#I think I’ve invented a whole new stage of grief.

[tainebot01]

So… how we feeling about these new names?

[ganseyenthusiast]

anyways since the theme of post-TRK seems to be that every single character ignores any development they had and gets worse, I'm listing everything out here + with a rating of how likely I, the authority of everything ever, think it was. greywaren spoilers obviously

1. Declan: Decides Dad was good all along, disregards real actual emotional abuse and parentification as "misremembering" how great Niall was. 6/10. CDTHEU Declan is a very different character to TRK Declan, I still think he's been too self aware throughout to suddenly walk it back THIS severely. I predict a severe breakdown for him age 30 since I've never witnessed someone do Denial as their last stage of grief.. it’s gonna be explosive

2. Ronan: Disregards his family for the majority of his arc, is worse to them than in TRC. does not call gansey for months. finds a new FP instead of a therapist. emotionally worse off. does find himself via terrorism I guess? 9/10. pretty on brand for Ronan to go scorched earth and suffer zero consequences. I do wish he was made aware of his birth circumstances and displayed the same love/grief for aurora/niall that he's shown in every book except greywaren. are you telling me he can look at the New Fenian and be OKAY?????

3. Adam: ‘Reinvents’ himself, suffers, lies, suffers again. Does not call gansey. Suffers in the VoidSpace, apparently with no lasting consequences. becomes a narc. 7/10. I was hoping for a more self aware adam post TRK but him choosing to pull a Henry Cheng is also pretty on brand. wish he'd actually broken up with Ronan for at least a week. him becoming a narc is unfortunately pretty accurate to character but government jobs are not famously well paying so it really does feel random? the only thing he’s done that’s close to sleuthing is inventing pedo murder charges for his teacher/keeping with the bryde stuff. plus he's still not utilizing his magic skill so this just feels like a continuation of the Harvard arc for the rest of his life which is REALLY baffling when u compare how many times TRK insists he's a magician and will remain a magician/psychic despite everything. seems he's growing MORE disconnected with himself. i’m all for negative development but it’s really being framed as a happy ending which is baffling ngl

4. Gansey: has a sociology degree + is only associated with blue (and nobody else) in the 4-5 years since TRK. Completely reversed his stance on henrietta being home, on "I'd take all of you anywhere with me", on his dedication to history/archeology. does not seem too concerned about Ronan going insane, still odd despite the time he's had to get used to it. 5/10. horrible representation of gansey but I DO like that he's focusing on himself instead of raising pynch. as i say this i remember the ring thing and grit my teeth. complete ignorance of Henry AFTER his whole "friends forever and ewer" TRK thing gives me a good playground to make things worse so I like it but it's definitely weird. how did being a teenager specifically suck for you king because I think Being Dead trauma is unrelated to age

5. Matthew: nearly found independence + love in the abrasive way that lynches give it, then was disregarded emotionally and still not given an apology for the Everything from declan. 8/10. extremely on brand for the lynches to not hold each other accountable. Matthew seems to have improved somewhat + Declan is less overbearing about him, so I like it, I'll take it

6. Henry: went into Seondeok's black market low level mob business, got divorced?, does not speak to bluesey. 10/10. it’s so bad. absolutely off brand for the entire theme of him rejecting the Orders his mother who Literally Forced him to come to henrietta gave him (did not begin this game looking for a friend etc). refutes the entire "find your own something more" theme, refutes the "three of us" theme, refutes the "im going to make something great" motives. and I love it. TRULY my worst ending for Henry is becoming yet another fairy market nepotism casualty. he will Literally never escape and it’s FANTASTIC it is so much fun. Ha Ha You Have Become Your Mother

7. Fenian/Mor: live at the fucking barns now. 1/10. you are telling me a series whose entire THING is based on growing up/overcoming grief/moving on ends with THE FUCKING LYNCH FAMILY BACK AT THE BARNS?????????? WHAT THE HELL???? WHY IS EVERYONE OKAY WITH ANY OF THIS??????????????????????????????????????????????????

[spn-romantica]

So I watched SPN for years, right up until the end of S11, when they brought back Mary. I heard that S15 would be the last season, and I was like ‘oh ok I’ll rewatch (for like the 8th time) and finish SPN then’ BUT THEN 15x18 happened and I was violently pulled back into the SPN fandom. I still haven’t caught up fully watching yet, but I’ve read so much discourse now...and I have thoughts. Hypotheses currently. I’ll wait to finish the whole show for real to call any of this theories but, I wanted to record my thoughts.

They’re about Chuck. As a villain. Which weirds me out. As an antagonist? Sure. As evil? No. Can’t envision it. I just finished my rewatch of S5 and, damn, but if Chuck is the ultimate villain, S5 reads very differently. :0

But I recently saw a post comparing Dean’s reaction in 1x18 (I believe) to his in 10x05 (for sure) about when someone mentions his mother’s death. In 1x18, it’s Sam when they were children and Dean gets angry. In 10x05, it’s a group of high school girls and Dean just bops his head along to the song. The post was framing it as 10x05 not understanding Dean’s thoughts about his mother, but I think that both episodes understand Dean. When Dean is a child, the trauma over his mother’s murder is still fresh. By 10x05, the event is 70 years in the past. Of course it still affects Dean. Of course. You never really get over something like that. But I’d argue that after 70 years, Dean has moved through the stages of grief to acceptance. It still hurts, but like an old ache, not a fresh, still-bleeding wound.

Interestingly, 10x05 is when we see Chuck, after a long absence. He’s watching the play, probably happy that someone loves his work enough to even make a musical, but he is also watching the Winchesters. The actual episodes of the show, aka the books Chuck writes, are what Chuck knows/cares about regarding the Winchesters. Despite being God, I’d argue he doesn’t pay attention to every second and all the little minutia of the boys’ lives. So, here in 10x05, we have confirmation that Chuck is around to see that Dean has healed from his mother’s death.

Later, in S11, Dean acts as therapist/life counsellor to Chuck/God, regarding Amara and Lucifer. And it works! Dean teaches God about family and about healing. Why does God listen to Dean Winchester, a random human? Perhaps it is because of S1-5. Perhaps it is because Dean and Sam were part of God’s test, as God himself describes it in 5x22.

What was the test? Was it God’s experiment about choice and free will? About freedom vs peace? Or, perhaps, was God trying to understand sibling relationships? He and Amara are two faces of the same coin. They are siblings, but with very different outlooks and it caused a rift between them, caused Chuck to seal Amara away before she could destroy his creations. Chuck regretted this, but saw it as a necessary betrayal. But then, some time later, Chuck’s angelic children experience their own betrayal and sibling rift. Lucifer tries to turn the angels against God, rebel and reject God. He makes demons, for sure, and maybe even Hell. But why? God figures that Lucifer was maybe jealous of the new baby (humans) like others in the show postulates. Or maybe Lucifer had beef specifically with Michael, because humans are little more than amoebas from an angelic perspective. Aside from Castiel, Anna and a handful of other angels, angels consistently view humans as humans might view dust mites. Maybe humans were the cause of the rift between Michael and Lucifer, but it was Michael and Lucifer’s relationship that needed fixing in the end, regardless.

So God is left with the sad conclusion that maybe close siblings will inevitably betray each other and be unable to forgive and heal. He wants to heal with Amara. But he also wants Michael and Lucifer to be able to heal. (It doesn’t occur to God that maybe Lucifer’s problem was never with humanity or Michael; it was with God.)

So God has research to do, to see if it’s possible for siblings to experience such deep betrayal and still heal. He turns to his little hairless apes, the only sentient species on Earth with potential to parallel the angels. He starts testing siblings. Cain and Abel are first up. Needless to say, but the betrayal was too strong and left no room for healing. But on down the line of Cain, God continues testing. Eventually, we come to Sam and Dean.

God has scheduled Michael and Lucifer’s family counselling session for 2010. All the data up to this point says it can only end badly. Maybe it’ll half-kill the Earth, but it’s finally time for Michael and Lucifer to meet and for one of them to die. God isn’t happy about this conclusion, but it’s what the data says. So, finally, the last test subjects, the last in the line who will be the vessels for Michael and Lucifer’s showdown, arrive. Sam and Dean Winchester are to be the last sibling test. The conclusion seems foregone at this point, but there is no point in cancelling the last bit of the test after so long, so it continues. God watches. And Sam and Dean surprise God. Siblings after siblings had failed for millennia to heal. Betrayals too strong, healing too little, too late. But Sam and Dean. no matter how badly they hurt each other, find a way to come back together and heal. They don’t give up on each other, despite millennia of data to the contrary. Still, the angels and demons push and push at Sam and Dean until their rift is as wide and as deep as Michael and Lucifer’s, as God’s and Amara’s (in late S4). It seems, despite the brothers’ best efforts earlier on, it’s all for naught.

But there is a further element of randomness, something God couldn’t foresee. Castiel. God hasn’t had occasion for romantic love in his own experience, so he is entirely blind to what choices Castiel is likely to make. He provides an element of randomness to the experiment, an essential part that gives Dean the ultimate chance to go back to Sam and begin to heal (4x22).

Throughout S5, Sam and Dean heal. There is hurt, still, of course, but they love each other and forgive each other. By 5x22, they’ve surprised everyone. Even the angels have given up on turning them against each other, and have shrugged and settled for using Nick and Adam as the vessels for the showdown. Sam and Dean passed their test. They were siblings who betrayed each other and healed from it. God reconsiders how family counselling will go with Michael and Lucifer. He figured it would be the Apocalypse, the end of the problems between Michael and Lucifer, as one of them dies, as had always happened before. But, Sam and Dean showed God, that though it is rare, it is possible to heal. So God gives Sam and Dean an out. He gives Sam the strength to seize back control from Lucifer, should things go south.

Finally, the showdown arrives. Michael and Lucifer meet. They talk things out. To God’s surprise, Lucifer reveals that he never had a problem with Michael. He had forgiven Michael long ago. But Michael couldn’t forgive Lucifer. He had to be a ‘good son’ and do what he thought God wanted him to do. But Michael didn’t realise, that God doesn’t give orders. Free will all the way, baby! But the whole thing comes as a surprise. Apparently, all this time, the problem relationship wasn’t siblings, it was parents.

Oops.

Good thing God had a back-up plan.

Sam throws himself and Lucifer (and Michael and Adam) into the Cage. Michael and Lucifer have an eternity to figure things out between each other now. But that’s beside the point. The point is, now, that God has to start testing all over again. Not how to fix sibling relationships, but how to fix parent-child relationships.

God restores Castiel, perhaps for a few reasons because God exists outside of time, but originally it may have been just for one. He likes Castiel. He is impressed that Castiel invented free will for himself, broke free of angelic programming (multiple times over), and did it all for love. It’s novel. It’s interesting. God might even think it’s sweet. But God has had time later, and thought about it, and he has a plan. And Castiel is essential.

But Dean Winchester is the key.

Sam and Dean’s relationship with their own father has been strained, but both boys find a way to forgive John his flaws and failings, and love him. Whenever they do get a chance to see him again, post his death, they don’t hate him. They’ve healed. John’s relationship with Sam and Dean is one point of data, Abraham and Isaac another. There are many data points that God can reflect back on and consider.

But as S6 through S10 roll on, God watches Sam and Dean and Castiel. He even watches Crowley and Rowena for another data point. Dean is his main focus, however. (This is a little meta, but as the story focuses more on Dean than Sam post S5, it ties in. Prior to S6, both Sam and Dean were essential - the sibling test. Now, post S5, the parent test, Dean is the most essential. Of course, Sam and Castiel are important too. But Dean is key.)

Dean is a good father. He was a good father to Sam, even when he was only 6 years old himself. He was a good father to Ben. He was willing to die for Bobby John. He’s always good with kids. Not only that, but Dean is blunt enough, brave enough, and crazy enough to tell God to God’s face what he thinks. God needs Dean’s advice, his perspective and opinion on family relationships, but he also needs to see what Dean would do if he were in God’s shoes.

[Edit (1/04/21): After seeing Michael and Lucifer (mostly) heal, and after seeing Sam and Dean heal their relationship, God finally has hope for him and Amara. So God logically wants to retrieve Amara from her prison. But how? Well, he could just wander on up to Cain and do it himself, but what would Amara say? “So I see you’ve come crawling back, eh, Chucky?” She wouldn’t be impressed with God. She wouldn’t understand, because she’s hopeless too. SO how to give her hope? How to make her see that she and God can be okay again? Why, stick her near Dean Winchester, of course! So God sets things up for Dean to get and lose the Mark of Cain, thereby ensuring that Amara will feel a connection to Dean and stick around him/keep him alive long enough for Dean to work his life-coach magic.]

In S11, God and Amara heal their relationship because of the hope Sam and Dean gave God, and also the direct advice Dean gives God. God and Lucifer, not so much.

God needs more data. He needs to see what Dean would do. In comes Castiel’s relevance. God sets things up so that Lucifer can have a son. A nephil. Jack. And God points Castiel in Jack’s direction, trusting Castiel’s ability for unconditional love to keep Jack alive long enough for the experiment. Castiel becomes Jack’s father. But Castiel will never betray Jack, the way God betrayed Lucifer. And, besides, Castiel isn’t the target of this experiment. But it is Castiel’s relationship with Dean Winchester that provides the link needed to get the experiment rolling.

