the same wrong information someone said in a summary months ago pop up repeatedly.

It’s such a gross way to engage with media to me. Reducing it from art—something to experience—to slop to shovel down one’s throat. It’s the kind of lazy, unengaged behavior that has led to series being entirely engaged with through Wikipedia summaries and YouTube video essays. Why let yourself get invested when you can just learn everything there is about the basic plot in 10 minutes? Why let yourself be surprised by the twists and turns of a tale when you can just look up the secret beforehand? Why view something as a work of art instead of simple content to be discarded as soon as you know everything there is to know? And if you know all about it, why bother listening to the analysis of anyone who actually engages with the source material, providing quotes, when it’s all just coping and reading into things too much?

There’s an arrogance that comes from that specific kind of media ignorance, and it applies most to female characters. Subaru’s a victim of that slop content approach to media too of course, but it seems to be most prominent with the female characters who surround him. All too often in the anime community, people overcorrect in response to any issues in a female character’s writing. They see a flaw and go “Guess this character is awful,” before proceeding to ignore every previous and future aspect of that character, good or bad.

And the failure to apply a holistic analysis of the merits of Tappei’s character writing is not limited to the shitty gags he writes for Emilia. Pretty much every character in this series has one, and often way more, scenes where something similarly shitty is done.

Priscilla has a gag about being creepy to children. Al makes weird comments about women, some of them being minors. Rem’s love for Subaru is played up to rapey extents in certain side stories. Otto’s struggles with someone who tried to have him killed are reduced to a gag. And who can forget the holy grail of infantilization, Beatrice? The character the story itself calls Subaru’s mother figure, whose entire character arc is predicated on exercising her autonomy, is constantly treated like a child for the sake of comedy. Arguably, she’s subjected to infantilization far more than Emilia ever has been.

Yet, these gags are often ignored, written off as the shitty attempts at humor they are. They still exist and are frustrating, but they aren’t the only pieces of discussion about a character. After all, many people have had to realize at this point that Re: Zero isn’t immune to the same shitty tropes as the rest of the genre. It is subversive of many of its tropes, but it utilizes those same tropes as it pleases, picking and choosing what it wants to deconstruct. As someone who adores this series, I feel like it would be disingenuous of me to claim otherwise.

Yet even acknowledging that, I think Re: Zero and its characters are some of my favorites in any fictional work I've read. When it comes to characters like Al, Priscilla, Rem, Otto, and Beatrice there’s just so much to analyze and admire about them. They tie into the story, the themes, and the characters around them in such fascinating ways that people have written literal essays about them.

Some of it may not be intentional. Some of it may just be my own experiences being projected. Some of it may just be connections that exist only in my mind...but that’s how art works. You are supposed to look at it with bias, whether it be yours, the author’s, or someone else’s.

These are interpretations I can make about these characters, regardless of what anyone else thinks. The author’s intentions, by virtue of not being directly stated to the audience, aren't the only way to read a story. It’s my prerogative as a reader to look at a story through a lens that works best for me.

Ultimately, much of this fandom’s disingenuous treatment of Emilia’s depth as a character is the result of people refusing to have their own opinions and takes on Re: Zero. Rather than reading the story, engaging with it, and interpreting it through their preferred lens, they borrow the rhetoric spouted by others without any critical thinking involved. That’s not to say this applies to everyone who dislikes the character.

You can dislike a character for many reasons, after all. You don’t have to justify it. If they just don't interest you, fuck them. Think whatever you wish and be whoever you want.

But if your reason is that you saw an out-of-context screenshot or summary from someone —if your reason is that you hold them to a standard that does not apply to other characters—that feels rather weak, doesn’t it?

In the end, all commentary on art is subjective. There’s no right way to read a story or watch a show. But there are definitely lazy ways. The only way to counteract this kind of thought is to read, to watch, and to think about the things put in front of you. Truly look at a story for what it is, good and bad.

When I did that, I found a character that I was able to connect with. Maybe you won’t, but that’s just how I feel about Emilia.

[melrosing]

about what you wrote. i hate tywin/littlefinger/joffrey. tywin is one of my least favorite characters because not only he is evil but also he is dishonest. but even tywin has goodness in him. he seems to be really in love with his wife. cersei has nothing good in her for me. there are evil and incompetent male characters george wrote, but there are also evil and competent male characters he wrote. the thing is cersei is the only female villain in the series (i can think of). and george wrote her as both sociopathic and incompetent. and that's my issue. it seems like in george's mind evil woman are inherently evil and can't be admirable and smart. maybe my assumptions are wrong.

if you think Tywin Lannister has more goodness in him than Cersei i don't even know what to tell you lmao. for one thing, love is not redemptive, and it does not equate to goodness. for another, we have no real idea what Tywin's relationship w Joanna was really like, but in any case, why would we give it more weight than Cersei's love for Joffrey?? you can twist yourself into a pretzel arguing one was more pure or honest than the other but you wouldn't have any real evidence with which to make your case.

and yes, Cersei is the major female villain in the series, but I don't agree that she's the only one. Melisandre surely qualifies in some sense, and she's been given a POV as of the last book. she's done horrible shit but you come to understand her reasoning, and she's written empathetically. there's also the Green Grace, who is certainly smart and I'm pretty sure about to be unmasked as ADWD's true villain. and there's Asha, who not many people would consider a villain, but she doesn't exactly begin ACOK on the side of the Starks. and that still leaves out interesting characters like Lysa and Barbrey, whether they meet your standards or no.

there are certainly more male villains - not exactly surprising given this is set in a hyper-patriarchal society and they're going to be the ones with more power to act as such. but to say there no other female villains, or that they're all incompetent, is not true to the books.

and on this:

it seems like in george's mind evil woman are inherently evil and can't be admirable and smart.

this argument just feels all over the place to me lol. based on Cersei alone, who is one (1) of our female villains, you think that GRRM is only capable of writing inherently evil women - even though it's plain from Cersei's story that she's very much a case of combined nature and nurture. and then how many of the male villains are admirable like?? for all that Theon is sympathetic, is he admirable? is Littlefinger? are Roose/Tywin/Ramsay etc etc? I find it so frustrating that female characters are expected to be everything at once where male characters can be literally whatever and ppl will call them complex. who cares if Cersei is 'admirable' or not lol she's a villain why is that any of your priorities

[cuephrase]

Of the DC comics you've read so far, what would be your top recommendations for people to check out/what have you enjoyed the most?

when i tell you i have been thinking about this all day- i have been thinking about this. all. day.

so disclaimer, as of writing this, i have only read 31 runs from start to finish and 18 arcs/events outside of those runs. on top of, everything i've read so far has been strictly robin-centric, so dick, jason, tim, and damian. (i have read all of steph's robin appearances lol, but i haven't gotten to reading material for her, like say batgirl 2009, yet.) i've also decided not to rec from any run i'm currently reading, so for example, you won't see any batman: gotham knights recs here. because i'm most well-read on the robins, i'm only going to rec for them.

also, i'm going to operate under the following assumption: you've got a basic knowledge of the robins. none of these are where i would necessarily recommend anyone start reading about the boys, but i do think they'd be pretty interesting if you're already somewhat familiar with them and don't want to commit to reading whole character backlogs. does that make sense? i hope that makes sense.

alright, let's do this!

DICK GRAYSON

oh god. this one is actually so hard because he has so much great stuff, but then also i have like a love/frustrate relationship with so much of it. like for instance, i really enjoyed The New Teen Titans, but also lowkey can't stand space adventures so whenever that went down i was like 😀👍. but okay. hmmmm.

i have two preboot recs, with explanations + caveats.

devin grayson's mob!dick arc, so Nightwing 1996 #99-100, 107-117. caveats: it doesn't really get to finish playing out/wraps up weird because of editorial changes/infinite crisis. but!! it's a super interesting look at how dick handles...failure. how he values himself in light of that failure.

tomasi's run, but specifically #147-153. (listen, i love the dick and tim moments in 'freefall' but the whole eternally pregnant lady thing was too weird.) this is classic, hyper-competent dick, okay? he's such a bad-ass. and an idiot- bro literally flops his severely injured ass over the bars of his glider and rides it UNCONSCIOUS back to the batcave. i can't with him. poor alfred. anyways, he deals with two-face, always a good time. and then at the end, as a treat, he cries because bruce is dead. so fun!! what was my caveat here? oh yeah, he has a girlfriend. i don't remember her name, she serves like...very little purpose, the whole relationship is very minor/background okay, but like it was so unnecessary. he can be single, dc, it's okay.

for post re-boot, just read tom taylor's run!! it's the best thing ever!! zero complaints!!

HA. yeah, just kidding. that run is very like/frustrate for me lol. oh man i'm struggling here. it's not all bad okay, i'm just really picky, and i haven't re-read any nightwing n52 and onwards since my first foray into comics (8 months ago) so my memories of these are the foggiest and i'm not sure how i feel about all of it in light of what i've read now. yk what, i'm just going to...not rec anything. sorry!!

