#a lot of the characters are pretty believable portrayals of teens

[schnuffel-danny]

trying to think of f/f ships I have in DP and realizing that I.... I'm so dedicated to my limited number of blorbos, that I don't really ship anything besides Maddie/Jack/Vlad???

like, I guess there's potentially romantic dynamics I like with some of the kid characters, but I just.... idk something in my brain just doesn't wanna get invested in shipping of kid characters :,D so it just starts and ends at "eh, I guess they could maybe date, for a bit? idk they're like 14, their love lives do not concern me"

[angelfirstclass]

Rogue above all else.

This is fan post declaring my love for Rogue and that I love her more than I am attached to a particular ship. For all I know, Rogue can be with whoever she wants to be with and I'm sticking by her. I am an equal opportunity Rogue shipper and have liked and enjoyed Rogueneto and Romy fanfics and art and etc. I don't believe in ship wars and just want to promote my girl.

I love Rogue. I think she is the most beautiful animated character and she is such a complex, interesting character from the comics to cartoons to the movies. Her powers are super interesting with or without Carole Danvers' superpowers and make her an empathetic person.

Firstly, I love that Rogue is the daughter of Mystique and Destiny. What a crazy upbringing that must have been and so unique. I love that she was born and raised in Mississippi and still keeps her roots, but then became the adopted daughter of two smart, ambitious, and strong lesbian women. The backstory of them raising her is super interesting because there is such a conflict of interests for Destiny and Mystique from knowing Rogue was going to be a powerful mutant, using and training her to be part of the Brotherhood, introducing her to people like Magneto, and also loving her like a daughter.

Mystique is such a unique character and such a powerful woman that it makes sense why Rogue is as powerful and strong willed as she is. In my headcanon X-men First Class stuff still applies so Raven is still Charles' adopted little sister and so Rogue is like Charles Xavier's distant niece which makes things interesting. Raven and Destiny hid Anna Marie away while she was growing up, but came to Xavier to help her after her run in with Carole Danvers. They had to reluctantly give Rogue up to the X-men in order to save her, but it was a bittersweet moment that Irene and Raven both regret.

Secondly, I love Rogue's vulnerability and empathy. Her absorbing powers are so unique and bring up a lot of questions about what makes a person. She can absorb powers, memories, and feelings and can even hold on too long and absorb entire psyches and life forces. In the beginning of her story way back in Avengers Annual 10, she is bad and unafraid to use her powers. She not only uses her powers indiscriminately, but she also isn't afraid to kiss people to absorb them.

The Rogue we see in X-men 97 is far more tempered and though has a past, has learned to use her powers sparingly and not want to hurt people. She uses her super strength and flying powers, but rarely uses her absorption power because it is a double edged sword. She may gain powers and drain energy from people, but gets their memories, traumas, fears, etc. which may not be a pleasant experience.

Thirdly, I like pretty much all forms of Rogue. I love X-men Evo Rogue for her gothic personality. I think a teen Rogue would be introverted and different to most girls her age. I like Wolverine and the X-men Rogue for being independent and Wolverine's best friend. I like their dynamic and I like when she is Wolverine's partner and team mate and platonically just gets him because she has absorbed him and they're so much alike. The most vulnerable of all Rogues is Movie Rogue which is a controversial portrayal of Rogue. I personally think Anna Paquin is gorgeous and good actor who portrayed the sweet, vulnerable Rogue to a tee.

This Rogue wasn't raised by Mystique and she didn't absorb Carole Danvers' powers yet. She was a scared teen girl who couldn't touch people and whose storyline revolved around her feelings about her powers and wanting to have physical intimacy. It's not my favorite version of her, but it did beautifully show Rogue's inner angst.

My favorite version of her is X-men TAS or 97 Rogue who I think is Rogue Prime. She is the daughter of Destiny and Mystique, has absorbed Carole Danvers' powers, is the ex of Erik Lensherr, in an on off relationship with Remy Le Beau, sister of Kurt Wagner, great friend and dedicated X-man, and all around bad ass chick.