Because Jack is Castiel’s son, he is therefore Sam and Dean’s nephew. Except, God has been watching Castiel and Dean. And, frankly, their romantic love for each other is so obvious even God cannot miss it. Through Castiel, Dean sees Jack as his son too. He loves Jack, exactly like a son. In this way, Dean parallels God, and Jack parallels Lucifer.

But God knows Dean would not easily turn on any child, let alone his own child. So God had a plan for that too. One that Amara helped him with.

They brought back Mary Winchester.

Mary is the one person in existence whose loss would hurt Dean enough to spur him to action. So, she was brought back to die. It was a matter of only a few years of gentle prodding to get everything in position. Jack causes Mary’s death. Dean is faced with a horrible decision. If Jack can kill Mary, what’s to say that Sam and Castiel wouldn’t be next? Mary’s death is like everything beginning all over again for Dean as well. Her first death set off a chain reaction, a series of unfortunate events that spanned decades and nearly caused the ruination of not only Dean’s life, but Sam’s and John’s and even the world. That scar, which had healed as well as it could after 70 years, that God saw was healed in 10x05, has been violently opened up again. It’s the only thing that could force Dean’s hand, that could get him to betray Jack and try to kill him. If Jack had killed Sam or Castiel, it wouldn’t have had the same effect. Both Sam and Castiel had died and come back so many times, and while it would hurt Dean and make him doubt Jack, their deaths would be a sacrifice that Dean would feel obligated to respect, to give Jack a second chance like they would both want. (And God has been laying the groundwork for Dean, convincing him that Jack is evil, will be evil like Lucifer, can’t be allowed to live. All things God has thought about Lucifer over time. Was Lucifer inherently evil? Was their rift inevitable?)

So, here it is. The big test. Will Dean kill Jack? Will he betray Jack and cause an unhealable rift? Or will he find a way to heal, like he did with Sam against all the odds?

And, once again, Dean impresses God. He refuses to kill Jack.

But now we’re in the endgame. Sam, Dean and Castiel are aware that Jack’s life was only on the line because of God. It’s not something they can forgive, or understand. They’re all God’s guinea pigs, and while he loves his guinea pigs, he knows he’s hurt them in the name of science, of knowledge. or healing, and God can’t undo what he’s done. Free will is linear, after all. So it is time for the Winchesters, Castiel and Jack included, to be done with God. God is done with them, too. It’s time for them to be free and at peace. The experiments are done. God has decided not to kill Lucifer. He has decided to try to heal. He can get Lucifer out of the Empty and talk and try to fix things. He has forever to fix things, now that he knows he can. (The last element of this, Jack forgiving Dean for trying to kill him, is something I have limited knowledge of, but I am under the impression happens so... To be added in the edit once I finish the series.)

But the only way the Winchesters will be able to rest, is if they think God, the last and greatest villain, is out of the way. They know they’ve been manipulated their whole lives, first towards the sibling experiment and now the parent experiment, so they need to think God is gone so they can feel secure in their free will once more. Truthfully, God never took their free will. He set them up in situations, maybe even gave a bio-chemical nudge of anger (Dean) or attraction (Sam and Eileen) every now and then. But the choices were always theirs. Still, God knows they won’t see it that way. So he sets things up so that they can defeat him.

He lets them win. He wants them to win. They cannot defeat God, after all. It’s not God’s time, and Death is the only one who can claim God in the end, as the two embrace as friends and walk to the next existence. But the Winchesters need this, and so God allows it. A last gift, to the beings who have been such help, hope and inspiration to him.

With an eye for an eventual S16, 15x20 is written to be ‘an ending’ but also one that could easily be reframed as a bad dream.

For example...

Unfortunately, after Jack, suped up on a extra Grace God lent him, restores the Earth and expends all the Grace (”giving up the mantle of God so that their is no God, no plans, only Free Will”), and Dean, Sam and Jack head back to the Bunker to regroup and gather the ingredients to do the spell to rescue Castiel from the Empty, they’re jumped by monsters who are angry with how much God has fucked with them on behalf of the Winchesters. 15x20 is all a djinn dream Dean is trapped in.

16x01 is Dean waking himself up from the djinn dream, Sam and Jack escaping their own monsters, and then the end of 16x01 is Dean saying something about waking Castiel up from his own dreams in the Empty. The rest of S16 sees the boys save Castiel, reunite with Eileen, start a monster-hunting Bobby Singer/Men of Letters-esque organisation, Dean and Castiel getting together and getting married on Valentine’s Day, Jack getting to live a normal life, going to school, making friends, etc.

If their is no S16 ever (which would be criminal), then 15x20 makes no sense, unless it is plainly a recount of an old, hopeless ending written by God. However you spin it, 15x20 is not the way it seems (like owls).

All things being said, God is an antagonist, but he’s not evil. He’s an asshole, sure, but he never once worked against the Winchesters, never bet against them, never tried to erase or end them. He wanted them to win. He wanted to see the fruits of free will be love, second chances, hope, forgiveness, healing, and happiness, not just betrayal, pain, selfishness, jealousy, disappointment, and hopelessness.

Why is the ending he shows Becky ‘hopeless’? Because God is. He has spent his long existence losing his most loved family members. Amara, Lucifer. How can things end well for God, when they can’t even end well for humans? But Sam and Dean defy the script, again and again. They surprise God, defying the statistics, defying the hypotheses, throwing the experiment into disarray. Giving God hope. Sam and Dean were okay. Dean and Jack were okay. If God had a romantic love, he would find hope from Dean and Castiel being okay. But when God wrote the book he showed Becky, he was writing what he thought would happen. In the end, surely, not even Dean can be enough to hold Sam and Cas and Jack together. But in the end, as we see, as God sees, he is proven wrong and he’s happy to be wrong. He’s hopeful. And he can leave Dean, Sam, Castiel and Jack, and all the angels and all the humans, to rule the Earth and the Heavens. He doesn’t need to learn anything more from them, so he heads to the Empty, with Amara, with Lucifer, with Death (Billie or not, Death is there for God in the end), and they can all depart for a better existence of their own.

If you read all of this, thanks! I eagerly anticipate watching the remaining 10 seasons so I can come back and edit the heck outta this, but until then, if y’all have any thoughts, I’d be interested to hear them~

TLDR: God is a morally bankrupt scientist and the Winchesters are his guinea pigs, but he’s not evil and he does love his guinea pigs, even if he could really treat them nicer.

[ghosthan]

what would you say are the differences between 616 Tony and MCU Tony? 🤔

Hi anon! Many people have talked about this and I'm certainly not the authority on the topic, but I’ll try my best to explain some of the major differences that I have noticed! Thank you for asking and I’m sorry it took me so long to answer you.

Important to note: neither version of Tony has had a totally consistent characterization. Depending on who you ask and which comics/movies they've consumed, they might give you a different answer here and not be wrong.

616 Tony is even harder to put into one box because his character has been around since Tales of Suspense in the 1950s. That’s a long time. Things have changed over time, under different writers, changing political atmospheres, and outside pop culture influence (including influence from the MCU, unfortunately, in recent years.) You get the picture. So I’ll be making some generalizations and try to be clear about which eras I’m speaking when I make these comparisons, but ultimately, if someone wanted to be contrarian, you could probably refute a lot of what I say here if you cherry pick canon. Which is fair enough! That’s sort of the fun of comics, there’s so much to choose from and something for everyone.

So here are some observations from me, under the ‘read more’.

1. Physical Appearance

This is sort of an easy one, but worth mentioning!

MCU Tony does not look like 616 Tony. RDJ is great, but he would not be most 616 fans’ casting choice on looks alone. MCU Tony is tan, a Malibu man, with brown hair and brown eyes, and RDJ has sort of round facial features (a funny sloped nose, big, round eyes, round forehead, not a particularly sharp or classically “superhero masculine” face.) As you may know, this lends well to certain fanworks and tropes, such as Tony having Bambi eyes.

Or Tiny Tony. He is not actually canonically small, but he's smaller in the MCU than in 616 and from what I can tell, a portion of fandom has latched onto that. He’s a grown man, but RDJ is pretty short, and of slighter build than 616 Tony. RDJ is 5′9, but they make him act in heels, and I believe his canon MCU height is 5′11. Another popular trope I’ve seen is shrinking Tony in fanfic/fanart for a dramatized height difference with Steve, making him weak or fragile; this is fine because everyone has their own taste, but for the official record, he’s a capable, strong guy! Especially in earlier stages of the MCU, in which he’s a bit younger. Tony isn’t just a brain; he carries out his plans with his own two hands! He builds his armor, he remodels his lab, he survives hand to hand combat when he doesn’t have the armor. Muscles!

616 Tony is 6′1 without armor and 6′6 in armor (making him taller than his 616 Steve counterpart in armor and very close to the same height out of armor!) 616 Tony is generally paler with black hair (sometimes the classic blue-black I love so much) and blue eyes, and it obviously depends on the artist, but he has a pretty typically ‘masculine’ face and build. Generally he is drawn with a squared jaw and a high bridged nose (such as in the Extremis storyline, or drawn by Marquez), but again, this varies from artist to artist! Here's some examples of 616 Tonys.

Wait, you might be saying, but I have seen comic panels where Tony has brown hair/brown eyes!

Yep. Due to a combination of forgetfulness, inconsistency, and the MCU bleeding into the general consciousness of the comics, sometimes Tony is randomly depicted in the image of RDJ, or if not in his image, at least visually inspired by the MCU-- hair color and style, eye color, dialogue, etc.

616 fans don’t typically love this; he’s very handsome when drawn this way, of course, (look at him!) But it isn’t really the same character.

Also, MCU Tony has (at least for some of his movies) a reactor built into his chest. While 616 Tony has, at times, been more or less physically connected/dependent to his tech, he doesn’t have the built in reactor (most generally speaking, there are times in comics when he temporarily has the tech built in, but this isn’t really the status quo.)

2. Relationship with parents/ family history

While it is definitely implied in the MCU that Howard was not a good father to Tony, (such as in Iron Man 2 when Tony says “You're talking about a man whose happiest day of his life was shipping me off to boarding school” and “He was cold, calculating, never told me he loved me, never even told me he liked me”), Tony has a different sort of attitude toward Howard in MCU than in 616. It’s kind of weird, and hard to discuss. To me, it seems implied that MCU Howard was emotionally abusive to Tony based on what Tony does say about his childhood, and yet, the films kind of randomly give Howard weird moments of “Well, he tried his best and deep down he loved me the whole time!” forgiveness. MCU has a Howard kink and I'm very cringe-face emoji about it.

For example, Iron Man 2 shows that old film reel of Howard talking about how Tony is the greatest thing he ever created, and in Endgame, when Tony goes back in time, he meets Howard and has a very weird interaction with him in which Howard declares he would do anything for his son, (to his deeply damaged son who is a new father himself.) Yet, for all his talk, it's his actions that speak, and his actions left Tony damaged, traumatized, and emotionally inept at forming healthy relationships. So.

Sorry. I’m a little bitter. I'm just uncomfortable with how they sort of set up an abuse history but then treated it kind of lightly and Howard gets off the hook as "well, he tried his best" without really acknowledging the hurt he caused.

Avengers: Endgame 2019

I won't go super in depth into the abuse stuff because it's a little touchy and could take up a lot of this post. But.

I’m not against any reconciliation and I do appreciate the fact that a lot of times, victims of abuse feel a desire to forgive and reconnect with their abuser-- my issue with the MCU depiction of Tony and Howard is that Tony never really gets the vindication of his abuse being recognized for what it was before he forgives Howard. To me, that’s not forgiveness as kind of... gaslighting himself that it wasn't as bad as he remembered his own experience being, because of a sense of nostalgia and grief. It’s not the same, and I have issues with it.

However, a lot of my opinion is based on subtext and it is just my opinion; with depictions of abuse, different people are going to react differently, and other people may have found these scenes touching and gotten something positive out of them, and that's totally fine too!

It’s also a bit difficult to talk about Tony’s relationship with Howard in 616, for a few reasons: shifting timelines, lots of canon that I have not read all of, and the fact that it really is difficult to sum up such a complicated relationship.

Right off the bat, I’ll address the basics. I used the same scene in another ask, and I think it's frequently cited in any meta regarding Howard, but in Iron Man Vol. 1, we see more into Tony’s childhood and see Howard verbally abusing his family, drunk, at the dinner table.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #285

We get this scene with adult Tony’s retrospective commentary on how his own issues that he blamed himself for were actually a cycle starting with his father, the insecurity and abuse and alcohol, and that he realizes how much this has influenced him. Both MCU Tony and 616 Tony have some form of “stop the cycle of shame” arcs, but I don’t really see how this works narratively in the MCU because Tony makes excuses for Howard and continues to blame himself for a lot of his own personal struggles, whereas I think there’s just a bit more nuance in 616.

But uh. This isn’t totally true, and in recent years, things got real weird. I choose to ignore this chapter of canon, but in the Dan Slott run, Tony Stark: Iron Man, Tony’s whole backstory gets imploded. For one thing, the little of Tony’s childhood it shows in a flashback is uh. Uh. Well, it’s certainly out of character compared with previous 616 material, depicting Tony as an overly confident poor sport.