JASON TODD

his comics either go so hard or they're absolute ass, why is there no in between. istg, i can't figure out why writers struggle with him so much?? well. i mean, i do have theories. but you didn't ask for those!

pre-boot:

detective comics #569-574. robin!jason in the hands of writers who like him is so much fun. which, don't get me wrong, i don't flat-out hate how starlin writes him, but i think you get a more well-rounded view of jason as robin when you also see him in 'tec. jason and bruce tangle with the joker, scarecrow, + mad hatter, and all of those adventures are...idk if they were intentional foreshadowing okay, but reading those and knowing where the story goes? oof. especialllllly #574. caveat: #572 is pretty light on jason, but he is great when he's on panel!

reboot:

probably a very basic answer but rhato rebirth (2016) #1-13, annual #1. i abhorred n52 rhato so i almost skipped rhato rebirth since it was still written by lobdell, but i'm really glad i didn't. i really enjoy jason's relationship with bizarro + artemis, but especially with bizarro because i think jason struggles a lot with feeling like a doomed creation, so yk, parallels. i want to say more but i know i'll get too wrapped up in discussing jason so i'm just going to stop myself.

i actually really enjoyed task force z, too. i think about tfz #8 so much, jason is such a manipulative little shit and i love it. he's so- i can't. i can't get into this rn, it deserves its own post(s).

overall for jay, i need people to read something other than utrh/lost days/b:ul 1-6. i love those, i do, but they aren't the only good pieces of jason content!!

TIM DRAKE

MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!! in my heart of hearts, i just want to rec his whole robin run lmao. dick was my intro, okay, he is why i decided to start reading comics, but tim, specifically his robin solo is why i'm still reading comics. hooked me fr. and young justice 1998, ugh love. but it has been a minute since i read these as well, so hmm. okay okay okay

pre-boot:

batman: prodigal. short version, tim is robin to dick's batman. super fun. there's a solid amount of dick and bruce angsting too, which, love. tim is honestly just thrilled that jpv is out of the batsuit and even happier to working with dick. very cute.

robin #46. listen. they're all superheroes okay, they all feel pressure to save people. but tim...losses get to him. the amount of times that he gets shoved to a breaking point and then...gets back up. keeps going. *screams*. anyways!! this is not tim getting back up, okay? this is him being shoved way, way down. it's so good.

teen titans 2003 #20. tim's dad has died. he shows up for his weekend at the tower anyways. he is not okay. that's it, that's the pitch. i did not like...mmm at least 80% of this run okay, but a few of the issues HIT and this was one imo.

reboot:

*deep sigh*. look. tim is not tim for like basically all of n52, although there are moments here and there were he feels like himself. i did not like his 2023 solo, the best parts of young justice 2019 imo are the character designs, (except for his drake costume, what was that omg), and i haven't read any rebirth batman/'tec yet. except for zdarsky's run. which. tim is good there! but yeah, not really a whole lot of material to work with + very limited reading experience atm.

DAMIAN WAYNE

god, i love this kid. nature vs. nurture fascinates me, and so much of his story digs into that on top of trying to figure out who he is apart from all of that. i will say, i'm not a huge talia fan and by that i mean, i have no idea who she is "supposed" to be, like i have no frame of reference for that atm, so if you are a huge talia fan these recs might not hit for you because from what i've observed from her fans she is not well portrayed a whole lot since becoming his mother? i think one of the things that is normal is dick absolutely disliking her though, which cracks me up. there's this older batman story (batman #322-335) where bruce works with talia and dick goes running to selina and i was so entertained. what were we talking about? oh! damian!

preboot:

batman and robin 2009 #10-12. damian is struggling, with a lot of things. the fact that bruce might be alive, what that means for him and dick, and his mother's puppeteering. there's this line that kills me: "can't you just love me for who i am? not what you want me to be?" and the thing that gets me, is the use of who vs. what. because he could have said, "not who you want me to be", but he doesn't

reboot:

batman: shadow war. this is post-alfred's death, and honestly, most damian stuff post city of bane is pretty juicy, but there's this specific moment in shadow war: alpha #1 that had me speechless. just like 😧 i love bruce, but that man has some of the most chronic foot-in-mouth disease. oh but fair warning, for whatever reason they don't draw dami's mask connecting?? it's so- it drives me nuts.

JUST FOR FUN

these are just two issues that i enjoy for the brother content!

nightwing 1996 #25. dick and tim's relationship makes me ILL. *ahem*. this issue is mostly just super cute and fun, (there's like 0.2 seconds of angst when tim asks dick if he ever thinks about jason 😭) and i adore it sm. fun fact, it's actually one of the first comics i ever bought!

batman 2016 #16. unfortunately, tim is not here for this, but duke is! jason and damian's interactions in the background of bruce's Very Serious Speech are excellent. bruce is so dramatic and his kids are so unserious.

what i've most enjoyed

i've enjoyed the majority of what i've read, even titles/events i wasn't particularly looking forward to but had on my tbr for whichever character. i'm going to break down most enjoyed into two catergories, arcs that i loved top to bottom and then the guilty pleasures. this is not an exhaustive list, just what immediately came to mind.

top to bottom

bruce wayne: murderer?/fugitive. shocker, ik. but it's just, it's just so frickin good. i've said before, and i'll say it again, gotham war could NEVER. this right here is peak batfamily drama. the tension? the mystery? the angst? i knew nothing going into this okay, and truth be told, when i started it i was like "oh joy. another event." because i was just trying to read the 1996 nightwing run, but i'd committed to reading in full all the events it crossed over with. but i was invested so quickly. and like, i loved how the narrative supported the possibility that bruce was the murderer, because like, you know there's no way, but the more that comes out the more damning it is, and so you're like really dying to know what actually happened and i feel like the reveal was satisfying.

batman: city of bane. i'm going to cautiously put this here, because there might have been something i didn't like but i cannot recall it for the life of me right now. something about me is i love when the heroes lose. infinity war, empire strikes back? love. and ik bruce takes back gotham, but they lose alfred, okay, they lost. i also didn't expect to like this arc, i decided to read it because i wanted to know how alfred died. and first of all, i was shocked, even though i knew it was coming because i expected it to like happen towards the end. but nope. just *snap*. and then later when bruce is back in the manor and is confronted with alfred's body and his good-bye message? oh. my. god. i was bawling. despite my penchant for sad narratives, i don't tend to cry that much, but this got to me so bad. like i had to pause because i couldn't see. amazing.

red robin. his cowl is so ugly, but i really do love the run. i see a lot of discourse about it and also a lot of...interesting fanfic takes, so i don't really talk about it a lot here because it feels like most people are kind of tired of hearing about this run, which fair. i really enjoyed it as a sequel to his solo robin run. tbh, i almost put this in the guilty pleasure catergory, because there are a couple things i don't totally love, but like if the others are 10/10, this is 9/10.

young justice 1998. i love this comic so, so much. i don't even know what to say, i get so overwhelmed with joy when i think about this comic. nothing has hit the same way with this group since either, which is a crime. i need a title with this team so badly.

guilty pleasures

these are all runs/events i know some/most? people cannot stand and i totally get why, and i have problems with them, so i'm probably never going to rec them in good conscience but also like i can't lie and say i don't like them. these are not recs, okay? okay.

robin war. is it a hot mess? yes. but there is not a whole lot of canon content out there with all the boys working together, okay? so much of that event had me banging my head into a wall, but for me, there were a handful of pearls in there. i mean honestly, if i listed out pros and cons the cons list would be way longer but those pros are very precious to me.

batman and robin: eternal. very similar reasoning overall to robin war. plus cass finally came back!! i missed her. i love robin!dick and batman content, and the kids working together. this is probably my least favorite guilty pleasure though, okay, it's on thin ice.

grayson. listen, i love janin's art sm. i'm pretty neutral about spy stuff, so like i don't engage with it a whole lot. meaning, although i've heard it's tropey af in regards to the genre, i'm not familiar enough with the genre to be like trying to dig my eyeballs out with blunt spoons at the cliche of it all. the constant sexualization of dick got old super fast, and her name may have been helena but she wasn't- my list of dislikes is lengthy. but idk, i had fun with it. and imo it does have some genuinely great moments, i love dick in the desert with the baby, the ache i felt when dick wanted to come home and couldn't get a hold of bruce, issue #12 stabs me in the heart- the dick and dami reunion? stoppppp. i feel like this run and the ric grayson era are dick's most out there lmao

so yeah!! thank you so much for this ask, i had sm fun answering it. if you have any recs for me, feel free to drop them :)

[warriororb5]

Ok now that I’ve had some time to think about it;

Everything I liked and disliked about Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:

Likes:

- That they tied in the one good thing from the comic, being Furiosa’s peach stone.

- Same goes for adding Scabrous from the game.

- Max’s cameo in his own franchise.

- Seeing the Green Place.

- Seeing Gastown.

- That even Joe of all people immediately clocked that the girl with Dementus was absolutely not willingly with him at all. (Takes one to know one I guess.)