She has the Brotherhood/Magneto's ex/Mystique's daughter thing as her background which makes her a complicated character with a dark past which makes for juicy storylines, but she is mature enough to be fully reformed and a good person. Her duality and grey toned sense of the world makes her so well suited to complex men like Erik Lensherr and Remy LeBeau who are not traditional good guys with squeaky clean pasts and morals.

I love X-men 97 Rogue. I love Lenore Zann. I love the sass, the Southern charm and cute accent, I love her no bs attitude, her compassionate heart, and her empathy. Rogue is my Queen and I stan.

[everysongieverwrote]

Under the Bridge flying under the radar because Hulu just had Shogun is so unfortunate. Not that Shogun doesn’t deserve all the attention and appreciation it’s getting. (It’s literally is the best thing on TV since the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones). However a smaller show with smaller budget is so easy to get sidelined come award season. Especially considering how both of them are limited series and will be competing in the same categories.

But yeah hats off to the performance of every single actor. Even though at times I felt like Roy, Scott, Manjit, and Kelly come off like caricatures, they reign it back in pretty quick. My favorite performances so far have been the portrayals of Suman, Raj, and Warren. Their performances feel so grounded and seasoned. And such great work by the teens who did Jo, Dusty, and Reena too. It’s so refreshing to watch actual kids play kids.

And what can I say about Lily and Riley that hasn’t been said already. I genuinely believe they’re two of our finest actors in the show business right now. The way they light up the screen is so magical to watch. And it doesn’t even feel like the directors have to do anything special when they’re performing. They’re both just really good and steal every scene they’re in. So lucky that we get to witness their greatness together.

I'm gonna be honest here, I haven't watch Shogun yet (it's on my watchlist tho) but I've kept up with the Emmy talk and from what I've gathered, a lot of people have decided that when it comes to limited series, Shogun is the clear winner as best series and RDJ might win for best performance (and I get it the guy just won an Oscar). Many don't think that shows like Under The Bridge and We Were The Lucky Ones (Hulu's most recent limited series) are gonna get nominated, but that Lily Gladstone will get nominated for an Emmy. That's all just speculation, of course. But I can see where they're coming from. It's also kinda funny that the two Hulu shows that are being a little sidelined deal with kinda similar themes but who am I to judge?

Obviously, this is also a kind of "side-effect" from the strikes. The shows could've been released with more space between them (UTB seems like the perfect fall/winter show, doesn't it?) But many productions were stopped or delayed during the strikes and now everyone has a bunch of shows ready to go and an Emmy deadline getting nearer and nearer everyday. Maybe if Hulu wasn't trying to get all their Emmy qualifying shows out before May 31st, the show would have gotten a bigger chance to truly shine. But hey, both the show and Lily already got nominated for a Gotham Award, so there's hope for the Emmys, at least.

I know I've praised the show a lot (and it totally deserves it) but the show is, of course, not perfect. No show ever is. Take the latest episode for example, the character arcs and storyline were great, and the acting was absolutely amazing but there were too many cuts and some of them were kind of awkward and a little... brutal. Some of the acting is a little cringe at times, which might be intentional in the actor's case (it might be with Kelly, she has to come off a certain way, so I don't blame Izzy G for some of her acting choices) or it might be that some of the actors have difficulty saying the lines and acting the way is necessary for their characters. It might be the writing or the directing, while an actor can make or break a scene, so can the writing and directing choices. And some of the lines and angles are a little bit awkward, ngl. But all in all, the show is great and it truly deserves more attention but I know that this kind of show is not everyone's cup of tea and I'm glad it has so far only attracted the people who have a true interest in it.

Lily and Riley are absolutely amazing, both separate and together. I'm slowly turning into their fan, I truly want to see more of their work... but later, of course. Right now they're Cam and Becca for me and I like it that way. I realize that was a long rant and I'm sorry but I truly have a lot of things to say about this show.

[ohlooh]

This is gonna be purely headcanon, but.....

I think Jason Todd writes fanfiction. He does a lot of fics for the books he likes, mostly longfic, slowburn, epic romances, but he also has one self-indulgent Self-insert OC gets adopted by Batman vent fic.