Basically, Tony is adopted. Tony has an evil brother. Tony’s biological parents make an appearance, as do his ‘classic’ parents, Howard and Maria. It’s just weird. It’s kind of out there. I’m honestly not a huge fan of this and ignore a lot of it, but it is certainly a difference between MCU and 616.

3. Personality

I’m going to be very general. Both Tony’s have an outer self which they present to the public and an inner self, but they’re a bit different. Both Tony’s have struggled with self loathing, but I think MCU Tony’s actual self worth is a bit higher, even just at some points in time. Even if his ego is part of his facade, I think he does believe some amount of the “I’m awesome”, even if just when it applies to his own work/inventions/saving people. Not to say that these moments of fluctuating self esteem make him egotistical, but this combined with his egotistical act and snarky, non-stop sassy dialogue, he’s quite different in general personality from 616 Tony, who is much more reserved.

Some more recent iterations of 616 Tony have been adapted to reflect the snark of the MCU, but he’s not so snarky and he tends to approach things more seriously. This is not a dis on MCU Tony; I think MCU Tony uses false ego and excessive sassy jokes as a means to deflect and control, which I think is very interesting and it’s nice to see this explored more in depth in fic where you get to see the thought process behind the bravado. MCU Tony is a partier, a good times guy, especially during Iron Man 2, in which he really does disregard consequences to have fun (driving his race car, partying drunk in his suit, letting pretty  girls play with the armor, shooting off repulsor blasts for fun in a crowded room); I’m not bashing MCU Tony-- I think he had psychologically understandable reasons for behaving this way, the man was dying-- but 616 Tony really doesn’t act this way generally, and I think it’s a personality difference more than a difference of one being “better.”

616 Tony handles his stress differently, and they just have different psychological patterns, I think. I’m coming up kind of blank trying to think of a good comparable 616 arc, (sorry, I’m brain dead) but a less-than-perfect  example might be Tony’s brain delete arc; he’s “dying”, like in Iron Man 2 he  knows his expiration date, (circumstances are quite  a bit different), but he throws himself more into work, into a cause, and as he really fall apart, we  see him spiral into self doubt, remorse, fear, and insecurity, sort of falling into  himself with lots of manly tears and calling himself pathetic.

(Some things happen in this arc that a lot of people find Gross. I also find these events gross. But. I don’t count the sex in “World’s Most Wanted” as partying to cope with personal mortality, because I think both character involved are in “end of the world” mode, and it’s more seeking intimacy for comfort than partying to numb the hurt. Does this distinction make sense? No? Perfect, moving on.) 616 Tony is generally much more humble.

Whereas MCU Tony, I think, tries to outrun those feelings via parties or making dozens of new suits, or seeking comfort by comforting others! Gifting things to people, building things for people, highly personalized individual living quarters, teaching Nebula games and trying to show her a fun time when they were in peril together.

They have some traits in common, for sure! But canon being inconsistent both in the MCU and in 616, my observations aren’t the rule, because I’m kind of cherry picking and going based on limited memory. But off the top of my head, they’re both extravagant gift givers! Recall Tony gifting Pepper the giant bunny in Iron Man 3, and compare this with Tony carrying a mile high pile of Christmas gifts after shopping with Rumiko in Iron Man Vol. #3.

I would say that while both Tony Starks are considered humanitarians, this is much more fleshed out and supported by canon in 616. Some examples of his philanthropy in the MCU: Tony makes charitable donations of art and money, Tony has an organization which provides disaster relief/cleanup which is referenced in Spider-Man Homecoming, Tony has an MIT grant for students and staff members. But to be honest, a lot of his MCU philanthropy is only mentioned in passing, or is largely handled by other people on his behalf and on his dollar.

In 616, we see Tony using charity almost as a means of therapy: it’s something he does very privately, not in the public eye (at least, not always), and it’s something deeply personal to him. One example that immediately comes to mind is Tony’s home for disadvantaged girls in Iron Man Vol. 3, and we see scenes of Tony basically driving the streets at night, picking up underage prostitutes, feeding them and listening to their stories before bringing them to a home he’s established where he knows all the residents, and provides educational opportunities and protection.

Another more recent example in canon that the Tony fandom loves is that Tony canonically holds babies at an orphanage. Sorry I don’t have panels for all of this, this section got long and I have been working on answering this ask in a very scattered way for a very long time.

Both Tony’s are romantics, I literally could write a whole other post about their canon love life similarities and differences, but I will briefly say that while MCU Tony does the long on and off, and eventual ultimate commitment, to Pepper Potts, 616 Tony is a serial monogamist; he is always falling in love, and he’s definitely not a playboy, but the hero-ing, self loathing, and lifestyle make it very hard for him to keep anyone in his life, and most of his partners fuck his life up and betray him. Needless to say, 616 Tony is not married, and certainly not to Pepper Potts.

Oh, and I guess this is so obvious I almost forgot to include it, but a huge similarity between both iterations of Tony is that they both constantly use their own life as a bargaining chip, and will pretty much die for anything. Or be the bad guy for a good reason (at least, in his own mind... see Civil War, or Hickmanvengers; 616 Tony, especially, does not shy away from making the hard decisions, and this leads to a lot of guilt and tension in his  relationships-- often with Steve because 616 Steve/Tony angst fans are well fed, I guess)

Remember that time Tony had Steve’s mind wiped because Tony felt that Steve’s inflexible morality might hinder the Illuminati’s ability to save the world? And it eats Tony up inside and erupts into a homicidal fight when Steve finally gets his memory back? Me too.

Tony Stark as a character is defined by sacrifice, both of his own life but also of his own happiness and reputation and conscience, I think, in a lot of ways, and we see this in many universes. I could go on about Tony’s propensity for sacrifice in the less obvious ways, because I think in terms of heroic sacrifice, Tony has done a lot that other heroes wouldn’t be able to do because of moral inflexibility and conflicting philosophical schools of thought; Tony really is the “whatever it takes” type, and often believes the ends justify the means if he deems a threat worse than the potential wrong that could be done in preventing the threat. We see this a little bit in the MCU in the creation of Ultron, and in Civil War with the Accords. But there’s a whole lot more going on there I don’t want to get into.

4. Alcohol

MCU Tony’s alcoholism is never really explicitly explored. He is shown drinking in Iron Man 1, and in Iron Man 2 he drinks a lot and makes a fool of himself publicly, but MCU Tony doesn’t get any specific narrative arc focused on his drinking, and if I recall correctly, I don’t think he ever refers to his drinking as alcoholism in the movies? Also, while his binge drinking and embarrassing behaviors ostensibly stop after the events of Iron Man 2, he is shown drinking on screen at least one other time after that which I can remember, and it wasn’t a “falling off the wagon” moment, and an alcoholic in recovery such as 616 Tony would not take a drink casually. This article sheds a little light on some decisions made about Tony and alcohol in the MCU.

Alcoholism is a huge part of 616 Tony’s personality, which I went a bit more into depth about in this post, so I won’t repeat myself too much.

5. Their relationships with the Iron Man armor

A few points here: MCU Tony is famous for the “I am Iron Man” line being repeated throughout the franchise after he blows his own secret in the end of the first movie. MCU Tony sees himself as one with Iron Man, and the suit is the tech that enables him to be this version of himself. He sees Tony Stark and Iron Man as inextricable: you cannot separate them, and his identity is public. He, as Tony Stark, is an Avenger.

You may remember MCU Tony’s induction into the Avengers; in Iron Man 2, Nick Fury is forming the Avengers and tasks the Black Widow with going undercover to assess Tony to be a part of a hypothetical initiative. “Iron Man yes, Tony Stark no” and the comments about Tony as a narcissist may be funny, but the fact is, the snark and erratic personality of MCU Tony at the time of the formation of the Avengers in the movies is not at all like the Tony of the comics, at the time of the Avengers being formed. 

In 616, things are quite a bit different! Tony invents the Iron man armor to save himself (like in the MCU) and uses it for hero-ing, but in secret. He works very hard to protect his identity as Iron Man, and for a long time, as far as the world is concerned, Iron man is a mystery man piloting armor built by Tony, hired as Tony’s personal body guard, (hence the 616 Steve/Tony fandom’s proclivity for identity porn as a trope!) When the Avengers form, Iron Man is the Avenger, close friends with the Avengers, (particularly Steve!) and Tony Stark is just the benefactor of the Avengers, providing them with a place to live and finances with which to operate.

In the very early days, Tony did not have the “reactor” like in the MCU, but his chest plate did keep him alive, leading to some very dramatic shots of Tony charging up using a wall socket, lamenting the plight of a secret hero.

616 Tony, generally, and especially in some of these earlier comics, was quite reserved, rather serious, and very angsty, (in private of course.) He may be wealthy, but speaking generally, he’s much less ostentatious than MCU Tony, less of a show off, less into flashy things and grand gestures. Of course, this isn’t always true in the comics, and some iterations of Tony are more like this than others, but MCU Tony is showier, sillier, and more of a fun-times guy. Any MCU fan would find those panels quite contrary to the Tony Stark you know:

Iron Man 1

Iron Man 2

I think I would say that while MCU Tony sees himself and the Iron Man identity and the  armor as all being inextricably connected, we see a bit more compartmentalization with 616 Tony, who pretends that the armor is a whole separate person for years when his identity was private, and we see instances in older and newer comics, in which Tony  is uncomfortable with some aspect of himself as Iron Man (for instance, during the second drinking arc, Tony temporarily swears off being Iron Man entirely, or for another example, when Tony is in a comma and Tony AI exists during Secret Empire, Tony “lives” in the Iron Man suit, and I think this could be interpreted as a meta parallel to Steve during this arc; Steve has had some core aspect of his character inverted, Captain America becoming Captain Hydra, so Tony experiences a similar inversion-- Tony Stark and Iron Man are forcibly merged, in a way that Tony seems deeply uncomfortable with, if his digital drinking relapse is any indication. But I digress; sorry for the tangent.)

Okay this post is inexcusable long, and very, very tangential, and I don’t feel like I’ve really covered everything I wanted to. But it has been sitting in my inbox for too long and if I don’t post it now I never will, so I hope this long, rambling thing has been a little bit helpful to you! Thank you so much for asking, I had a lot of fun rambling about this.

If you want to read a similar post, but well written and organized, with other insights, this post by Sineala answers a similar question!

[princesssarisa]

“Beauty and the Beast”: Belle’s beautiful discontentment (warning: long)

In my Feminist Defense of the Animated Belle, I addressed most of the issues I’ve heard people complain about regarding Belle’s character. But there was one I didn’t touch on, because it has very little to do with gender roles: the common complaint that Belle is a “snob.” I’d like to discuss that topic now. I’d also like to use it as a springboard to discuss a valuable aspect of Belle’s character that sets her apart both from certain Disney princesses who came before her and from depictions of Beauty in other Beauty and the Beast retellings: her willingness to own her discontentment.

I do understand the “snob” accusations. After all, Belle’s neighbors are poor peasants working hard to eke out a living. It’s only natural that they have little time for books or dreams of adventure and think Belle’s passion for those things is impractical. It’s reasonable to sympathize with their perspective more than the movie seems to want us to. It’s fair to argue that the movie has a (probably unintentional) classist undertone by portraying the villagers as small-minded and bigoted and by having Belle only find a kindred spirit in a prince, albeit an enchanted outcast prince, and find her ultimate happiness by leaving the town in favor of a royal castle. I’m grateful that other BatB retellings exist (e.g. Megan Kearney’s webcomic, or Robin McKinley’s Rose Daughter) that portray Beauty’s peasant world in a more positive light, depict the historic cruelty of royal court life in the Beast/Prince’s backstory, and have him leave the castle in the end to become a peasant rather than Beauty becoming a princess.

But none of the above is any reason to criticize Belle.

I don’t think she looks down on her neighbors. She most certainly doesn’t shun them, as some critics claim she does. Just look at her meeting with the baker during the opening song: she tries to have a friendly conversation with him and tell him about the wonderful story she’s read, only for him to rudely brush her aside with “That’s nice... Marie! The baguettes!” I don’t interpret her subsequent shrug and eye-roll as showing disdain for his “low-class” disinterest in books – just as “Oh well, as usual, no one shares my interest.”

Nor do I buy the claim that she shows disdain for the “I need six eggs!” woman (and by extension for all struggling mothers) when she rides past her. It’s true that she does seem to be smiling, which might imply amused contempt, but she might also just be enjoying her ride on the wagon while at the same time wistfully yearning for a new life, with her expression having nothing to do with the woman. I don’t know what the animators meant to convey. And even if that overwhelmed mother does represent the life Belle doesn’t want for herself, and if Belle sings “There must be more than this provincial life!” in response to seeing her, what’s wrong with that? I don’t think it’s an insult to women who choose to have big families. Even a woman who chooses to have five kids shouldn’t be expected to wrangle them all by herself while also doing her grocery shopping, with no help from her husband or from anyone else. That’s the kind of unpaid labor women have too often been forced into and it’s not “insulting other women” for Belle to yearn for something different.