- Seeing the Citadel not take Dementus seriously at all at first, basically the whole scene where they have his gang pick a random warboy to show him exactly how much he fucked up by picking a fight.

- All of the air fight stuff with the parasailing bikers.

- That Dementus and Octoboss both have their own version of Joe’s icon.

- That the warlords and Joe’s sons canonically hang out together at the Citadel.

- The shitty 3 wheeled car.

#1 - Praetorian Jack 🥰

Dislikes:

- That Peeps and Bullet Farmer weren’t at their towns at all the whole movie, especially when they tell Farmer to go get everything ready and he’s still at the Citadel afterwards. It makes it feel like the only reason they’re not at their towns is that they need them to survive to Fury Road and needed an easy reason Dementus didn’t kill them when he took over both times.

- How disappointing the Bullet Farm ended up looking.

- That we only get to see the Green Place for like 2 minutes (mostly only the outskirts of it) and other than establishing that Valkyrie and Furiosa were friends we get absolutely no other connections for Furiosa herself in her community.

- We got so little canon backstory for Furiosa other than the exact amount of days it took for her mother to die and they didn’t do anything with that, I personally looked over at my friend sitting next to me and held up two fingers on the morning of the second day thinking they were going to build suspense because the audience started the movie with that knowledge but no, they don’t make it clear how much time is passing.

- Furiosa mostly being hyper competent as a kid except for following her mom’s instructions to go the fuck home and walking straight into the enemy camp where she’s being killed.

- That Furiosa seems to have spent almost no time in the vault (possibly only one day?) before escaping and becoming part of the cog fodder then mechanic crew. That it doesn’t even seem like anyone bothered looking for her. That the only wives we see from this movie seem to be with Joe willingly, desperate to stay wives rather than be abandoned or demoted to milkers. Which I guess highlights their parallel to the warboys better, being brainwashed cogs in Joe’s machine. But the whole “everyone but Furiosa being cool with being in sexual slavery” gave me rancid vibes. It just seemed like a bizarre choice given how desperate the wives were to get away in Fury Road.

- Having basically everything terrible done to Furiosa in her backstory be done by Dementus rather than Joe. By the end of the movie it literally had me questioning why she even personally hated Joe as much as she did in Fury Road to even motivate the original “Remember Me”. Like don’t get me wrong, he’s still a warlord running a cult that dehumanizes everyone in it down to what they can do for him but why does Furiosa the titular protagonist hate him personally? He got her away from the man who originally stole her and killed her mother (for obviously selfish reasons by essentially bargaining for her like an object) and offered her what he and at least some of the other wives at this time considered a “”good”” future with him. After she (nearly instantly) escaped she became a Praetornian and then openly presented as a woman which Joe seems to not give a shit about at this point. And that’s kind of it. She shows up to tell Joe about Dementus’ trick which he believes and acts on. She steals his son’s car and gets Dementus herself which not only seems to have incited no punishment but he also lets her do that stupid tree thing to him. They gutted all of the implied horrors that Joe might have committed towards her to give the lesser villain from this movie more teeth and if taken as canon actively lessens Fury Road as a story.

- They didn’t even have her bond with any of the wives from this movie. . .

- Seriously guys, outside our protagonist there are basically no named women in this movie besides like her dead mom and that one biker who had the cool facial scaring, I’m not sure if she had a name in the movie so benefit of the doubt here. And I guess kid!Valkyrie for 20 seconds.

1# The stupid tree thing. Why. The actual fuck. Would Furiosa plant her peach stone in the Citadel before she knew she was going to stay there???? If she still planned to escape back home, and she did as we see 30 seconds after she gets the first peach from the tree, then why would she have planted that fucking tree in the first place with the expectation of abandoning it??? Also, just stupid. I go into a Mad Max movie with the intention of accepting everything. My willing suspension of disbelief for this franchise is so willing guys. But this is probably, hands down, one of the worst makes absolutely no sense endings in the franchise aside from Max “saving” those kids in the oasis with fresh water by leading them to the abandoned city for some reason in Thunderdome.

[dramioneasks]

Can u please recommend some full length rom-com style dramione

Random recs:

Benefits By: artemisgirl - M, one-shot - “I’m trying to make a case for why she should marry me,” Draco told him, scowling as Harry started laughing. “If I want an upgrade from ‘friends with benefits’ to 'husband with benefits'—” … When Draco Malfoy realizes that 'friends with benefits’ just isn’t enough anymore, he begins to strategize on how to get Hermione to commit to more.

Hot for Teacher - MotherofBulls - E, 26 chapters - Draco is a single dad trying to raise a teenager on his own. When he notices his son’s newfound interest in girls, he takes it upon himself to give him some fatherly advice. Little does he know that his son’s crush is none other than his own childhood nemesis, who has taken up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. Draco tries to juggle awkward situations, parenthood, and his own budding interest in Hermione Granger. Part 1 of “This Is Everything” series. COMPLETE!

The Bargain by Lincolepog - M, 29 chapters, Words: 102,657  - Heading back to Hogwarts for his 7th year, Draco Malfoy is given a very interesting deal from Hermione Granger; to play the role of her fake boyfriend. As time goes on, they learn to get passed their differences, but is it enough? What will it cost the two of them?

Starving by CharliPetidei - E, 5 chapters - Hermione has everything figured out. Sex is like food. Club nights are far too expensive. And men belong in the category of 'things that are more faff than they're worth'. You know, like hair straightening charms, lingerie, and mathematical integration. This is a story about food and sex, though not at the same time. Winner of best fluff, best smut, and runner-up for best use of prompt in the Dramione Fanfiction Forum's 2020 'Sounds Like Dramione' comp.

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare - E, 36 chapters, Words: 199,584 - Hermione straddles the Muggle and Magical worlds as a medical researcher and Healer about to make a big discovery. Draco is an Auror assigned to protect her from forces unknown – to both of their displeasure. Features hyper-competent, fiery Hermione and lazy, yet dangerous, Draco. Slow burn.

Bad Books and Second Looks - GracefulLioness - E, 10 chapters - Hermione has not been lucky in love. When a break-up forces her to find a new flat, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. Until she realises that she might just be falling for her new flatmate’s boyfriend. Perhaps when Ginny lends her some of her steamy romance novels, her luck will change.

You Make Me Shiver and Shake by Stargazing121 - M, 16 chapters - Draco is an artistic genius, Hermione a budding art agent. But once they start to work together, will they be able to resist the growing attraction between them? “I’m not going to take you on as an art client!” Hermione scoffed. “Why not Granger,” he said. His tone was silky, like the sound of fine cloth running through your hands. “You know there has always been something between us.” “That won’t work on me,” she answered flatly. “Ok, I admit that was pushing it.” He shrugged, “But pushing against beautiful women is what I do best Granger.” “Not that either.” “Damn it, I forgot that trying to flirt with you was like flirting with a slug. Actually, I think I’d get more luck with the slug.” “You’d make a lovely couple. You’re certainly as slippery,” Hermione said. “I can think of someone I would rather form a partnership with,” he said, his voice low and almost a whisper.

Clueless - jacemorgensterns - T, one-shot - Draco is a college student living in an apartment with his roommate Theo. He occasionally gets into trouble and always gets away with it. When his luck is threatening to turn on him Hermione comes to to the rescue and an agreement between them forms that eventually spirals out of control. A Dramione romcom AU with as many romcom tropes I could fit in from Draco’s point of view. One-shot.

Fate Has It In For Me by jigglyjelly28 - T, 39 chapters, Words: 196,573 - “Seeing as you two have driven me half-mad over these few months with your Veela heritage problem, I thought that it would be perhaps, in Pureblood politeness, that you at least give a suitable explanation of what you’ve been doing.” Draco was told he was a Veela years ago but forgot. He’s been told again and has a year to find his Mate.

Accidental Proposal - CJRed - M, 36 chapters, Words: 108,673 - Hermione finds out that she is really a Nott, and there are so many rules to being a Pureblood, too bad Draco Malfoy seems to have forgotten one of the most important rules of all! Hermione/Draco. Theo and Hermione are siblings. Ignores epilogue and off canon in some other places as well. Set in 8th year. Language, Fluff, and Lemons. Complete.

-Lisa

[c-is-for-circinate]

MCU Rewatch #2: IRON MAN 2 (2010)

General impressions: Kind of a hot mess but fun though?

This movie did not suck and I did not hate watching it. Still, kind of a mess in places for reasons that weren't entirely its fault.

I think maybe the single biggest thing that fucked this film over is the difficulty of making a movie about the evils of the military-industrial complex while taking money from the US military. It worked in the first Iron Man, because Tony started that movie as such a complete unwitting villain of an international arms dealer that moving away from that at all was clear heroic improvement. Here, we've already achieved that -- so how do we continue on the path without undercutting ourself?