I believe adopted by superhero is DC world's equivalent to getting sold to One direction. It's a bit of a meme, mostly written by young teens. But Jason's is very different.

You see, he only writes this when he clashes with Bruce and needs to vent. So his fanfic's Batman is unreasonable, cruel, stubborn, perfectionist. Nothing is ever good enough, you get nothing but scorn no matter what you do. He treats other vigilanties like replacable weapons, like soldiers. He demands complete obedience and punishes even the smallest of mistakes unreasonably harshly.

This fic makes Batman out to be an abusive, controlling monster.

Jason knows that Bruce is not, he remembers the good times too, this is purely venting.

This fic goes viral. Readers praise the deconstruction of the genre, the good writing and compelling characters. Some comment on it's realism and actually pretty decent portrayal of abuse.

And because it goes viral, Bruce finds out about it. He reads it and some of the events described match too closely to actual cases and fights, some mannerisms and speech patterns are uncomfortably accurate. So Bruce sets out to find who the author is, to ensure their identities are still safe and they don't have a leak somewhere.

Bruce finds out that Jason wrote the fic. He never confronts him about it, never tries to talk, but he lives with the knowledge that his son sees him as barely better than the villains they fight.

[sirdurbe]

i'm mostly talking out of my ass here, but i wanted to give my two cents about kieran, because i find the writing there to be really compelling, but not in a way that endears me toward him. in fact, he makes me pretty uncomfortable -- and i think that's a feature and not a glitch.

kieran's arc is about an insecure young person lashing out at the world for not giving him what he believes he's owed. it's a very stark portrayal of the specific kind of entitlement that can blossom in quiet, sensitive people like that. and it resonates with players -- as it should -- but from what i'm seeing, not... necessarily in a way that makes them want to analyze their own behavior. instead they see themselves in kieran and seek to excuse the patterns they recognize, such as pushing away everyone who's kind to him and then languishing that he's misunderstood.

i'll take it one step further, too. kieran clearly projected heavily onto the story of the kitakami ogre, deciding it, like himself, was just misunderstood, and he derived a lot of comfort from his own interpretation. however, once it became undeniably clear to him that ogrepon's story did not exist with him in mind, but that it was instead her own, he took it as a deeply personal slight and became very angry; it's really the catalyst for how he acts once we get to the indigo disk. and it's very in-line with how many fans, especially younger fans (though people my age aren't exempt), engage with media these days. they project very vulnerable personal feelings onto stories they enjoy and if/when it ever becomes apparent those stories weren't made specifically for them, they lash out -- which is another example of the exact variety of entitlement that drives kieran as a character.

and let me clear: yes, kieran is a kid. (kieran is also not real.) kids and teens frequently have periods of being jerks, it's part of growing up. none of this is me saying that kieran is irredeemable (or god forbid, "problematic") and you're bad if you enjoy him, sympathetize with him or even relate to him. i just wanted to offer this alternate perspective because i found it interesting that it's one i hadn't seen yet.

[librosamarillos]

Can I ask you why you portray Rhaenys in such a way in your fic? I really enjoy it all, don’t get me wrong, but her portrayal feels a bit off.

Thank you so much for your question! The short answer to this is that it’s supposed to feel off and one sided!

To further expand on that, we see Rhaenys through the PoV of other characters, but we never get to be in her own head to figure out who’s got it ‘right’ about her. For example, Aegon and Visenya both have a vastly different image of their little sister and her personality, despite the fact that they grew up together and conquered Westeros.

We see Rhaenys through the eyes of a grown up, very hurt Visenya, who clearly has a lot of unresolved issues with her sister (and Aegon too) and through her thought process we can see all her built up frustrations through the years. Little siblings have a way of getting under your skin like no other, don’t they? So through Visenya’s lens, Rhaenys appears as an annoying, spoiled and unthoughtful little girl. She has moments where she mentions a time when things were good between them and she misses her sister, but even years and years later, she has a lot of unprocessed emotions. (We will see them get processed eventually, I promise!)