Belle has the right to be bored by her small town life and want something more. She’s not some rich girl looking down on the poor peasants; she’s a poor peasant too. A person trapped in a dull, stifling lower-class existence has every right to long for a different life. Would we accuse Cinderella of being a “snob” and “ignoring the value of domestic work” because she dreams of escaping from her enslavement by her stepfamily? Of course Belle’s life in the village is more comfortable than that, but it’s still reasonable that she should want to break free from its limits.

“But Belle is clearly richer and more privileged than her neighbors!” some critics argue again and again. “Most peasants in those days were illiterate, so the fact that Belle can read shows she’s had a higher-class education, and in the stage musical, Maurice tells her she’s ‘class’ while their neighbors are ‘the common herd’!” I don’t buy that argument. I’ve never bought it. Not one bit. The movie’s setting isn’t the real late 18th/early 19th century France – it’s the Disney version of it. The village has a bookshop in the animated version and a church library and schoolhouse in the live-action remake. There’s no indication whatsoever that Belle's neighbors can’t read. (Gaston holding her book askance as he looks for pictures in it and Le Fou’s inability to spell Gaston’s name don’t count; the first is a “parental bonus” gag implying that Gaston is looking for a centerfold, while the second is a “Le Fou is stupid” gag. Gaston quotes Shakespeare in “The Mob Song,” so he’s clearly had some education.) Belle just stands out because she has a passion for books, instead of only reading now and then during breaks from “more important” things, and because she would rather read than engage in smalltalk about practical everyday matters. Belle is shown borrowing her books, not buying them, which I presume implies she can’t afford to buy them, and Maurice builds his invention out of ordinary household items (e.g. a wood stove, an axe, a teapot), so he presumably hasn’t spent much money on it either. Nor are they any better dressed than their neighbors, nor does their house look any fancier. They certainly don’t seem richer than Gaston, who apparently owns the village tavern and can afford to arrange a wedding party on short notice and bribe Monsieur d’Arque with a bag of gold to help him blackmail Belle. As for Maurice’s remarks in the stage version, they’re clearly about her personality, not about social class.

Belle also has the right to be an individualist and a misfit. That’s part of the whole point of her storyline. It seems to me that critics who complain that she “looks down on normalcy” are doing the same thing the villagers do, which is supposed to be wrong: saying “It’s a pity and a sin she doesn’t quite fit in.”

It’s no surprise that people should complain about Belle’s complaining, though. Traditional fairy-tale heroines aren’t supposed to complain. As much as we can joke about the cliché that the “I want more” heroine became during the Disney Renaissance, we shouldn’t forget how innovative that kind of heroine was in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Just think back to Snow White: at the beginning she’s dressed in rags and forced to work as a scullery maid by her stepmother, but we find her smiling and cheerfully humming as she scrubs the castle steps. Then there’s Cinderella: a bit more complex and openly discontented than Snow White, but in general she still goes cheerfully about her chores. The heroine who lives in unhappy circumstances but “bears it cheerfully and without complaint” is a mainstay of classic, old-fashioned fairy-tales (and other stories too). The early versions of Beauty and the Beast are no exception. After Beauty’s family falls into poverty, we’re told that her sisters constantly wail and cry over their lost wealth and status, but Beauty swallows her grief, resolves to be cheerful, patiently shoulders all the household chores, and devotes her days to consoling her father and siblings. For this she’s held up as a role model, in contrast to her complaining sisters, who despise her and insult her for it, but whom she always loves and forgives.

Of course there’s value in that kind of character. Resilience in the face of adversity and finding happiness where others find none is a strength in its own right. But it can be overdone. The more that women, poor people and outcasts are encouraged to be cheerful, patient and uncomplaining, the more they’re expected to “stay in their place.” Any righteous desire or demand for a better life or better treatment is labeled “rude,” whiny,” “petulant” and “selfish.” It doesn’t always cross that line, but it can.

Linda Woolverton, the head screenwriter of Disney’s BatB, knew that she wanted Belle to be different both from the traditional Beauty and from the likes of Snow White and Cinderella. So did lyricist Howard Ashman, whose experience as a gay man did much to influence the outcast heroes and heroines of the three Disney movies he wrote for. As noted in this Time Magazine article, they resolved to create a heroine for “the next century,” who wasn’t “based on being kind and taking the hits but smiling all the way through it.”

They definitely succeeded.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s wonderful that Belle owns her discontentment. It’s beautiful that she doesn’t try to fit in or put on a patient, cheerful mask, but unabashedly yearns to escape from her dull, small-minded village and find adventure in the great wide somewhere. It’s wonderful that she has no patience for Gaston’s rudeness and arrogance and that she loathes the thought of having to give up her reading and intellect in favor of a mundane marriage and raising a gaggle of children. It all leads beautifully into her friendship and romance arc with the Beast, where she refuses to tolerate his bullying, refuses to let him control her even though he’s the master of the castle, only forgives him when he earns her forgiveness, and inspires him to change for the better. The happy ending comes about precisely because Belle was willing to be discontented and shamelessly wanted more than she was given at first. This makes her almost the opposite of the original tale’s Beauty, whose story was written as an allegory for arranged marriage and whose purpose was in part to convince girls to submit to unwanted circumstances for their families’ sake. I love that instead, Belle refuses to submit to what she doesn’t want, and her refusal becomes the catalyst for all the positive growth and transformation in the story.

Let’s hear it for heroines who want more!

[hope-faith-love-abide]

I haven’t been keeping up with Heartland season 14 updates the past few months, but I decided to catch up on some of it since the premiere date is coming up and the teaser trailer was released recently. And I noticed some interesting speculation about what might happen in the new season, and I have...a lot of thoughts about it, haha. I think I need to write it out in order to really sort out my thoughts and feelings on it, but I think it might get kinda long since it’s pretty major, so I’m going to put it under a cut. 

[NOTE: This post was written approximately a week or so ago, and I’ve been just sitting on it trying to decide if I wanna post or not. But having watched the full trailer for Season 14 now...I’m like 95% certain that this seems to be the route that the season is going. Still have about 5% doubt because trailers can be misleading and I could just be reading into it. We won’t really know for sure until we see the first episode, and I’m so torn between being somewhat excited just because I want to know for certain and nervous because I know I will still be sad if it’s true.

Either way, I wanted to get my thoughts down before the season premieres so here it is I guess lol]

So...it’s actually possible that Ty might die/be dead when this season begins? Which is utterly bizarre to think about because I never would have considered this to be an actual possible situation for the show. Even when there was that summary that leaked earlier this year, I still didn’t think it was a real possibility. I thought for certain that was fake, because this is Heartland. It’s one thing for a side character to disappear from the show or to be killed off, but a main character? A main character can be hurt, injured, and on the verge of death, but they won’t actually die. Especially not a character who is in one of the two major ships on the show.

Until now?

Of course, if this does happen, I don’t think it’s something anyone on the show wanted, not even the writers. In an ideal world where every actor wanted to be in every episode of the show, I imagine they’d be perfectly happy continuing to write that story.

But in cases where an actor no longer wants to be a main character on the show -- well, obviously I can’t say definitively that this is the case, because as far as I know he has never specifically said this in an interview, but from an outsider’s/fan’s perspective, it feels like that is a possibility. I don’t know the reasons behind it though, and I’m not going to go that far into speculation.

But let’s go with this scenario hypothetically. Because it does sometimes happen with television shows, where an actor for one reason or another no longer will be part of a show. 

What do you do with that character?

The character could be recast, I suppose, but I don’t think that would work in a show like Heartland. How would we explain in-universe why Ty suddenly looks different when everyone else is still the same? Even if you can find an actor that looks similar enough, we know what Ty looks like after 13 seasons, and I don’t think anyone would be fooled into thinking it’s the same guy. I guess it could be explained with the trope that he got into such a bad accident that they had to reconstruct his face, but that feels cheap and too much like a soap opera. 

So that’s a no.

The character could be written out in other ways. Ty could just be off screen somewhere...all the time. He’s at the clinic, he’s spending the day with Lyndy, he’s at a vet conference, he’s gone back to save wolves from poachers again, he’s gone back to Mongolia for the third/fourth/fifth/ten billionth time. 

That, honestly, would be frustrating. It’s maybe the least painful short term option, but long term, it’s not very enjoyable. It’s like when important side characters suddenly disappear from the show, occasionally mentioned but never seen on screen again, only 10 times worse.

Or he could be written off by...y’know, breaking up him and Amy. Which, frankly, is the absolute worst option in my opinion. It would immediately, retroactively, destroy the entire show, past, present, and future. Ty and Amy aren’t the only important part of the show, but they are a major part of it. The show has spent 13 seasons building up this relationship (with obvious ups and downs throughout, but I’m not focused on analyzing their whole relationship in this post), so to suddenly turn around and have them divorce would be an absolute trainwreck. 

What would even be the reason? Even with some of my disagreements in the writing of certain decisions the characters have made (*coughtheMongoliaplotcough*), I don’t think those are reasons enough for these two characters to break up over it. So something new would have to be invented, and it would likely be something completely ridiculous and out-of-character for them both and also likely ruin their character development from past seasons. 

Which leads us to yet another option: Ty dying. A year ago this was something I never would have considered for the actual show (or any of those other options, frankly). It could be interesting to explore in a fanfic, but on the show? No way.

But...things change. Reality sometimes gets in the way of a television show’s ideal storyline, which is one of the difficulties of the medium, especially a live action one. And just because one actor hypothetically doesn’t want to be on the show anymore doesn’t mean it should be derailed for all the other actors and crew who are on board.

So you get rid of the character. It isn’t hard to do. Probably the hardest part will be the very first episode when it’s revealed to the audience. How did it happen? Did it happen before the season begins, or does it happen in the first episode? Or if it happened before, do we get any flashbacks? 

Is it due to complications from the gunshot at the end of season 13? A freak car/motorcycle accident? An accident during a vet call? Depending on what it is and the context of it, it can be a strong final note on the kind of person Ty has become. If during a vet call/because of an animal, it happens while he’s doing what he loves, taking care of animals. If from the end of S13, it’s from him protecting his wife. If a car accident, maybe he was going to pick up Lyndy to spend time with her after leaving a vet call, because he’s a loving father. All of those are inline with Ty’s character and still support the growth that he’s had from the first episode to now. 

And then there’s all the story potential and character growth that it opens up for all the other characters. Because this is something that majorly impacts the entire family. And the description of season 14 that was put out does talk about a “life-changing challenge,” particularly for Amy for obvious reasons.

How does she deal with losing her husband? They’ve been together for so long, not just as romantic interests but as best friends. What does her life look like without him in it? How does this affect her work? Is her work with horses a comfort for her, or does it remind her too much of him? How does she guide Lyndy through this? 

And then the rest of the family. How does Jack deal with his loss? Considering Ty became like a son to him and “officially” joins the family when he marries Amy, how does it affect Jack to lose him? Especially if it was in something like a car accident, similar to Marion. How does it affect Jack and Lisa’s relationship? 

Not to mention Lily, and Lou, and Georgie, and Tim, and Caleb, and Scott, and Cass. Ty was a huge part of all their lives, so this will affect them in major ways too. 

Again, it’s not ideal. But I do feel like this option provides the best story opportunities without ruining the characters in the process the way certain other choices would. 

And, of course, this is all purely speculation. We won’t really know what’s going to happen until the season actually airs, and it’s entirely possible that the “life-changing challenge” will be something completely different, and Ty will be fine. And if so, that’s okay with me. 

But if Ty is gone...I think I could learn to be okay with it. Though it does still depend on how they handle it. Like if everyone’s sad about it for one or two episodes, but then everyone immediately moves on and everything’s fine, then I wouldn’t be happy with that. We don’t need a whole season of everyone crying all the time, but we also don’t need this to be something that’s swept under the rug. We, the audience, will need time to grieve along with the characters. Because this is a main character that we could be losing here, not just a minor side character like Mr. Hanley for example. So I hope we get to see all of the characters going through the stages of grief and processing their loss in their own ways throughout the season.

Anyway, it was nice to write through my thoughts on this. It’s kinda funny thinking about how not that long ago, I would’ve been completely 100% against this idea ever happening in the show, but now I’m like almost on-board with it. Maybe it’s the effect of 2020 or something lol

[mobius-prime]

202. Sonic the Hedgehog #134

Uh oh, that cover page doesn't bode well…

Home: Epilogue (Say What You Will)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Jon Gray Colors: Jason Jensen

Everyone please welcome our newest penciller, Jon Gray! I wouldn't normally go out of my way to announce a new artist, but Jon Gray has perhaps one of the most heavily stylized and recognizable art styles of any other artist for this comic. You'll see what I mean almost immediately once I start showing panels. Anyway, a lot of this issue is devoted to Sonic simply catching up with family and friends, now that the immediate danger to Knothole is over and he can fully relax. When he and the others get back to the village, he's sent to Dr. Quack for treatment of his shoulder, and while there Quack scans him and notices the implant the aliens gave him to understand all forms of speech. Apparently it's bonded permanently to his nervous system, and Sonic panics a bit when he hears this, accidentally agitating his injury… which causes him to actually swear.