The main question this movie asks is whether I'd prefer this hyper-capable superweapon suit be in the possession of the US Military at large, or one libertarian billionaire with the self-preservation and thrill-seeking tendencies of a Kennedy. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is a vehement NO PLEASE, and that's not really an option. So we're left with questions that get brought up (who can we trust with this technology, and why?), and no good answers, because the movie got them big US Armed Forces millions and therefore can't just say 'nobody'.

The Hero: Well, Tony Stark remains the single best thing about this film, so there's that at least.

There's a great line of continuity here with the first movie. We've already seen that Tony is over-the-top, prone to too far and too fast and too much. In the original movie, we get to see that channeled towards trying to improve the world -- but now that the goal isn't as clear as "stop these specific guys from destroying this one specific town" or "don't die", there's really nowhere to point it. Add on the fact that he's dying, and Tony is a powderkeg of disastrous impulses and flashy self-destruction. It makes sense. It's hard to watch sometimes, but it's also fun to watch, in a cool movie explosions sort of way, and it manages to resolve messily enough to feel earned but also hopeful. RDJ does a great job with Tony's over-the-top disaster self, but also his quieter moments, especially watching back video of his dad. It's good acting for a film with this many explosions.

The Villain: Painfully forgettable, unfortunately.

Look, it's not like 'son of a guy who worked with Howard Stark, working to ensure his father's legacy' doesn't have potential here. There's room for Tony to see himself in both Ivan Vanko and Justin Hammer. It's just never actually realized. We don't get to delve into comparing the complexities of fathers' legacies, and neither of these two people really have anything to do with the true conflict of this movie, IE Tony vs himself.

Tony himself is sort of the other villain of this movie, with his self-sabotage and his desperation. The emotional conflict here has nothing to do with the actual bad guys and everything to do with him. Unfortunately, in a superhero movie, while IM2 gets points for having that level of internal conflict it really is important for the external conflict to reflect those themes back, which it Does Not.

The Ensemble: Unfortunately underused, except for Rhodey.

Sadly, Pepper got shafted here. Most of her attempts to help went weird (WHY are you charging onto the racetrack like that, what is even happening), and there was a little more shrieking and running than I'd hope/expect from the lady who found and then accompanied the SHIELD guys so skillfully in IM1. For someone who's been promoted to Fortune 500 CEO, you'd think she'd be more...active? competent? Sigh. Still, Pepper's always fun.

Natasha felt weird after a decade of knowing her through other things. Scarlett Johanssen was about 25 when this was filmed and she looks like a baby. I don't know how to square that with Natalia Romanova, Red Room veteran and SHIELD convert who changed sides long enough ago that she's respected and trusted in the organization by now.

Rhodey though...it's interesting. I think it's very clear that Rhodey loves Tony, and is doing his best to be the best friend he can to him. I just don't think that Rhodey, fundamentally, is a very good friend for him. He's a colonel who works in weapons development. He is always, always, no matter what, going to have those priorities and exigencies pulling on him. He values what the US Military stands for. And that's a complicated and in many ways deeply unfortunate perspective for Tony to be dealing with, in these circumstances.

The Plot: Oh no, Iron Man 2. Oh no.

Look I'm not saying it doesn't, for the most part, work. There's just a lot of Applied Phlebotinum in this one. Tony synthesized a new element in his basement based on a secret his dad built into a model city in the 1950s? Like, just sit with that one for two seconds and then tell me hey what the fuck. (I do not think these filmmakers know how the periodic table works.)

Like, the actual events stacked up more or less ok, but because the villains were boring and detached from the actual emotional core of the movie, they just kind of...hung there. It didn't hold together well, unfortunately, although I am sure there's worse to come.

The Franchise: Well, this didn't kill the MCU, so there's that.

I need to write that post about the promises made by IM1, but the two biggest things that this movie attempts to follow up on are the consequences of a world with open superhero identities, and the problems with the military-industrial complex. I already talked about how the failed attempt to deal with that second theme is the root of a lot of this movie's issues, but I think the open superhero identities thing is one of the movie's big strengths.

We get to see a lot of fallout from Tony coming out as Iron Man! There's no superhero secret identity hunt; there are Congressional committees, and there's federal agents setting spies and putting him on house arrest, and there are real-world copycats. Rather than these things all being Tony's Problem Alone, these impacts feel very tied into the entire world. There's no weird isolation of Superhero Problems. Venko is Tony's problem because he's trying to kill Tony specifically, and using tech only Tony can understand to do it. I think this was well done! (I'm glad something was.)

VERDICT: A Flawed-But-Fun 5/10

I don't think this counts as an objectively good movie, but I think it was a fine popcorn flick. (And I know it gets worse. Of course it does.) 50% seems just about right.

[wisteria-lodge]

unBurnt lion primary + bird secondary

Wisteria, really appreciate all the insight and time you’ve put into everything!  I’ve always had a hard time placing myself in the SHC system, so I’d really love to be sorted. I’ll go through the prompts since I think they’re really thought provoking and insightful, and there are so many moving parts and nuances to any given person I wouldn’t even know where to start talking about myself otherwise.

I'm glad people are liking the prompts! I *am* picky about prompts in general, so I really did try to make these ones as interesting and as useful as possible.

Tell me about what you were like as a kid ~ As a child, I was told I was very happy, social, and caring - that if I saw someone picking up garbage on the street I’d run to help, that one time I gave my friend the gloves off my own hands when we were building a snowman because I saw she was cold

You sound like an adorable child. And there's definitely some Badger energy in here. There's this idea that you want to join in with what the community is doing (helping pick up garbage) and need-basing (your friend needed the gloves more than you did. Of course, this could also be Paragon Lion, or maybe a model based on someone in your life. Need more data :)

I baked cookies and knocked on doors to sell them and donate the money to save the ocean

Okay, now this "save the ocean" bit is sounding more Idealist... especially if you were doing it solo. Door-to-door bake sale as a problem-solving method is also tipping me towards Prep-Work secondary - Badger or Bird.

but I also distinctly remember being hyper-independent in some ways as well. When other kids asked to play with me, I would only engage if I was actually interested, and had no issue playing on my own or running off to the library to read.

Classically, it's the Lions who are most comfortable being loners, and who really value their independence (as in, will choose independence over like... peace, or comfort.)

Part of it was that my parents were somewhat absent so I had to figure a lot out on my own. I would disagree with what my parents did teach me as well

You're making me think of Roald Dahl's Matilda.

For example, I remember my dad sitting me down as a child and trying to tell me that it’s good to always be competitive to come out on top (he’s a very success driven, ambitious person who told me his goal as a kid was to end up in a history book)

Your dad sounds like a Glory Hound Lion.

and me telling him I disagreed and felt that sometimes, yes, it’s good to compete and aim to improve in that way, but other times call for collaboration too.

... but I'm leaning more Paragon Lion for you.

I had a very strong sense of what I felt and believed was right and wrong, even at a young age. I remember arguing with teachers, friends, family, and strangers alike whenever someone’s views didn’t align with mine, just because I believed in myself and letting my ideas/ideals be known.

This is all very Idealist primary stuff, and I'm really doubling down on Lion. That moment where you hear an authority figure say something and think... oh no, that is wrong, the way you are seeing things is wrong... is both a very Lion primary response, and a common Lion core memory. I also think young Lions are by far the most likely to go full rules lawyer or devil's advocate with authority figures.

At times I would find I was wrong (no one is right all the time, no matter how strong-willed they are about it) and this would make me feel embarrassed/ashamed, but I stood by my own thoughts/feelings in future instances nonetheless.

Yup. That's a Lion thing. We can get stubborn about our emotions, and realizing you were wrong can get... messy.

I think that sense of shame when I was wrong ended up carrying over into more minor things as well. At the end of the day, no matter how independent and strong willed I could be, I did ultimately still care about other people and what they thought.

Of course Lions do care what people think sometimes - everyone does. The difference is that a Lion feels most badass, strong, and powerful whenever they really, truly don't.

It bled into things like if someone said a song I liked sucked or something, I’d start wondering if my music taste is any good. This would only really apply if I cared about the person and/or their opinion though - people I admired or thought had good taste of their own, for example.

Interesting. In the terms of this system, what you are describing here is Burning - not being able to trust your emotional instinctive response to things, which can happen when they steer you wrong too many times.

I've actually come to the point where I think it's healthy for Lions to burn, every once in a while. It sucks, of course it sucks, no Lion likes being Burnt... but I've found that Burning has a way of clearing out the gunk in a way that's ultimately useful, when it comes to re-calibrating yourself. When Lions are Burnt they do exactly what you're describing - lock on to the worldview/morals/opinions of someone who seems like they know what they're doing, and let themselves be pulled along.

I am really into the arts and being creative, and I think I ended up pretty private about it because I was scared of people putting down the most vulnerable sides of me. Except for theater, I proudly performed on stage when it came to theater, I think in part because I felt I was putting on a literal performance so it wouldn’t bother me as much if people didn’t like the character or my portrayal.