It wouldn't even be a big deal as the panel is fairly humorous and cartoony, but this actually makes Sonic one of only five characters in the entire comic who ever swear, at least that we ever see. Monk is one, Espio is another a few issues from now, and the fourth and fifth we have yet to properly meet. Anyway, yes, Dr. Quack lost an eye during the war while Sonic was away, and he's back to being a regular doctor, despite us never actually having seen him as a frontline medic. Sonic exits the hospital and meets with his family and Sally plus the queen, who inform him that there's going to be a huge celebration tonight to welcome him back to the land of the living. They exit the hospital and part ways with Sally and her mother, and are immediately blinded by a multitude of camera flashes from a press mob, all clamoring to ask Sonic a million questions about his year away. Somehow they manage to extricate themselves and head home, where Sonic is happy to see his old room exactly as he left it, his parents sadly explaining that after they thought he was dead they couldn't bear to change anything. He flops into bed for a nap while his mother fixes dinner, and wakes up to see his favorite pup, greeting him at the foot of his bed.

Sonic rushes out to confront his parents on why they didn't tell him such an important detail as Muttski learning to speak while he was away, but then realizes that his alien implant must be what allows him to understand his dog. Wait, so does this mean that Sonic can now understand any ordinary animal's speech? This is an amazing superpower! I would kill to have my own version of that. Sonic explains something else that he learned during his journey that he just remembered. Apparently, as he broke Ceneca-9009 out of prison, he had asked her why she deroboticized every Robian except for Jules, and she explained that due to the nature of Jules' injuries before his roboticization, reversing the process would bring back the same state of his body at that moment in time and ultimately kill him. This would explain why it took so much longer for him to be returned than the others - clearly Ceneca-9009 tried for a while to find a way to deroboticize him without killing him, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After dinner, Sonic heads to Knothole's airstrip knowing he will find Tails there, and they take a moment to catch up one on one before the party. It's not purely a social visit, though - Sonic has some important news for Tails as well.

This kid has never known his own parents, remember. His father disappeared the same day he was born, and his mother followed shortly afterward. Even when everyone else was getting their roboticized family back, he never looked for his parents, never seemed to expect to see anybody. Now he knows that he has two living and loving parents on the other side of the galaxy, waiting for him - and one day they'll be able to reunite once more. Something to look forward to, eh?

That night, the entire village celebrates, with Mina and her backup band performing for the crowd amidst flashing, colorful lights. Sonic takes the chance to hang out with all his friends, especially Sally, with whom he's resumed his budding relationship as though he never left. The king interrupts the festivities for a brief moment after Mina's set concludes, with an important announcement for the populace.

Mina happily runs to Sonic to hug him (with Sally looking slightly jealous behind them), informing him that in the course of the war she'd completely lost her stage fright and become a veritable pop star, singing and performing to keep morale up. As she introduces him to her stage manager (and boyfriend, as he gruffly informs Sonic) Ash the Mongoose, Sally's parents look at her from the edges of the party, with her mother expressing some concern about leaving Sally in charge while they're gone due to her seemingly fragile emotional state, evidenced by how she reacted when she saw Sonic take a hit during the battle. However, King Max says that he trusts her, as Elias never wanted to be king while Sally was born and bred to be a ruler from birth. Sally, for her part, seems to be eager to speak with Sonic about something, but they keep finding themselves interrupted by the arrival of more friends, this time including Knuckles and the Chaotix. Knuckles explains more fully why he's here, that while Sonic was gone Eggman invaded and captured Angel Island and he and his crew have been forced to stay here for a while as a result, helping the king in the war effort.

Rotor arrives with a rocket, and while he sets it up he explains to Sonic that he's since retired from active duty on the front lines to focus on inventing and science back home. Honestly, I always got the impression that Rotor was at least several years older than the others - like in his mid-20s or so - but apparently no, he's like eighteen, so "retired" seems like a bit of a strange word to use in this instance. But eh, whatever - he shoots off the rocket and it lights the sky with a barrage of colorful fireworks, including a special one that changes shape, taking the form of Sonic and Sally kissing and holding each other. Seems a little gaudy if you ask me, but Sonic is pleased, as is the crowd. Sonic then congratulates Geoffrey and Hershey on their impromptu wedding, and they say they're leaving Knothole for a while, to go on a secret mission for the king which will also double as their honeymoon. Fair enough for two people who live for the life of a spy, I guess! Sonic then gets to chatting with Bunnie, and asks her why she and Antoine broke up and where he got the facial scar from.

Ouch. That's not the Antoine we know and love. I'm sure we'll get more answers later on, though. After one last interruption, from a reporter looking for a photo of the royal couple, Sally is finally able to pull Sonic aside onto the now-empty stage for a talk. She informs Sonic that since she'll be acting ruler while her parents are away, she wants Sonic to stay away from the fighting and rule at her side while they're gone, ultimately retiring himself from the life of a front-line fighter. Sonic is surprised at the request and begins to try to argue, but Sally suddenly snaps at him, saying that she doesn't want him risking his life anymore if they're going to be together. Her outburst gets the attention of everyone at the party, who are now staring at them up on stage. Sonic seems sad as Sally reminds him of how she already lost him once, but firmly sticks to his guns, telling her he simply can't stop fighting while they're in the middle of a war. And thus, we have our lead-in to perhaps one of the most infamous panels of the preboot.

And with that, Sally runs away sobbing, yelling that Eggman can have Sonic all to himself.

Now, I definitely have some things to say about The Slap and everything that surrounds it. The reaction of basically every fan I've ever seen is that this is totally out of character for Sally, and one hundred percent a result of bad and biased writing on the part of Karl Bollers. I both agree and disagree, to an extent. Let me defend my position. I do agree that this is out of character for Sally, and not at all like what the Sally we've always known from before Sonic's space adventure would act like. However, I don't think that this is necessarily a case of bad writing as a whole. See, grief will make people do strange things, things they would normally never do. Please keep in mind that Sally, at this point in time, is all of sixteen years old, and, on top of what you would expect from teen mood swings, is dealing with the immense pressure of being a princess, and being ruled over by her parents after eleven prior years of being mostly free to be herself. And then, to add to all of that, she lost her closest childhood friend just as they finally admitted their long-standing feelings for one another that they'd repressed their entire lives, and proceeded to watch him die in front of her eyes. After almost an entire year, he's made a miraculous comeback, only to appear to die once more, again in full view of Sally who was in no position to be able to help. She's had the voice of her parents in her ear for this past year telling her that she mustn't put herself into danger anymore as the kingdom's future ruler, and likely been estranged to some degree from the other Freedom Fighters as a result. Yes, this is not how Sally Acorn would act - but I think that's the point. A running theme in this arc is that given time, people change, and not always for the better - and that's ultimately exactly what we're seeing here.

Furthermore, all that aside, I also think that this works from a plot standpoint in general. Think what you will about "will they won't they" type plotlines, but they're popular for a reason - they create drama between characters. Normally I myself am not a fan of that type of dynamic, but I do think it works in Sonic and Sally's case just because they're such different people from each other, so opposite in personality in so many ways that I can definitely see them struggling to find a balance as they work through their teenage years and try to figure out where they'll ultimately stand with each other. I mean, think about it - it would be a bit bizarre if they just stayed together from here on out, never disagreeing or having difficulties resulting from Sonic's stay in space, and there were no more avenues to explore regarding romance and relationships. We can't just have a happy ending where Sonic returns from space, reintegrates right back into his social circle without any problems, and continues his engagement to Sally without a hitch. The story and the world simply wouldn't work properly that way - it would feel too sugar-coated, too easy. One of the things I've always loved about the story that's told in the Archie Sonic preboot is that nothing is ever truly okay - at its core, the story of the comic differs so greatly from the stories in the games and anime because it's the story of a war, and how the youth of this world react to living in one. Even when things look like they're going well, there's always something else, something that once again shatters the fragile stability that everyone has worked so hard to build. Having everything be hunky-dory once Sonic gets back just wouldn't fit the type of story that's being told.

So ultimately, as much as I know a large portion of the fandom disagrees with me, I don't have a problem with The Slap. I feel that taking everything that has happened in the story up till now into context, it makes sense for Sally to start breaking under pressure like this, and leaves the story open to further character interaction and conflict that we otherwise wouldn't get to see if they stayed together. (Keep in mind as well that I am a big fan of Sonic and Sally as a ship, so this isn't coming from a selfish place of not wanting to see them together or something - it's more a case of me thinking it wouldn't make sense yet.) Ultimate I think there much better (or worse…?) examples of instances in the comic where characters behave out of character due to bad writing. Such as…

Mobius 25 Years Later: In Transit

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

…this abomination of a story arc! Seriously, this is one instance where I totally agree with the rest of the fandom on how bad it is. Granted, today's story isn't as egregious as some of the ones in the past or other ones to come, but even so. We open right where we left off, with Knuckles and Rotor discussing serious matters of world annihilation and such while two horny teenagers listen in. They accidentally cause a twig to snap, and Knuckles whirls around to find the source of the noise.

Now, see, this is actually an interesting plot point! Science has advanced enough in this world where if one loses an eye, they could easily have it replaced through cloning, and yet Knuckles has willingly chosen to forego such an option in favor of keeping his cybernetic eye instead. And surprisingly, I actually find this totally in character for him. I think Knuckles, in any canon, if he lost an eye, would likely choose to keep a cybernetic replacement in favor of cloning himself another organic eye - if not for the enhanced vision it could give him, then as a point of pride, perhaps feeling that he should live with the cybernetics as a reminder of past mistakes and failures that can spur him to keep moving forward. But we don't get to focus on the eye! Instead, Knuckles takes his leave of Rotor for now and heads to Haven Two, which is (obviously) the replacement for Haven after it was destroyed in the past. He greets his fellow Guardians and asks them a favor - to fire up the ol' hidden camera system across the island so he can follow the two teens who were spying on him and Rotor in the park. Apparently, he promised Julie-Su in the past that he would never spy on family, so he's never made much use of Haven's surveillance system, and this is something that Spectre feels he's being foolish about given who Julie-Su's half sister is. And, as it turns out, that's exactly who we're going to be spying on today! Knuckles tunes in in time to see Rutan and Salma being confronted by Lien-Da about their late-night excursions, and Knuckles explains Rotor's suspicions about the weather to the others while Lien-Da gets ready to scold her son after they take Salma back home.

Well well now! So Rotor and Cobar have intercepted the feed from Haven, huh? That's quite a feat - and quite suspicious of them, at that. Rotor then makes a comment about all this likely not surprising King Sonic… as apparently, Sonic doesn't like echidnas, and especially not Knuckles!

…what?!

So this is a really stellar example of what I was talking about earlier, about having better examples of out of character behavior! Apparently, in this timeline, Sonic and Knuckles actively dislike each other, going so far as to refuse to speak to one another and resenting having to interact for even short periods of time. This is so far off the mark that I'm kind of stunned at just how wrong Penders has managed to get these two's relationship. I mean, just, what? Sonic and Knuckles regularly butted heads when they were younger, sure, but in every canon they both exist in, the two always end up as good, if volatile, friends, who would trust each other with their lives! I seriously can't imagine a future where the two would end up hating each other. We're going to be seeing the exact specifics of why they hate each other in future issues, too, so strap in guys, cause this is gonna suck.

[doctorwhos]

atlas it’s been years since i’ve watched dr who, but your posts are singlehandedly reviving my interest. i would LOVE to hear your theory!!!

everyones interest in doctor who should be revived because i wont shut up about it at ALL. BUT YES OKAY. i have this very good theory about the 5 nuwho doctors (sorry war im not including you) that ive been working on for like.. years.

its that each of the five doctors (so 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) each represent the five stages of grief for the doctor and the time war and gallifrey. its. i think about it constantly. because it really explains EVERYTHING about each of the regenerations. i know its a popular theory but this is my take on it and im claiming i invented it because im a lesbian and doctor who is my show now. 

nine is denial -- he retraumatizes himself over and over and is a coward over killer because he didn't kill the time lords. he didn't. it couldnt possibly have been him. that was another man because he doesnt wear the title of the doctor anymore. rose even represents his denial; shes in denial that she’ll ever lose the doctor, and at the end of his run, is in denial that ten Is The Doctor still. he’d make a good dalek because hes in denial about his emotions. he just feels pain, but hes distanced himself from it so vastly. 

ten is anger -- even with rose hes angry all the time. he doesnt give people second chances. hes fierces and like a storm and burns so hot. he saves so many people for the sake of his own health; hes ready to die over and over again because hes so angry. both about the time war and THEN about losing war. hes the time lord victorious because he WAS the winner, and hes the oncoming storm because the laws of time WILL bend to him. they will listen to him. he’s lost rose and hes lost gallifrey and hes so, So angry. he fights, he throws fits (The Scene with wilf yall), because he doesnt deserve this. he lives for such a short amount of time BECAUSE hes so angry. 

eleven is bargaining -- he's childish and goofy and is the most carefree so far. hes forgotten how many children were on gallifrey that day because he'll do anything for forget that information. the daleks, the cybermen, the im forgetting other aliens, all turn and RUN at his name because he still has tens reckless abandon for his own life, but hes ready to wager other things now for it. he keeps bargaining his way out of death (he gets granted a WHOLE new regeneration cycle because of it). he uses the people around him as pawns to do this over and over again, because he’ll do anything but accept the time war. the 50th anyone?

twelve is depression -- he lost amy and rory. he lost gallifrey. hes lost so many people over and over again and theres nothing he can do. he literally has to have his memory wiped after he loses clara because he cant bear to have the memory of her while also knowing shes gone. hes lost so much and he cant let himself open back up again because that means getting hurt. hes not good interacting with other people because hes forgotten how. hes not used to having emotions and empathy and happiness because whats the point? he has nothing left to lose, essentially. yes hes the start of a whole new regeneration cycle, but what does that matter? hes snarky, hes crass, hes mean, and hes closed off. he insults humans and insults himself (i’m an idiot! with a box, and a screwdriver!) because there IS no point. 

and thirteen is acceptance -- shes the accumulation of her four previous regenerations. shes on a whole new regeneration cycle now. she has a whole life ahead of her. shes accepted what she did with the time war. shes accepted that the daleks will keep coming back. shes accepted that she'll have to save the universe over and over again, but shes gone back to who she truly is. the twelfth doctors words ring true in her mind -- laugh hard. run fast. be kind. shes lighter compared to her four previous regenerations, happier, kinder. she tries to save everyone, she is the most stern on the anti-weapon policy shes been operating on for so many years. there are So Few dark scenes with her because shes accepted everything. she’s accepted who she is. she even goes back to her roots with having a trio on board like the first doctor did (ian, susan and barbara) because shes The Doctor. shes accepted it. and shes accepted what she did. 

the five nuwho doctors are all such complex characters and their seasons REALLY do reflect this theory so fucking well. i WILL talk about this more but this already has gotten so fucking long.

[seagodofmagic]

tried to write a post about the way the musical adaptation of moby-dick handles race and i had way too much to say.

i’ve seen people criticize tambourine but i actually kind of like it--it’s big, it’s weird, and with very few changes it could have been a great way to pull pip’s story into the meta narrative the show (almost) tells about melville’s failure of imagination when he writes about race. if we’re keeping the book’s metaphor of pip’s soul going wandering when he’s alone in the ocean, why shouldn’t it wander out of the 1840s?

but tambourine doesn’t work because of the stuff around it. i absolutely hate the first song ishmael sings in act iii--it’s such a pointless, unexamined reuse of racist 19th century tropes from the book (pip loves christmas and the fourth of july???? are you fucking kidding me????). the song quickly goes over-the-top so maybe it’s meant to be a commentary on the superficiality of ishmael’s grief for a kid he actually didn’t know at all but if so that needs to spelled out a LOT more clearly/connected up with the rest of the act in a more meaningful way. as it is the song just comes across as deeply, deeply lazy writing.

in general, it feels like the show wants to engage with the racism in the book but it often does so in such a superficial way that it forgets that the book, for all its flaws, is actually a pretty decent primary source on how 19th century racism works, and how even fairly liberal white people saw poc and particularly black people in the 1840s. it’s a grim picture--ishmael is presented as someone who is willing to look past race (whatever that means) in some circumstances but he more often doesn’t do that at all or only does so at a very 101 level even by his own decade’s standards. personally i think the best way to adapt the book for a 21st century audience is to separate ishmael the character/concept (uneducated, apolitical white guy from new york state who genuinely wants to get out from under his rock and connect with other people) from melville the author, and for the most part i think the show does take that approach, which is great! but then when they keep so much of ishmael’s original racist description of pip, i get whiplash! (again, if they did this deliberately it would be another story and i’d still be interested--i just don’t think they actually thought it through.)

the problem starts in the prologue, when actor!ishmael says he wants to re-cast moby-dick the way he wishes america was. that’s a bizarre critique to make of a book where approximately half the characters are poc. melville’s problem isn’t in representation-by-numbers, it’s imagining an inner life for non-white characters (especially Black characters) that isn’t totally dominated by stereotypes. the way the show elides this feels like the (white) creators are weirdly patting themselves on the back for something a white 19th century author already did for them, or perhaps they think race-appropriate casting for non-white characters is somehow something other than the lowest of low bars (????)

that said, in a lot of ways i like the musical’s approach to embodying melville’s characters and giving them more developed inner lives, and i think it usually works pretty well: tashtego and daggoo doing rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead on the masthead; queequeg’s song taking over ishmael’s narrative of their first meeting; fedallah breaking the fourth wall to point out (among other things) that it might not be enough to quietly update the characters if the racism behind them is so bad to begin with.

but then there are other times when melville is clearly a better authority on his era’s own racism than the white people writing the update. pip’s story doesn’t come out of nowhere. even in the scene they got the tambourine idea from, pip is bullied by the crew to play for them, and he tells them his tambourine is broken because he doesn’t want to have to dance and sing for a bunch of drunken sailors! they make him do it anyway! immediately next in that scene someone picks a racist fight with daggoo! the show clearly understands that pip gets left behind in part because he’s Black--yet it doesn’t pick up any of those dropped cues from the book and instead uses that sequence to construct a mostly invented musician identity for Pip. i get the meta temptation--it’s a musical, so why not keep the detail that pip is a musician, it’s another way for the audience to relate to him! but it’s also like......lmao are we really at the same level as Racist Sailor #3? if we’re going to depart from the book and rewrite pip as a whole new character, why not actually do that, free of the racist minstrel trope?

back to the book: in the part of the story where stubb leaves pip behind, it’s clear that it’s not just stubb being personally horrible (though he is) as compared to the rest of the crew--it’s violent racial hierarchy rearing its head on the pequod the way it rears its head everywhere else in 1840s america. of course the person most likely to be left behind is a Black kid who doesn’t have a skillset that would set him apart and keep him safe on the ship. (there’s a strong implication this wouldn’t have happened to dough-boy, the pequod’s actual most useless/annoying crew member, because dough-boy is white and there isn’t a literal price tag on his life.) pip getting left behind is simultaneously stubb’s fault, no one’s fault, and everyone’s fault. (it’s also kind of tashtego’s fault, which could have been an interesting thread for the show to pull on in a couple different ways, but they don’t go there). anyone on that whale-boat could have pulled a queequeg and either jumped in after pip or cut the line--but they don’t, because of who pip is. it’s a violently racist accident.

(melville is fucking clueless about a lot of things but he is not clueless about how violence operates in closed environments--moby-dick is arguably much less violent than some of his other books because the ever-present lurking threat is the whale, not the other people on the boat. but i do think this episode is fundamental to the book and it’s very, very believable as something that could have actually happened--including the collective, confused guilt of everyone else afterward.)

anyway this part of the book is a hot mess but honestly i don’t feel i’m extrapolating much here. and yet none of what i just wrote about comes across coherently in act iii of the musical. pip never came alive for me as an individual character in the show even though so much stage time was spent on his story--which is a pity because the concept of giving his character an entire act is so beautiful and i was really rooting for them to make it work! i want many other parts of the show to stay exactly as they are but i hope the rewrite of act iii is substantial.

[bigskydreaming]

dargeon-lissa replied to your post:

@dargeon-lissa I saw your note on that post, but...

Because, yes I love fanfictions and the fandom, but sometimes I felt ASHAMED of preferring Dick because of how the fandom made him looks. When there where comics pages and stuff, there were always only the part where the fans were mad at. Not the whole situations and stuff and I felt so many times bad for relating to such a despicable character, you know ?

I’m only copy pasting this part of your reply to save time, but yeah, fanon can be fucking insidious, especially for people who get into the Batfam fandom from movies and cartoons and never read the comics, like yourself. I fully believe a ton of the hate Dick got after Spyral was because a lot of people literally just haven’t read Nightwing #30, because they don’t read Nightwing....and so they just took peoples’ word for it when fic writers acted like that had never happened and just heaped blame on Dick, and followed suit themselves with their own fics.

And it sucks. And I hate it, lol.

One of the other biggest fandom myths, of course, that I rant endlessly about lol, is that Dick was a jerk to Jason when Jason was Robin. Literally DID NOT HAPPEN. There’s a page and a half the very first time they meet after Jason’s retconned origin, where Dick grabs Jason by the arm and gives him grief for ruining a drug lab bust he’d been working on because Jason went in before there was any evidence Dick could use to put them away....and that’s it. That’s the grand total of any and every time Dick was any kind of a jerk to Jason while he was Robin...and that very issue ended with Dick giving Jason his own old Robin costume and his phone number as well as advice that was pretty solidly in the big brother kinda way or at least the early stages of heading there.

And people act like that’s the only time they ever interacted, like they couldn’t possibly have had good interactions offpage after that....even while happily inventing months worth of conflict between Dick and Jason where Dick was an asshole to him and resented him and gave him shit constantly or else just kept his distance and made no attempt to reach out. And on top of that, there’s this idea that people hold against Dick too, that the other Titans were jerks to Jason when he teamed up with them, because of Dick....again. Didn’t happen. The stories where Jason teamed up with the Titans happened before his retconned origin (but are still in continuity, as they’ve been referenced many times since Batman #412).....

And so like pretty much every other interaction Dick and Jason had before they met again for the first time in Batman #416 (which was a FLASHBACK issue, opening with the words “one year ago” thus meant to allow for all these other stories...and Dick and Jay interactions....to still have taken place after Jason’s new origin)....

Like, Dick and Jason thus had a GREAT relationship then, with zero conflict, because they all happened in the continuity where Dick had made Jason Robin himself. Those stories people cite where the other Titans were jerks to Jason because he wasn’t Dick....nope. Jason teamed up with them on a mission while Dick wasn’t around because he’d been captured on a solo op.....and Donna kept trying to defer to Jason or look to him to make a plan, because she was so used to it being Dick in the Robin costume, it seemed instinctive to expect a Robin to know what to do...and Jason called her on it, but without being an asshole or even MAD about it...and just said look, you can’t expect me to know what to do here just because I’m Robin because I’m not Dick and don’t have the experience you guys do, you’re the leader, you need to tell us what to do. And Donna apologized to him and said he was right.

That was it! That’s the source of the supposed ‘the Titans were mean to Jason because he wasn’t Dick’ myth. And on and on it goes.

The one that personally bugs the crap out of me the most, as its SO deliberate and odious, is how people have made this one fight between Dick and Donna back in the 80s widespread through fandom, as something that’s referenced as proof of what a cruel temper Dick can have. Because he says some admittedly shitty stuff to her in the panels that are usually presented to show that scene. But this is so WILLFUL, because to even save that page from some source, you have to go between the other pages of the fight they had, since its literally in the middle of it....and thus anyone who first used that page to show how awful Dick can be, had to also know DAMN WELL that: 

A) Donna started that fight and ignored Dick’s repeated attempts to leave and not have this argument right then and there, as he KNEW he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to have it without saying stuff they’d both regret, he pretty much SAID THIS, flat out, BEFORE that page where he says those things to Donna....and Donna physically pushes him back when he tries to walk past her and leave, she’s the one who INSISTS on having it right there and then. B) Donna said messed up shit to Dick too, C) Donna then proceeded to punch Dick THROUGH A WALL, and D) and it all ended with Dick STILL exiting at the first chance he got, all without ever making any attempt to be physical with Donna or respond in kind after she escalated it. And oh yeah, E) this issue led straight into the storyline where Dick was captured again by the Church of Blood and it was revealed his outbursts over the past year were the direct result of him unknowingly battling the brainwashing they’d subjected him to the LAST time they captured him.....like, it was a literal, actual story plot point, that Dick’s ‘temper’ and him lashing out at his friends and loved ones over the past few arcs....were because he was battling mind control the whole time.

And there’s not a single mention of ANY of that for context in ANY thread or post I’ve ever seen use that one page cut out of the middle of Dick and Donna’s fight in the 80s. And I’ve seen it come up A LOT.

So that one more than even any of the others just gets under my skin in such a big way, because its so obviously deliberate. Like, there’s no way to read the full scene, let alone the full storyline, and really think that Dick’s this temper tantrum throwing asshole who has no excuse for being so horrible to his friend Donna, who meanwhile, doesn’t even rate an honorable mention for PUNCHING HIM THROUGH A WALL OF HIS OWN APARTMENT.

Like, I hate that scene, but because of how DONNA is written in it. At least there was an actual narrative REASON for Dick’s behavior. But anyone who likes Dick and has actually read that issue is so busy trying to get people to lay off him for it, who even has a chance to get around to criticizing Donna’s writing in it? LOL.

There is literally no way in hell you can reference that scene, if you’ve read the full thing, and try and frame it as an excuse to vilify Dick for his temper....so the fact that someone at some point made a point to lift the only ONE page out of the entire five or six pages of their fight, like, the literal only page that can be said to look like Dick’s the aggressor and Donna’s the helpless victim of his furious temper.....

That was deliberate, and definitely done to make him look bad and for NO other reason. So that one, more than any other, irritates the FUCK out of me when it comes to fanon and is cited as proof of what a horrible temper he can have at times.

[nazsite-blog]

𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

“It will be the best of the times.” 

Yes it will. From the step on the school’s floor to the step on stage of graduation. I will graduate with a diploma and show to my parents how proud i am.Senior High School has made me changed myself.A bunch of emotions that every student has experienced and so am i.  Those two years i’ve had gave me a valuable lessons and realizations.All the works that i have done from the chaos will never end but i’ll continue to fight for what is right and what is wrong.I will always cherish the precious memories in my heart and as a pioneer, i will not forget what did my school made me so special to have people that i have met from 2 years who made me so special and fully accepted from who i am.