Your Lion primary absolutely went through a period where it was *sort of* Burned, and you didn't quite trust yourself. Not completely burned though - that hidden place where your art came from, that's you - and that stayed alive the whole time. Makes sense that you didn't want to show it around though, when it was too delicate to hold up to harsh weather.

I think there was also this deep sense of loneliness feeling like the people around me didn’t really understand me. Not 100% sure how this factors into sorting, but it was and is a persistent feeling/theme in my life. Another consistent theme is a motto of sorts: the only constant is change.

Those I would say are both big, relatable human things. Those are both core themes of the human experience that great thinkers and philosophers have been trying to make sense of for a long time now.

Tell me a low-stakes story about you solving a problem (like in a video game.) ~ I’m not a huge gamer, but I do like things like logic puzzles and escape rooms. I find it really fun to exercise that part of my brain. In an escape room, I’ll often approach things in a very logical manner. I also don’t necessarily stay on one puzzle for long if I get stuck though - there might be something else in the room to solve for me to get the clue needed to solve whatever I’m stuck on. I’ll make a note of anything I see in the room that could be used later.

That's just a good problem-solving method in general. But the fact you like the logic-puzzle, find-the-key element of escape rooms is definitely making me think Bird secondary.

I tend to be pretty efficient in these rooms and kind of take a leadership role in the group sometimes? Not necessarily intentionally, I just feel I start making sense of what needs to done before most of my peers do so I start delegating tasks - eg. there’s a 3 number combination lock here can you go look for numbers, there’s a series of levers here do we see anything directional in the room to know how to pull them, I’ll work on this puzzle here can someone look for this other thing, etc. As long as we don’t have some sort of disadvantage (one time we were separated into 2 rooms and my friend with bad vision happened to be in the dimly lit room) I tend to clear rooms with time to spare.

I know that Lion secondaries have the reputation for being "leaders," but I actually think that all the secondaries have a leadership-mode, and this style of "organize and delegate tasks" is very much a Bird secondary thing. The historical Napoleon strikes me as a Bird secondary, and so much of his success came from things like his ability to organize supply lines, and not so much being a revolutionary firebrand.

There are also times I do something based on intuition/instinct though, and results are mixed. If I’m really stuck and no amount of pivoting to another part of a room yields results, I’ll start trying things just to try them. One time, this was opening a locker based purely on the fact that the person’s surname was “King” and I decided to try to hit the numbers in a way that would write a “K” (147359 on a 3x3 number pad, if that makes any sense) which worked. Another time, this was posing in front of a random poster, which got some laughs and did not work. It was fun though!

I've written before (I think it came up in my Princess Ariel sorting) about how when Bird secondaries don't have any relevant skills prepared, whenever they're out of their depth... they look exactly like Lion secondaries. The difference is that they're feeling frazzled and stressed, while a Lion secondary in the same situation would just be vibing.

Tell me a high-stakes story about you solving a problem ~ Hmm… with high stakes, I feel I get a lot more “let me approach this from all angles” about it, not just logical.

(which is still 100% the Bird secondary move.)

The specific instances I’m thinking of are highly personal so I’d rather not go too in depth about the situations themselves, but I’ll mention that I’ll approach it from an emotional standpoint, from a logical standpoint, from how I feel is right, etc. and keep pivoting until I find the best way to resolve it. I really do think, as wonderful as being logical and using reasoning can be, and as fun as it can be, it can’t be the approach to every problem. Especially when the problem involves people. We’re highly emotional creatures and that must be considered, to cut that out of resolving something is to expect a person not to be a person.

What you're describing sounds to me like a Lion primary and a Bird secondary working together beautifully. The emotional component is first - it's listed first, and you come back to it again at the end. You can't compartmentalize the emotion, you would never even want to try, because that would feel like losing something. Your logic and your reasoning is fun, and it's useful... but it's not at the core, which is why you're a Lion and not a Bird primary.

On top of that, I really do care about people, so I want to ensure whatever resolution is reached works best for everyone involved

You're definitely a Badger-flavored Paragon Lion. Fits right in with the picking-up-trash and saving-the-ocean stuff you did as a child.

(I wouldn't be surprised if the test gave you Badger at some point, but I'm absolutely seeing Lion.)

otherwise it’s not a real resolution as it’s not emotionally resolved and the problem may come up again in a different form later down the line.

You are able to intellectualize and explain your primary in a way that not every Lion is, so I wouldn't be surprised if you considered Bird for yourself at some point. But what I'm seeing is a strong, beloved Bird secondary taking a look at your Lion primary, and trying to assist. Your primary, your 'why,' is much rooted in emotion, independence, and your own personal internal experience... which is what makes you a Lion.

Tell me about the process you go though when you’re making a really difficult decision ~ It depends. If I have a strong gut reaction, I’ll usually trust it.

Lion.

Sometimes after the fact, I’ll realize the reasons as to why I felt that way and have a more logical explanation for things. And even if I don’t, that’s okay, I’m doing what I feel is right.

The realest 'real' is your gut response: that is the Lion primary experience. It's generally good and responsible to try to follow up and figure out where that strong emotional ping is coming from... but if you can't figure it out, or can't figure it out yet... you kind of shrug, and move on. Doing that would really bother a Bird primary.

If I don’t have a strong gut reaction, I’ll try my best to consider if from all angles - how would everyone involved feel? What do I feel might be future results/consequences? Are there any nuances to consider I may be missing? If there are things to compare to each other, I’ll also do things like make a spreadsheet or a list so I can see everything in direct comparison.

Fictional Lion primaries tend to have a really strong response to everything, but real Lions... don't. Your response to something might absolutely just be 'eh. shrug.' At which point your secondary takes over. I'm a Badger secondary, so I'm more likely to outsource the question to the community, but you're a loud Bird secondary, so of course you would do research, pro/con lists, and spreadsheets.

If I have a lot of feelings about it, I might journal or talk to a friend so I can try to understand those feelings and how they factor in.

The journal thing in particular is a HUGE Lion primary thing. Lions get so much out of just unpacking their feelings, and especially unpacking their feelings solo. I think Lion primaries are the most likely to be big journalers, and this is why.

If I’m feeling stuck in general, actually, I’ll likely talk it out with a friend. Sometimes verbalizing things helps me sort through my thoughts, and additional insight will bring new things to light to consider.

I love that you have a trusted friend, but I have literally had Lion primaries who are just into rubber-ducking, or Lion primaries who write me and answer their own questions by the end of the submission. I can absolutely attest to how useful just saying a thing aloud can be - sometimes you've got to pull something out of pathos and into logos, and that is how you do it.

If, after all this, I’m still stuck, then I’ll just have to make a decision and see where it goes. Sometimes decisions have to be made when not everything lines up.

I think everyone can benefit a little from the "just do it" mentality. The conditions are never going to be perfect. You're never going to have all the information. To me any decision is better than no decision at all. But that's also the Lion primary talking, and I know that Bird primaries are much more likely to freeze if they get really, really stuck.

What’s your fantasy? ~ There are a few. When I was a kid and I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be happy and around people I loved who loved me. I don’t think that one’s changed.

I mean, that's kind of perfect, isn't it?

I also have, at certain points in my childhood, wanted to be a film director or even the president because, in my own words at the time, “everyone listens to them.” I don’t really want that level of responsibility anymore, I think I was just a bossy child who hadn’t considered the nuances.

A little bit of Glory Hound Lion is normal when you're a kid. Young Lion primaries tend to be very interested in the idea of power in the abstract (and can often have pretty generic fantasies like 'rich' or 'famous.') The freedom to follow their own instincts is so important to Lions, and it's generally something you don't have as a child... so young Lions will become very interested in whatever they think might get them that freedom.

I also wanted to be in a band or an actress for a while - I loved to create and express, and I wanted to show that to people. I still think that’d be cool, but don’t consider myself much of a performer - I like writing music and having that outlet, but I get nervous on a stage. Of the more lofty fantasies, I’ve always been really into reading and generally consuming media like TV shows and movies, and I sometimes motivate myself through hard times by thinking about the hardships my favorite characters went through and how I want to be strong, or heroic, or fiercely kind, or whatever else like them. Sometimes when I’m really into a character, I might take inspiration from them in terms of fashion choices or some of their attitude toward life as well.

Birds love a costume. This specific tendency - modeling your look and attitude off a favorite fictional character - is absolutely a bird secondary thing, and one I find *really* charming.

Is there a character who you really identify with? Why? - There are a few. Akira from Devilman Crybaby. Wei Wuxian from MDZS. Nezha from Chinese mythology in general. Keith from Voltron. Zuko from ATLA.

I wish I knew more of these guys! I do know that Wei Wuxian has been sorted as a Lion Badger with a Snake secondary model, and Keith has been sorted as a Double Lion, (it's almost like you really like Lion primaries) and Zuko as a Badger Lion... but with all sorts of interesting Burning and unBurning going on.

I think characters that are both soft and emotional as well as protective and angry, and in some way misunderstood by their peers. Characters who deeply want to do good, but have their actions misinterpreted and have to overcome a sense of loneliness I really identify with. On a less deep note, these characters have either a black or red (or both) color scheme, as well as either demon or fire (or both) motifs. I really vibe with the aesthetic.

Hey, don't overthink it. I am not surprised at all that you are drawn to emotional, protective characters who struggle with some degree of Burning and loneliness.

What makes you feel powerful? Feeling heard. Feeling competent.

That's coming from your secondary.

Being able to make a change. Support from people I care about. I think those are the main things.

... and that's coming from your primary. You're very balanced.

What was an especially difficult time in your life? What made it difficult? ~ For most of my life, I’ve really struggled with a deep loneliness. I think it’s trauma based as my parents were not the most present, and many of my interactions with them (my dad in particular) were not the most positive, so from a young age I didn’t really have the familial connection children need.

That would be hard on anyone. But I do think that having a dad who sounds like a pretty intense Glory Hound Lion... would be a lot on a young Lion learning to trust yourself. You're hearing over and over again that the way you see the world, what you want out of life... is incorrect. What were you supposed to think?

That loneliness really escalated at one point in high school when I felt like I had no one and nothing.

A Burnt Lion without even a person to lean on.

I wasn’t that good at my hobbies and began to lose interest. I didn’t have many friends and the ones I did have had other, better friends they preferred. My grades weren’t the best. There were other events that genuinely made me feel helpless and hopeless, it was a really dark time.

It honestly sounds like your secondary Burnt for a little bit there to. Yeah, I BET it was a dark time.

I’m in therapy and have gotten a lot better, in recent years the only thing that even came close to how I felt then is one particularly bad breakup I had back in 2020 where I really thought that person was my person and I’d put a lot into the relationship.

You honestly seem to have pulled yourself out of it extremely well. You come across as intelligent, thoughtful, balanced, and emotionally healthy. I have zero doubt you will find your people.

What are the important relationships in your life? ~ My friends and my partner. My inner circle or found family, if you will. I do also care about a sense of community, but will prioritize my found family. That being said, I am not afraid to disagree or speak up about issues with my inner circle, and I’m not afraid to cut people off if our morals are too far unaligned. If they show me growth/change, that’s when they’ll get another chance. For the most part, I also deal with people leaving my life decently well. If it was an amicable parting, they’re welcome back anytime. If not, we have different paths in life to take.

Spoken like a true Lion, and I honestly love hearing all of that. You sound like you're in a good place. I know it hasn't been easy, but I'm glad you sound so grounded and happy now.

Thank you to K for such an excellent submission. If you’d like a Sorting of your very own, commissions are open on my ko-fi. :D

If you’d like to read more about the system I’m using, my explanation is right here.

[crehador]

translation issues aside, the story of reverse 1999 is really surprisingly good for a gacha. i'm vibing with the characters and setting, and the STRUCTURE of the currently released chapters is just downright excellent

major spoilers for chapters 1 through 4 below the cut

introducing us to the world through regulus was such a good call for chapter one, it's all new to her just like it's all new to the player. we get a chance to learn through her eyes

another reason this works so well imo is it paints vertin, in regulus's eyes, as this hyper-competent character with her own agenda and agency (only to reveal bit by bit that she's in a much more difficult position than it may seem at first, and in so many ways is still just a hurt kid trying to right the wrongs she's seen in this world, desperate not to lose more people)

then we move on to chapter 2, where we see schneider's tragedy unfold and meet some major players like arcana. schneider's story even on its own is pretty damn good, but the way vertin acts and reacts in chapter 2 is full of perfect little hints to what kind of past trauma might have shaped her

THEN CHAPTER 3. THE TRAUMA. i loved schneider's story, but i think this is where we really dive into the meat of the overarching plot. and it is such a perfect dive

like after the events of chapter 2, it does more or less make sense that vertin is being treated for Something. right away chapter 3 gives off a bit of a foreboding feeling because vertin's in the hands of the foundation now, which we as a player knows she doesn't trust, and it's deliberately made ambiguous what she's being treated for and exactly when she'll be released

but at this point, to me at least, it still seemed... possible that she really was just being treated for damage from chapter 2

THEN THE HORRORS UNFOLD vertin's past is shown to us throughout this chapter, and bit by bit it dawns that the foundation is capable of much more heinous acts than we already expected. when we meet the ring and isabella, a feeling of dread sets in right away. because they're clearly important to vertin, but where are they in the present? it's not hard to figure out she lost them (which adds so much dimension to her reactions to everything with schneider)

when the escape plan is coming together, with those side looks at what constantine is scheming, the inevitable dread gets heavier and heavier. like even knowing exactly what would happen, that the kids would be deliberately funneled into the storm just so vertin would see them die and feel responsible because it was her plan that led them there... seeing it actually happen was still a major gut punch, very effective

vertin's naivete in this past is such a haunting thing to see as well, there are moments where the text even shines a light on "will they realize this is going TOO smoothly for them?" and no! no they do not!! because they are 12-year-old kids who haven't lost all hope in the world!!!

seeing these grand scenes unfold with chess (and later go) on the screen was visually very cool as well, imo. might feel a bit gimmicky but it's a gimmick i enjoyed

anyway so then we get to chapter 4, and by then the sense of dread surrounding the foundation has fully set in. so it's almost unsurprising (yet still HORRIFYING) when you realize holy shit the foundation is keeping vertin hostage in a medically induced coma!! treatment for trauma my ass!!!

i feel like chapter 4 was the perfect place to end this arc as well, it was like an extended prologue. a lot of the tension/excitement for me came from the realization that vertin doesn't yet have a place to belong, it's not like "manus bad, foundation good" and that's that

looking at it through the lense of arknights, it would be like if doctor didn't have rhodes island at the start. all these factions around vertin, with their own agendas, and she doesn't have her own "home" yet

we get there, at the end of chapter 4. but of course it's not perfect, the terms of her operating her own team are very conditional, and there are loads of unanswered questions for the future

but it's a nice little set-up for future events, for vertin building this team (family) of arcanists who have some measure of freedom. the tension is still there, the foundation is still scheming, and some new mysterious organization is getting ready to enter the chat...?

all in all just, imo, an excellently structured story so far. it's a shame the translation detracts so much from it, i do think some powerful moments suffered from that. but the actual story is really quite strong, and vertin and her circle are all quite captivating to me so far

[taki118]

Do you think Kirishima is a sociopath? What do you think is up with him?

So personally I don't like attributing psychological disorders to characters for a couple reasons. First of all it tends to limit discussion as people point to that as the explanation for everything, second psychology is hard with like real people in real setting to diagnose so like doing so with a character tends to boil down to assumptions and confirmation basis, and finally I dunno I just feel a little bad about doing it not sure why.

But to answer the question personally no I don't think he's intentionally a sociopath but I can see why someone would think so and I do think he has sociopathic tendencies.

For example some agreed signs of sociopathy that Kirishima has are • ignoring social norms, laws, and social boundaries • dishonesty and deceit • disregard for personal safety • acting without considering the consequences

But there are signs that he doesn't really have • difficulty managing responsibilities, such as work, school and tasks (if anything Kirishima is hyper competent at these things) • little to no guilt or remorse (we see him regretting his actions a quite a lot)

Another thing that lends itself to this idea is that Kirishima was more than likely neglected as a kid which has been linked to the diagnosis.

Though I don't know if those traits were given to him with the authorial intent of him being a sociopath or if these traits just happen to overlap, as a lot of characters of his type have these traits but were likewise not intended to be sociopathic. So again I can only say maybe?

More than sociopathy though I think Kirishima's deal is he's a giant contradiction. That he's boy who thinks he can't connect with anyone but also desperately wants to connect with someone. He's someone who wants to feel alive, but only death seems exciting. We learn a lot about his mindset and desires from vol 8 and the flashbacks shown. It doesn't explain everything but explains a lot (and it's why I say the series is best on the re-read) When you think about it Kirishima is very much still that child wanting someone to play with him and make life fun, and for the first time someone lifted up that bat. Yoshino is the first person to really meet him on his level, to not brush him off and tries to understand him, and for the first time he has a reason to enjoy life and really grow.

Since the Osaka arc Kirishima has subtly been growing and becoming more mature and in a sense more human as he understands what it means to care and be cared about in turn. Regardless of whether or not their relationship becomes wholly romantic Yoshino offers him real authentic care and concern and that has an effect on him and I think in the future (please Konshi come back) we'll see him engaging in these sociopathic traits less and less. I do want to emphasize that Yoshino is not fixing him, he's doing that because she makes him want to. She met him where he was at and now he wants to do the same for her.

And I think I might've gone on a tangent there ummmmm but yeah in short. I don't think he's intended to be a sociopath though he might be inspired by it, and his deal is he's a lonely boy who's starting to grow up and understand his actions have consequences.

[spacemagicandlaserswords]

Feral Hunter

I wrote most of this in a reblog but thought it deserved its own post as my unwieldy response took on a life of its own, which they have a tendency to do. I’ve added more to it as well so there’s some new extra ramblings on one of my favourite ideas/headcanons/theories for season 3 of The Bad Batch. 