I.

I stayed in my old school within 9 years with anxiety. All of those ended when i become a junior high school student.I had the worst anxiety last 2 years ago, I was a graduating student when i had that condition.It all started when i failed a subject and my adviser told me that i might be having summer class which made my mental health have a worst breakdown unexpectedly It took me 2-3 weeks without going to school.I’ve been locking myself in my room crying and screaming what will i do to myself I really wanted to hurt myself but i was too scared to do that even though i was already suicdal. I was really scared going back to school because I’ve been thinking about how people will accept me after i had this condition but my mom and my aunt really helped alot they called the school to seek for a help and they cooperated. In the end, i continued my journey and got my jhs diploma.

Last year, I’ve decided to move to another school which made me anxious again because of the surrounding.From 1st day to present my mom brings me to the school from 5:30am and i always appreciate that because all the works that she has done for me.I always do my priorities not only a student but also a daughter of her. A young daughter who has a mission to take care of her parents and it’s what they deserve.My dad is in abroad he goes home dependently from the company.Both of them gave their very best to make me feel better and happy and yes, i am happy and thankful that i have parents like them. 

When i first entered in my new school, my classmates were really different from my school.They were so genuine and friendly. I’ve never experienced having a section who biases someone to be in.But they considered everyone as their family and i felt that.We helped and understood each other. We shared our own stories openly. I will cherish them because they made me special and accepted from who i am and that’s one of the best things i wanted to experience they made it come true.

II.

Every student has a goal in life and it is to learn something more.As a normal person, i have duties or roles in my existence . I can be a daughter, a student,a worker or more and one of my goals is to learn and apply it in my daily life.Because once i’ve encountered those things that made me changed as a whole. I will tell it to my future kids what i have learned when i was in their stage too.Everything that surrounds us has something to tell us that we still don’t know and i take the responsibility to  analyze and discover it.Because as what the scientists said, our mind is the most powerful tool that we can use that’s why people invent things and we create things creatively because of our minds.

As a student, i have experienced procrastinating alot until now and i admit that i still have to change my time management because I usually panic at the time and i often sleep at 12-1 am. There were times i only had 30 minutes of sleep but i still have to wake up even though it was really short sleep because it will be wasteful efforts if i didn’t wake up and i usually commute whenever i go home.I have limitations i don’t usually use my time as a student but also give myself a leisure time to reduce stress.But also, i should limit myself from technology. Since the technology is a powerful source and discovery. We, ourselves should take the responsibility to manage how to use it in an advantageous way.

Because of limitations, I completed my requirements at a time with or without procrastination atleast you know your limits and how to handle it. Requirements aren’t that easy you should take efforts on it you shouldn’t rush it just for grades make it as an oppurtunity to express yourself from all the hardworks you will give to that requirement. Because not only in school but when you started working already.

III.

I’ve enountered alot of competent teachers since I moved in FEU-A and it was the best experience to have them as my professors because i learned more aboutthe things that i should care about specially in politics. They made me to realize that i shouldn’t be silent from all the situations that are happening now. Because in this generation, We are the future of change. Fight for what is right and what is wrong.

In this phase, I’m in graduating phase again,  It may be difficult for me because of the things i have encountered all the griefs and suffers that i’ve experienced my family and friends are there to help and support me.Although, I still what are the things that i will take in college and i’m still undecided about my course i have alot of options that i want to try and experience but i realized i have to follow my heart and what’s really my interest or something that i am really passionate about.My parents talked to me that they support my decisions and that’s the best feeling that i feel when I heard from my two ears that they accepted my decision.

I therefore conclude that all of these hardships that i have experienced will still continue to the future.Being a student will never be easy it’s part of your normal life as person. It is also a part of the challenge you’ll be facing until you reach your goal that you want to achieve.FEU-A gave me alot of precious memories that i have never experienced from my school and i am thankful that these people exist in my life and gave me a hope to change and find out my truly self.

[i-watched-deh-twice]

Dear Evan Hansen observations in way too much detail

 Observations

The Music Box Theater is really, really tiny, so it feels so intimate

There’s no pit, so the band is tucked away in the left corner, on this small platform attached to the ceiling. You can see it in the video bootleg, in the very end, during “Finale”

I separated the scenes by song, and sort of estimated where each scene ended. When I mention how a scene is blocked, it’s because it’s different from the video bootleg.

“Anybody Have A Map?”

Evan is speaks even more quickly now in the very beginning, when he’s writing his first letter and talking about Zoe, and his anxious way of speaking is more exaggerated

During my first time watching (not in the audio bootleg), Garrett Long (understudies Mrs. Murphy and Heidi) played Evan’s mother, Heidi. Rachel Bay Jones (the original) has a very specific, kind of dorky and sheepish and adorable way of speaking, and Garrett tried to imitate her but it was kind of awkward. She was quite awkward during her performance and very delayed during “Anybody Have A Map?”, but she improved SO MUCH in the second act, more on that later. I think it was maybe an off-day for her, because I listened to another audio bootleg and I only realized it was Garrett in the second act.

Zoe’s pins aren’t flat against her head, so if you’re sitting on the side, you can see her hair pushing out, and it looks a lot like pigtails from most angles

“Waving Through a Window”

When Jared says, “Very school-shooter chic,” and Connor says, “Oh, no, I’m laughing,” he doesn’t just walk, he kind of crouches and side-lunges towards Jared

When he needs to reach high notes, Evan brings his knee high, up to his chin (Ben Platt doesn’t need to do this, it’s new tic he invented for his character because it’s not in the video bootleg)

During “Waving Through a Window,” he watches the screens with everyone communicating with each other, it’s a lot of flashing of social media esp. Zoe Murphy’s Facebook profile

It’s really difficult to see the screens in the bootleg, but they really really helped convey the tone of each scene

They do thing a couple times, where they crescendo to a climax, then turn off all the sound and lights, then turn on individual spotlights on each character and light up the stage and flash all the screens wildly. It’s absolutely glorious and cruel and amazing

Connor’s pauses are longer. “You fell out of a tree? ……… Well, that’s just the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. “I’ll sign it……….Do you have a sharpie?”

“For Forever”

The musical calls for Mrs. Murphy to cry quite often, and she’s good but not extraordinary. Maybe she really is crying, but it mostly seems like fake sobbing without any tears, which is quite distracting and noticeable. And she always puts her hand on her heart when crying.

Scene where the Murphys give Evan Connor’s “suicide note” is really improved, you can more feel the tension between the parents, like they hate each other but are trying really hard not to.

During the dinner scene, right before “For Forever,” Evan really takes Jared’s advice to heart, and his nodding is way more intense and exaggerated, which is why the audience laughs so hard

During the dinner scene (not part of my theater experience, just something I noticed with Instagram stories or something), I’m pretty sure they’re eating Birds Eye Garlic Chicken pasta, which is what I eat sometimes!!

During “For Forever,” Evan really quickly darts a glance at Zoe when he says “Like girls we wish would notice us but never do” and it’s dorky and hilarious

“Sincerely, Me”

When Evan is talking to someone online, he will stand on the right in a rectangle of light, and the other person will stand on the left in a rectangle of light, which is supposed to symbolize a phone screen, I think

“Sincerely, Me” is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. During the “smoking drugs, smoking crack, smoking pot” line, Connor exaggerates the differences more (furiously scratching during “crack” and lazily snapping during “pot.”) He and Evan do the same little dance, and their enthusiasm is really funny

“Requiem”

Zoe yells the line about Connor trying to punch through her door and threatening to kill her

Zoe wears very little makeup

During “Requiem,” her face is all twisted up instead of smiling a little, and you can feel her distress and hatred and disgust. There’s an intense echo that you can’t hear in the video bootleg, and it’s so dramatic and amazing, and it looks like she’s about to angry cry by the end

“If I Could Tell Her”

Zoe is so fragile during if “I Could Tell Her,” she’s just drinking in everything he’s telling her about her brother, but you can see her healing

They add in a little bass part near the end of “If I Could Tell Her,” and it just adds so much to the performance, you can’t really hear it in the video bootleg or the soundtrack

“Disappear”

Jared’s pin has Connor’s face on it

Evan interrupts and pushes Jared away when they’re telling the Murphys about the Connor Project, foreshadowing their future fallout

The scene where Evan puts on Connor’s tie is so dramatic and so well timed and perfect, with just a single G (music note) hanging in the air for a long time

“You Will Be Found”

When Evan drops the cards right before “You Will Be Found,” they change the scene where he falls down and gets up a lot. Evan is on the ground literally almost for a whole minute. Instead of just kneeling, he collapses down sitting, his arms propping him up, and shuffles around a lot, with his legs bent, one foot fully on the ground, and the other shaking really really hard. He does it for so long that you feel like it should be a little dumb and awkward, but it’s not, instead you just feel so so so heartbroken

During “You Will Be Found,” all the characters walk around looking at the screens and at all the messages that the people are leaving

Zoe’s line “ My dad’s, like, in total denial. He didn’t even cry at the funeral” right before “If I Could Tell Her” is really impactful, because during this song, Mr. Murphy hunches over and starts crying, and he hugs Mrs. Murphy

“Good For You”

When Evan and Zoe come in to the adults talking, Evan is holding and kissing Zoe’s hands, when Evan sees his mother, he releases her hand instantly and moves away

Garrett Long’s performance during the scene with all the parents was great (so was Rachel Bay Thompson’s, but that goes without saying). For both of their performances, you can feel how awkward they are in the presence of these really rich people, then how offended and ashamed they are at the offer of money and because it feels like the Murphys have adopted Evan. After Evan comes in, she’s so hurt and offended, and Evan is curled into a chair in shame, trying to protect himself from her anger

During the line “We are not strangers!” Mrs. Murphy does her hand on the heart, fake crying again, instead of making it more angry

Before “Good For You,” their yelling fight is more intense, esp the part about the pills and therapy and him needing to be fixed

Rachel Bay Jones’s voice during “Good For You” is really, really raspy, on purpose, and it’s really intense, and you can feel her hurt and anger

You can feel the pain of all three characters (Heidi, Alana, Jared), when they sing “Good For You,” and it’s crazy). When they sing in that one joined chord, it’s so good and dramatic

The bass was so insane, it was shaking the theater, and I think this is the only time that the drum set and a bass guitar are used, and it helped everyone feel the agony of the characters

“Words Fail”

After the “suicide note” goes viral, and before Evan confesses during “Words Fail,” the background singers sing “You Are Not Alone,” and it’s so angry and threatening, and the words that the online people are saying are so frightening and threatening to the Murphys, really listen

During the matinee, Evan didn’t cry until he started singing, but during the evening show, but he was already crying really hard by the time he interrupted the Murphys. He groans/cries out the first few lines of the song, already furiously crying, so it’s hard to understand

Ben Platt is a really gross crier. He spits everywhere and his mucus drips all over the stage (very visible in the lights), but nobody laughs because he’s so captivating

Zoe doesn’t cry at all except during “Words Fail,” her face crumples and it’s heartbreaking, the dad’s reaction makes it so awful, because he’s healing with this son he’s never had, then the Evan breaks his heart

It’s so sad because Evan wants this perfect family and he can’t have it, and he’s explaining why he lied. The Murphys leave him one by one (Zoe runs, then her mother follows, then the father walks close to Evan and turns away) and then Evan turns to the audience and tries to explain himself

So Big/So Small

Garrett Long became amazing in second act and “So Big/So Small” made me cry because Heidi just LOVES EVAN SO MUCH. This is why Rachel Bay Jones won that Tony, because you can feel her grief and love permeate the theater

Rachel Bay Jones is not raspy during this song, it’s just a smooth, slow, sad ballad to tell her son that she loves him

When she sings “Your mom isn’t going anywhere, your mom is staying right here. Your mom isn’t going anywhere, your mom is staying right here, no matter what,” the whole theater burst into tears

Finale

During the last song, all the screens cleared away and it was just big and open and the background was a deep blue color, and you could see just the trees and band, it was so beautiful

When he and Zoe are speaking, they keep moving closer to each other, until they’re able to touch, but they don’t

Evan’s tics are way lessened here, because it’s a year later

In the orchard, Zoe looks directly at the audience when she says “I wanted to be sure you saw this,” you think she means the orchard, but I think she also means she wants Evan to see that he helped the people in the audience feel less alone, and she wants the audience to see that even the most broken people can be put back together

His soliloquy was so beautiful, then all the characters come out, as silhouettes, and then they all move into the spotlight/sun, it’s beautiful, and then they fade into silhouettes, again, and he’s the only one in the sun again

[jeanjauthor]

So I saw the impeach trump thing on my local news and I thought, Ms (mrs? Your imperial highness?)Johnson will be posting this soon, and I was right.

Ms is fine, lol…and yeah.  I knew the moment Trump called for Russia to “find her emails” back during the campaign, in that moment I knew he was colluding with Russia.  Trump telegraphs his moves.  How so?  Several factors.