Give me Feral Hunter. My kingdom for Feral Hunter. Completely unhinged, vengeance fueled, feral Hunter. He can go on his Joel Miller/The Mandalorian/John Wick/Liam Neeson in Taken/The Punisher arc, as a little treat.

I've been trying to figure out why I love this idea so much. I think it's because we never really see any of the Batch actually, properly unleash. Sure, they're unconventional and a bit bonkers in their approach but they're still a very well-oiled machine. When they're on a mission, they all know exactly what they're doing, what their roles are, and where their squad mates are. Even when they improvise on the fly, they all adapt fairly easily and smoothly. Everything is still all rather professional, smooth, and efficient. Like they're all operating on muscle memory, which they basically are given how many countless times I'm sure they've trained and done missions together.

Even when the Batch is fighting their way through Kamino, they still operate with that same smooth, efficient, hyper competent professionalism. Despite their unorthodox approach, there's still this sense that they're contained. Never throwing off the shackles and being completely unrestrained. The full unbridled force of their abilities and skills simmering just below the surface, waiting to be given free rein and just obliterate everything.

There's a little hint of this in the opening scene of episode 2x14 'Tipping Point', where the ARC Trooper in Echo comes out to play. But oh, how I would love to see more. From all of them, but especially Hunter. 

Look at his face. Look at that expression and all those emotions from Sergeant Stoic himself, who is usually fairly reserved and contained. Dorito Bod Bandana Space Dad on the warpath to get his ad'ika back, cutting a swathe through the Imperials, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, and taking out anything and everything that even thinks about getting in his way. Hunter goes full Space Rambo mode, ruthlessly taking out Stormtroopers, blood dripping off his vibroblade, eyes wide and deranged, as he turns into a complete animal. His half tattooed skull now completed by the blood of his enemies covering the other side of his face. For extra angst, when he finds Omega, she doesn’t recognise him. The figure standing in the smoking remains of the door to her cell looks like Hunter. Is wearing Hunter’s armour. Is holding Hunter’s vibroknife. But that’s not Hunter. That’s not her buir. Not anymore. And she’s afraid of him. We get a little hint of this at the very end of season 2 and oh ho ho, I am so ready for more. I am so ready for Hunter’s descent into vengeance, revenge and rage. Not just Hunter either, I’d love to see the rest of the Batch unleash as well.

Can you just imagine Wrecker properly unleashing? All of that strength and power finally freed as he rips limbs off Stormtroopers, snapping necks and crushing skulls with his bare hands. The crumpled, pulverised bodies of his enemies discarded behind him as he rages down corridor after corridor of whatever Imperial base they’ve infiltrated. We got a hint of how damaging Wrecker can be when his chip activated but that was chip controlled. This would just be pure Wrecker. 

We see a little more of this in Crosshair's actions and you could also argue that this is chip controlled. Or if his chip has actually been removed, then Crosshair’s actions are definitely still clouded by his Imperial mindset and blind delusion that the Empire is right. Right up until it all goes horribly wrong on Barton-4 and he finally wakes up to the reality of his nightmare. Either way, that unrestrained part of him is still there. The amount of rage and anger that must be building up and festering inside Crosshair is eventually going to explode. When he snaps like he did at the end of 'The Outpost' then there isn’t going to be an Imperial left without a blaster bolt between their eyes. When Hemlock ends up dying (he better), my bet is on Crosshair taking him out and getting revenge. And it won't be pretty. He'd shoot him execution style at the very least. 

I'd love to see Tech (shut up he's alive) completely lose it and finally snap off every ounce of his carefully crafted control. I've written about this before but Tech's combat is exceptionally efficient and precise. He only ever uses the minimum number of shots or moves to take out an enemy because he doesn't need to expend anything beyond what is necessary. Complete economy of form. His combat style is very contained, almost like a mirror of his personality and character. Can you just imagine him snarling and growling like a beast, teeth bared, eyes dark, face distorted in rage, as he slams a Stormtrooper's head into a control panel desk with enough force to crack their helmet and shatter their visor. 

I mentioned above that we've seen a tiny bit of this slightly unhinged quality from Echo. There's another little hint of it when they're all in that training simulation on Kamino.

This gifset from @starqueensthings shows this perfectly, especially the above gif. I love the line they wrote at the top of their post as well, which I'm going to quote in part here: "I’d like to introduce my scomp arm TO YOUR JUGULAR WIRE." This perfectly encapsulates the unhinged quality lurking in Echo. He just leaps onto the back of what looks like the Kaminoan version of a B2 super battle droid and then proceeds to flail and stab madly before plunging his scomp arm into the battle droid's chest and ripping out the droid version of its jugular. Absolutely unhinged behaviour. The absolute madlad.

Now picture Echo finally snapping and doing this to a bunch of Imperials and just absolutely annihilating them. There is so much in him that is screaming to be let out. The general batshittery that comes with being an ARC Trooper. The insanity and chaos of coming from the 501st and Torrent Company. The unconventional, yeet-the-reg-manual-out-the-airlock, bonkers existence of The Bad Batch. Plus all that trauma, fury and rage of what has happened to him, what was done to him, and everything that he’s seen, experienced, endured, suffered, and survived. When the last few frayed threads holding Echo back finally snap he is going to go completely postal.

Is it healthy? No. Is it "good"? Probably not. But my god, would I love to see it.

The Clone Wars has a history of tackling and portraying difficult, multilayered and nuanced topics and we've seen that in The Bad Batch as well. More recent Star Wars series, such as Andor and The Mandalorian, have also had a real interest in showing the murky areas that exist between the good (Republic) and the bad (Imperial). There's been a particular focus on showing that there's a lot more grey than we think, rather than the pure dichotomy between cliched black and white. That sometimes there is no right or wrong decision. That sometimes everything is awful and everyone is stuck in a shitty situation from which there is no way to escape unscathed. In order to make it out alive, lines are going to be crossed. The battle of good vs evil takes on a new edge and the line between good and bad gets very murky.

That quote about how “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” comes to mind. In this instance, the Batch are still fighting tooth and nail for each other but their sacrifices and actions are starting to take them to much darker places. It’s a classic example of good people being driven to do bad, awful, terrible things when those they love are in danger and they will do whatever it takes to save them.  

The whole 'deeply flawed parental figure seeking vengeance' is a popular trope at the moment as well so Feral Hunter would make sense narratively for a number of reasons.

Will we actually get it? Probably not. And even if we do, it'll probably still be a watered-down kid friendly version.

But oh, just imagine if we did.

[ematsubusa]

An introduction? Uhm… sure, why not? Hiya, nice to meet’cha!

//(A better picture will follow, it’s just a small display of one of her possible teams) ((We ignore the legendary/mythical overload, I just love those little critters)) (((also also, I’m thinking of making a newer artwork for her… soooo… yeah)))

*Lisbeth is mostly used as a nickname by Marc

OOC & Lore/Infodump down below!

//OOC:

Hi, I’m @starlightcosmos04245 and I’m the one behind Lizzy and also Maxie (@matsubusa-m), Jördis (Courtney) (@kaga-ribi-612), Max (@sweetdreamprince264) and Archie (@bluesailcaptain)

Like I already said in my Maxie-introduction: I, personally, am usually very open about everything. Though I have to admit I’m very shy and get nervous easily… so sorry for that. I’m happy though to be included in the "multiversal beef" ^^

(I maybe disappear sometimes for some time due to mental health reasons)

Lizzy is an OC and serves as a stand-in for the various protagonists throughout the Pokémon games. She basically is the personification of how I remember playing those games. That said… she’s probably a bit OP since the protag always wins… I'm very sorry… （−＿−；）

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Lizzy was born in our world. The real world. One day, when she was around 9, she just awoke in this strange world this all takes place in. She basically has been isekai'd, if we’re looking at it that way. A faller. She’s been on her own ever since then, travelling the world, catching Pokémon, conquering gyms and leagues… kicking villain-ass…

Her unusual presence has also attracted many legendary and mythical Pokémon over the years. Her goal is to befriend and protect them all. Especially after she saw how villainous organisations are after them to mistreat them for their own gains. That legendary and mythical Pokémon cling to her like magnets has only worsened after battling Arceus in the hall of origin during her travels in Sinnoh. After catching them, Arceus punished and temporarily killed her - reawakening her after three days to be their servant on earth. It was rocky in the beginning, when she had to learn to control her new powers.

Lizzy was and never will be able to return to her original world. Over the years she accepted this and came to terms with it. Though it sometimes still stings when she thinks about her family, that she will never see them ever again and that they will never really know what truly happened to her.