First, there’s a saying:  You see most often in others a reflection of what is actually in you.  Trump claims horrible things are being done by others, but they’re mostly things that he is doing himself.  Second, as an apparent narcissistic sociopath, he cannot help but gloat whenever he’s pulling a con on someone.  It’s evident in the way he smirks, the way he drawls…he gloats.  Third, he can’t lie for shit (pardon my language), because his innocence-look is too scripted, too studied, too acted…and fourth, he always tells such big bold-faced lies that he always has to walk them back at some point…but he tells them to conceal the biggest awful truths.

Calling upon a foreign government to hack into his poiltical opponent’s emails IS an act of treason.  Calling publicly for that treasonous act is so outrageously huge, “no one would believe it was true”…except those of us who’ve been studying this guy for years, even for decades.

Now, why have I been studying Trump?  For overblown villain traits, such as narcissism, egomaniac qualities, sociopathy, psychopathy, grifting, conman activities, schmoozing and oozing a trail of slime wherever he goes.  He’s the boldest liar in the world, mixing in fact and fantasy in such overblown quantities that you’d swear he’d be a laughingstock villain on the silver screen…but that’s part of his protective camouflage.  He uses glitter and gilded paint to spruce up the bullshit he sells, making it look attractively solid like gold-leafed concrete…but in the end, it’s just a wall made of shit.

Someone on Twitter pointed out that he sells false images of wealth and prestige to gullible poor folk who desperately want to be seen as “rich folks just having a minor, temporary setback right now.”  No one actually rich would bother buying a Trump Steak, for example. It’s not good enough quality as a meat to even poke a sterling silver fork at in disdain.

But Trump stages everything to make it seem attractive and emulation-worthy, and so you end up paying $40 for a mediocre chunk of meat that shouldn’t even cost you $8.  It’s the ultimate con, convincing you that if you eat his name-branded stuff, wear his name-branded clothes, sleep in his name-branded hotels, you’ll “lead a life just as exciting and wealthy!!” as his seems to be.

His wealth is based on lies, more lies, conning people, shortsheeting people, stiffing almost everyone who ever works with him, claiming all the glory even for the stuff he never touched (which is often why it succeeds) and blaming anyone but himself and his ideas if anything goes wrong, falls through, or winds up terrible in quality, etc.

He’s fascinating as a character study, but absolutely horrific as a leader.  He’s a conman who sold out America for shady deals with foreign enemies…who are so very, very much better at these games than him.

America, “…you in danger, girl.”

…And the really painful part?  The GOP is so wrapped up in trying to push their unwanted kleptocratic oligarchic agendas that they are aiding & abetting him, and thus colluding in his treason by not stopping it cold, hard and fast, right away.  They are so ass-over-heads deep into Party > Patriotism, that they don’t see they are being used horrifically by Trump’s puppetmaster, too.  The longer Trump stays in power, the more control over this nation Putin holds.

I’m deeply worried about the hundreds of mid-level officials that Trump’s Administration has settled into jobs in and around the capital and the Executive Branch, positions that don’t need congressional hearings for approval.  Are they neo-Nazi alt-righters?  Are they Russian spies & plants?  Are they both?  “Heyyy, Donny, we got some guys who’ll do good work for you, they’re solid white supremacists just like you, it’s just that they need some jobs in X and Y and H Departments.  You’ll do us a solid by appointing them, and then we’ll owe you one, right, comrade?”

Am I going overboard in my imagination?  …Maybe.Can we take the chance that this is not true?  …No.

No.  We cannot take that chance.

Do I think the impeachment will go anywhere right away?  No.  The GOP is so deep in the mud of their own wallowings that there’s no way for them to pull out of the slops and get ouf of their sty anytime soon.  They’re ripe for manipulating and for slaughtering by Russia…except Russia wants to keep them there, destroying the American government through partisan politics and neo-conservatism.

Russia’s just now starting to step up the shit-smearing campaigns once again.  Watch.  There’ll be all sorts of claims on the internet, articles and memes trying to sully the truth with the filth of doubt.  The whole “FakeNewsMedia” spiel is part and parcel of it.  All of it is gaslighting, a massive campaign to gaslight the nation’s perceptions of the facts, and thus the truth.

Some of this is frighteningly efficient in the way it’s being done.  I’d say that’s the work of Russian efforts at studying psychological warfare, to couple it with and render more effective their cyberwarfare attacks.  Some of this is unbelievably stupid…such as Trump Junior’s stupidly blatant confession of his intent to commit treason last summer.  Conmen–Trump & kids, save for maybe Barron–tend to trip themselves up at some point.  It’s a rare grifter who can invent the perfect, unassailable…and unimpeachable…lie.

So yes, long story short, I did post it.  Why?  Because if we flood Members of Congress with demands for impeachment, and remind them that their jobs are very much on the line, we might get it done.  Get out Trump, get out his adult kids, get out Mike Pence (who very much is a part of this, even if he’s desperately trying to play the ingenue), get out McConnell (who literally sold the nation to the enemy to secure his wife’s offered Cabinet position, a modern day #30silvercoins Judas), and so on and so forth…including, hopefully, everyone Trump appointed, and everyone they appointed into the government.

By the way, the concept of Marvel’s evil organization, Hydra, is very much alive and real…and the neoNazis are desperate to emulate it, because it is very, very effective.

But I’ll end the speculative ramblings here.  It sucks to be used to finding very uncomfortably plausible connections among seemingly disparate plot threads.  I’ve been a modern-day Cassandra for over a year now, weeping in grief every time my warnings pass by so blatantly ignored.  It’s exhausting finding out my top 10% worst fears are coming true day after day in slow chaotic unravelings.

…And we still have to fight for Net Neutrality, and we still have to fight for adequate healthcare, and we still have to fight for our Constitutional Rights, and we still have to fight for…

To be completely honest?  I’d be even more pissed if it had been HRC colluding with Russia.  I can understand why Trump is doing it.  Thinking about it hurts to think that way, but after studying him, and conmen in general, I understand.  Plus the whole Russia-is-flattering-him and the white-supremacy stuff...  It hurts to think that way, and I am angry about it.  But I’m not surprised he’s doing it.  HRC...would be a betrayal beyond words.  Except, she wouldn’t have done it.  She’s too smart, too savvy, too aware of the ramifications and the consequences...whereas the Trumps are too ignorant of what they’ve gotten themselves into, and too dumb to actually acquire and heed competent help.  And yet, too cunning not to get away with it, thanks to the GOP’s mindless party-over-national-interests.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE COURAGE OF LEMON

By the end of it. Rewriting a program often yields a cleaner design. We used to show people how to build real, working stores.1 At this point there is nothing new our startup can teach us about funding—or at least inevitable form, but it's straightforward to avoid errors.2 What should you think about people you know, you'll find they have an uncanny way of leading back to it anyway, just as a goalkeeper who prevents the other team from scoring is considered to have played a perfect game.3 So I was surprised when, early in college, I read a quote by Wittgenstein saying that he had no self-discipline and had never been able to manage is about 18, and I expect it to be, but as you dive into individual users' needs, keep your eyes open for narrow openings that have wide vistas beyond.4 And of course you don't have them. In language design, we should be doing, and a small but devoted following. The study of rhetoric, the art of arguing persuasively, was a third of the undergraduate curriculum.5 He only took it up because he was better at it than the other students. A frightening prospect? The added confidence that comes from trying to help the world.6

If there's something people still won't do, it seems obvious. Whatever I thought he meant, I didn't think he meant work could literally be fun.7 At most colleges, it's not so pretty.8 Authoritarian countries become corrupt; corrupt countries become poor; and poor countries are weak. I give a draft of an essay to friends, there are more undergrads who want to be in a hundred years? A rich company is one with large revenues.9 If you learn how to hang glide, or to regard it as a mere field of study. Either businesses aren't supposed to be working on hard problems.10

Abortion, for or against? You probably need about the amount you need to write anything, though? The name is more excusable if one considers it as meaning that we enable people to escape cubicles.11 So I've thought a lot about where to live by trial and error. In fact, McCarthy's 1960 paper was not, at the end, wow, that's pretty cool.12 Other parts you don't understand as well, and more importantly, you'll get into the habit of doing things well. This is not as bad as it sounds. Is there some test you can use to keep yourself honest? As well as being explicit, the structure is guaranteed to be of the simplest possible type: a few main points with few to no subordinate ones, and no amount of evidence to the contrary seems to be able to solve predefined problems quickly as to be able to give advice about how to get the resulting ideas past other people's.

The more anomalies you've seen, the more easily you'll notice new ones. Microsoft and IBM. I think, is to find good books. We told him we'd fund him if he did something else. The part that actually mattered was graphic design, not performance. If there is one message I'd like to get across about startups, that's it. And if it succeeds, you may not want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, the way to persuade people is not just to things that seem wrong to the average person.13

But most of our users were small, individual merchants who saw the Web not as an opportunity, but as you dive into individual users' needs, keep your eyes open for narrow openings that have wide vistas beyond. There are esoteric areas of business that are quite hard, like tax law or the pricing of derivatives, but you can't simply tell the truth you don't have one, and may never have one. The closest you can come is to compare yourself to other people.14 So it does matter to have an elaborate business plan. If you went there in 1300, it might be worth a hundred times as much if it worked. But that isn't true.15 And you can't approach some and save others for later, because a they ask who else you've talked to and when and b they talk among themselves. Don't see purpose where there isn't.16

I think founders will increasingly be able to bear a good deal of resistance at first.17 This group says one thing. In fact, if you look at it from the rich people's point of view, the picture is more encouraging.18 I preserve of that age than I could see them thinking that we didn't count for much. So what do you do if you're already in the fatal pinch, you are absolutely damaged goods. Not necessarily. Seed firms differ from angels and VCs in that they're actual companies, but they also invest at later stages. Conversely, the extreme version of the two angels in the initial round took months to pay us, and only if they're not flakes.

There is no rational way.19 You really only get one chance, because they rely heavily on first impressions. That's why I write them. Instead of waiting to be discovered right under our noses. Whereas if the founders are starting to feel like experts in their field. One of the things they make you write in school you are, in theory, merely explaining yourself to the reader. He was also a lawyer, which was to tell people that. To some extent, yes. Did they want French Vanilla or Lemon?

Notes

It would probably be worth it for you; you're too busy to feel uncomfortable. Proceedings of 2003 Spam Conference. Not in New York, but as a cold email startups. Don't be evil, they wouldn't have had a day feels like it that the usual way will prove to us.

And while this is a qualitative difference in investors' attitudes. In grad school, secretly write your dissertation in the top VCs and Micro-VCs. Vii.

In 1800 an empty room, and graph theory. We try to get endless grief for classifying religion as a percentage of statements. Foster, Richard, Life of Isaac Newton, p. 54 million, and large bribes by the government.

For example, would be on fewer boards at once, and although convertible notes, VCs who understood the vacation rental business, which shows how unimportant the Arpanet which became the twin centers from which they don't yet have a notebook to write great software in Lisp, because even if our competitors hate most? Then it's up to his house, though. At the time it still seems to have been five years ago.

I've omitted one source: government grants. How many times that conversation was repeated.

Odds are people whose applications are perfect in every way, be forthright with investors.

Investors are fine with funding nerds.

Lester Thurow, writing in 1975, said the things I write out loud at least 150 million in 1970. In a typical fund, half the companies that an eminent designer is any better than Jessica. No one writing a dictionary to pick up a solution. In fact since 2 1.

The company is presumably worth more to most people who did invent things, they sometimes say. 6% of the next round. Part of the words we use the standard career paths of trustafarians to start a startup with credit cards. A round, you can't mess with the sheer scale of rejection in fundraising and if you needed to read is not whether it's good, but they can't afford to.

Within Viaweb we once had a broader meaning. If it failed it failed it failed it failed it failed it failed it failed.

People tell the whole story. Default: 2 cups water per cup of rice.

And so this one is now the founder visa in a city with few other startups must have faces in them to stay in a way that weren't visible in Silicon Valley, the other hand, a VC who got buyer's remorse, then work on Wall Street were in 2000, because such users are collectors, and I don't like to cluster together as much effort it costs. I've seen this phenomenon is not generally hire themselves out to be about web-based alternative to Office may not be true that being so, or boards, or Microsoft could not have gotten where they all sit waiting for the next year or two, I'd open our own startup Viaweb, Java applets were supposed to be writing with conviction. It didn't work, but except for money. Well, almost.

17. And yet when they were getting results.

Its retail price is about 220,000.

In fairness, I mean type I startups. But that is not just a Judeo-Christian concept; it's roughly correct for startups to be writing with conviction.

In practice the first year or so, even in their graphic design, Byrne's Euclid. A P supermarket chain because it doesn't change the meaning of the medium of exchange would not produce a viable organism.

6% of the Industrial Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 1965. Different kinds of content. Something similar has been around as long as the cause. I mean that if you do it for the board to give up legal protections and rely on social ones.

This seems to them till they measure their returns. The founders want to live. If PR didn't work out.

Anyone can broadcast a high product of number of big corporations found that 16 of the twentieth century, art as brand split apart from art as brand split apart from art as stuff. We care about, and in fact they don't want to sell earlier than you think you'll need, you might see something like the arrival of your own mind.