Personalityvise (is that a word?), she’s usually very friendly and hyper, laughs a lot, but can quickly become either very serious or even angry - then she’s a walking, ticking bomb. Though most of the time, she’s a people pleaser (she wouldn’t save every region she travels to, if she wouldn’t be, let’s be honest)

She knew Maxie and Archie from her journey through Hoenn, kicking both their asses and befriending them afterwards. She’s also good friends with her universes Courtney, they’re practically like sisters and have each others backs (this universes Courtney looks up to Maxie, viewing her as a mentor and maybe even somewhat of a father figure, but she’s not obsessed-obsessed).

Many years later (and I mean MANY years), Lizzy marries Maxie. They have three children together.

She’s still the Hoenn Champion (and basically the world champion but she mainly competes in Hoenn) but also often helps out around the Team Magma base. She serves as the second in command, when she’s around, and has her own little flock of Grunts.

Some more useless info:

- She’s small. Like, smol. 1,53 meters of pure sass walking

- Especially BAVARIAN sass. The nightmare of each and every "prussian" German…

- She mostly trains psychic-types

- She loves rock and metal music (especially the older ones), though she also listens to a lot of other stuff too

- Her favourite band is Ghost, though. Her favourite song is "The Riddle" by Nik Kershaw

- Lizzy is a nerd. Games, Manga, other random trivia… she’s got it

- She also is a cosplayer, jumpscaring Maxie a bit too often when randomly running around the house in cosplay (he’s an old man, don’t scare him to death)

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I might add more stuff someday, but that’s it for now.

If you’ve read it all, you earn my respect (just like with the Maxie one, like, damn. Someone is really reading this stuff?)🫡

With all that said… I hope you have fun and happy rp-ing (๑╹ω╹๑ )

[mymanyfandomramblings]

I was just thinking about Steven Universe, and I was joking about how in Beach City the dads are all mostly used for comedy (except for Greg bc he's a major character, but even he's occasionally used for jokes), meanwhile the mothers could kill a man, when I realised about how well Steven Universe, even with the background characters, deconstruct the 'bumbling dad/hypercompetent mother' tropes.

It's pretty common in TV shows to have absolutely terrible dad characters, who can range from mildly incompetent to straight-up abusive, and it's extremely unusual to see a show where the father is the more competent parent than the mother. Steven Universe, however, shakes up the normal dynamic. At first Greg is everything you'd expect from your bumbling sitcom dad: he looks like a bit of a slob, he's a hoarder, he's far less attractive than Rose, the Gems don't think very highly of him, and he works a rather unimpressive career, having failed to achieve his dreams. But Greg goes on to prove himself not only as a competent parent to Steven, but probably the most competent of any of Steven's parental figures (and we all know if Rose had been able to live, she would hardly have been a wonderful parent either). This is not, however, to say that Greg is perfect--far from it, he has plenty of faults, but no more so than any other character. The point is: Greg may have the outward trappings of a bumbling dad, but subverts the trope instead, by being a responsible, caring and genuinely good parent.

The show also deconstructs the 'bumbling dad's' sister trope--the badass mama bear who is incredibly competent at running their family, and is involved with their children's lives. The mothers we see around Beach City--Barb Miller, Priyanka Maheswaran and Vidalia (as well as the Crystal Gems, who are Steven's maternal figures) all pretty much fit this trope, although certain of them fulfil certain parts of the description better than others. However, the show does display that none of them are perfect parents. Barb would clearly die and/or kill for Sadie and would love to be a part of her daughter's life, but there's multiple episodes dedicated to showing how stifled Sadie feels by her mother's enthusiasm and desire to be involved in her life. Dr. Maheswaran is incredibly competent but is also hyper-controlling of Connie, leading to a breakdown in their relationship. Vidalia is clearly a cool mum who supports all her children's ambitions--which would be great, if one of her children wasn't Onion, who would probably benefit more from discipline, rather than just affirmation of his behaviour--which ranges from minor crime to full-scale mayhem. And this isn't even starting on discussing the Gems and their failures when it comes to their parenting.

I just think it's really intriguing how Steven Universe plays with and subverts the classic tropes when it comes to parents and the roles and expectations of each parent. It's another example of why the show is so good at deconstructing classic character archetypes and tropes.

[theworldvsyoshiko]

And two bits of analysis on how things with Harriet played out:

1) The format

Children Only Ideology is fun, at least if you allow up to 18 years old. (Cutting off earlier than that will kill your research fast.) One thing I hadn't thought about, though: Combat Extended largely gets rid of Rimworld's default behavior, where enemies have a chance to die when they're incapacitated, scaling based on your colony size. Which is to say, the bigger your colony is, the more likely enemies are to instantly die once they're downed, to stop you from growing forever by recruiting enemies.

In CE, enemies die, you know. Based on their injuries. Which is more realistic and overall less infuriating, but if you're playing any kind of 'I have to take in everybody under 18' arrangement it, uh. Causes you to end up with 14 people in your colony. Frankly I kinda cheated once or twice later on by not trying very hard to save enemy teenagers, or else it might've hit 20. That's a number I find pretty unwieldy, and it's way too many for talking about on a blog.

Even without that, though, it was getting into some of the stuff I struggled with on Yoshiko. Taking in every kid you get and banishing them once they're old means that you'll have an ever-rotating cast. I think it's more fun when there's a relatively small and stable group of core characters, though. The focus on individual characters is part of why I usually find Rimworld more fun to talk about than Dwarf Fortress, and having tons of people dilutes that.

There's really no perfect balance. If recruitment is entirely open, you're free to optimize to having a big group of hyper-competent colonists who trivialize most things. If recruitment is restricted too much, you'll struggle to keep up with raid sizes unless you really min/max for it. If there's forced recruitment, you can end up with half a dozen people who mill about the colony all day, not doing much. I think the happiest I've been with it was on Karina, where she could get as many colonists as she wanted to, but each one had to be raised from birth.

2) Combat Extended

I experimented with CE a bit before committing to this run, but this was still my big learning experience with it. Overall, I was a lot happier with it than I expected going in. It doesn't complicate things that much, it's compatible with a lot more mods than you'd expect, and it really does improve on vanilla Rimworld combat a lot.

Which, as I alluded to in my previous post, is partially a problem for this kind of format. Being able to build a fortress and then relax in safety is more realistic and rewarding, but it doesn't always make for compelling storytelling.

Pros:

Like I just said, no random death-on-downed. You won't suddenly start killing every raider with moderate bruises just because you already have several colonists.

You can usually safely assume that e.g. a grown adult with a club can win a fight against an angry turtle. This is far from a guarantee in vanilla Rimworld.

Similarly, an experienced combat veteran in armor with a good weapon can take down an entire horde of unskilled yokels in t-shirts with rusty daggers. They aren't invincible, but they have an edge that makes them really satisfying to use, and terrifying to go up against if you're on the other side of that equation.

A wider variety of guns is useful, rather than gravitating toward 2-3 guns for everything. Sniper rifles are actually a solid way to pick off enemies at long range, and an experienced sniper can reliably get headshots with them. SMGs and machine pistols are good DPS at close range. If a pack of enemies rushes straight at you, firing a machine gun at them will usually get them to stop.

Mortars are actually useful. Vanilla mortars are so inaccurate that the standard strategy for them is to have several saturating the area, because they're bound to hit something eventually. CE lets you have spotters that make them pretty accurate, and gives you a solid counter to stationary enemies.

A lot of the arbitrariness in vanilla combat is gone. Somebody crouching behind an armored barricade is not going to get shot in the chest. Semi-auto guns won't miss 80% of their shots based on pure luck. A parka is not going to shrug off a direct hit from a bullet.

Enemy spawning rules are heavily reworked, so that enemies are more likely to show up in suitable armor for your tech level, and much less likely to do things like bring rocket launchers to a close-quarters indoor raid. I generally found fights to feel more interesting but more fair.

Cons:

Despite the wide range of compatibilities, it isn't compatible with everything. In particular, the Big & Small gene for dwarves didn't seem to get along with CE's new encumbrance system, so Gransier was always heavily encumbered.

There's so much clutter. There are approximately two billion guns, a lot of which are just different RL variations of assault rifle, and they're chambered in about a dozen different types of ammo. Each of which come in multiple flavors. You can consolidate a lot of this in the settings, which I absolutely will if I play with it again.

A colony can be so well-defended that the game stops being much of a challenge, at least on the sorts of difficulty I usually play at. I could potentially turn the difficulty up, of course, and this was an extreme case.

You can't just pick any gun up off the ground and use them - you need ammo. This is generally pretty easy. For most guns, it's like 12 steel to make 500 bullets. That said, this stuff does require an established industrial base, and it requires a solid chunk of research to unlock. It makes it much harder to build up early combat ability on solo starts. With something like Umeko's setup, it would have made it nearly impossible to use guns. So, this isn't generally a problem, but it's a limitation for weirder playstyles. Although again, this can be disabled in the settings.

Overall? Playing for my own fun, in something vaguely like a normal setup, without incompatible mods, I'd probably use CE again. (I hate to say it, because CE evangelists are kinda insufferable at times, but it turns out they're right about some things.) If I do another one of these, I'm not sure if I'll use it again or not. It probably depends on the format.