Now, I’ve only given Aegon one PoV chapter, and it was the one where he dies, and even that I was highly debating to not include at all, but ultimately decided to go for it. Aegon is arguably this fic’s antagonist, as his actions are what kickstart Maegor’s downward spiral for the worst, so naturally he’s quite an unsympathetic character in this. His view of Rhaenys is the one closest to canon sources we have from Fire and Blood, so I won’t expand much on that. He views her from a lens of love, though in his chapter, he does grow to feel a lot of guilt about it when it came time for him to face the fact that he pretty much abandoned Visenya and just didn’t want to see it.

Maegor has no sympathy for his aunt, there’s no love lost here. It’s a great indication of how the relationship between the two sisters fell apart, as Visenya did not like to talk about her much to her son. In Maegor’s early chapters when he’s a young kid and teenager, there’s a lot of anger and resentment toward Rhaenys, who’s pretty much a total stranger to him. She does go out of her way to avoid him when she’s in the same space as him, so for Maegor that’s a loud and clear sign. He already has this non existent relationship with his father, yet he yearns for it so much. So imagine what it’s like to finally go see his father, only to see him love and dote on Rhaenys and their son, all the while tolerating Maegor and his mother. Of course he views Rhaenys as nothing pleasant and good, and in comparison to his own mother, he views his aunt as someone weak and foolish, who died in vain.

Then there’s Aenys, who of course sees her as his loving mother who was taken from him too soon. I’ve made it so that he’s in his early teens when she dies, instead of a toddler like in canon, so that Rhaenys has a much bigger role in his life and leaves a much deeper impact. So her memory is very much alive through him, and the fact that she’s no longer here to meet his own children really hurts. So of course when Maegor goes low and hits him where it hurts, things don’t end well. I’d like to point out that his idolisation of his dead mum, really mirrors Rowan’s, doesn’t it? ;)

Finally, we see Rhaenys from the PoV of two highborn Westerosi ladies, Rowan and Ceryse, who met her when they were both young, Rowan a child and Ceryse a teenager, but both make the observation that Rhaenys’ kindness felt empty and performative. To give her the benefit of the doubt, these two girls are essentially born and raised to be the top of their societies and a huge part of their culture is the Faith of the Seven, which both Ceryse and Rowan are devout believers in. Both girls have a history and background of being involved in charity, so of course they’re able to spot who’s in it for the clout. They both are able to see through the act and understand that Rhaenys is trying to soften up the image of the harsh Conquerors, to people who care about the little guy.

This could very much be true, she could care about them and it doesn’t need to be fake, but it is absolutely a performance of kindness. She needs to show to everyone that house Targaryen is not only about fire and blood and war. But to the two young girls who can see through it, it feels fake and disingenuous, therefore making Rhaenys untrustworthy to them. Both reach the same conclusion too, that they prefer Visenya for the fact that she’s not hiding behind any performance of kindness and relatability, despite how harsh and cold and distant she is.

Another thing both Rowan and Ceryse mention, that I really hope people picked up on, (please let me know if you did btw!) is the way she dresses. They mention it being over the top, excessive and in their eyes, gaudy. The Hightowers and the Evergreens are ancient noble houses, close to the faith, very, very wealthy and pretty much on top of the social chain. They’re the old money that doesn’t need to prove themselves to anyone, they need no validation, as the people already know them and their worth. So of course when they see this new money girly, dressed in jewels from top to bottom, wearing fashions that are gaudy and almost kitsch, trying to get into their circles, they can spot her out immediately. Another little note, that since both characters are very religious, modesty is something that is preached and taught, so flaunting your wealth in such a way is seen as very tone deaf. To her defence, perhaps Rhaenys simply didn’t know any better and was excited to get to afford so many new things that she mixed and matched outfits that looked good to her without much thought. Or maybe she did want to flaunt wealth and feign it ignorance and innocence, we’ll never know.

To finally get to Rowan a little bit more, she is very much attached to Visenya. She grows to see her as a mother figure after her own had died, so of course she loves her very much. Visenya relies on Rowan for emotional support from a young age, so she gets to see first hand the affect that Aegon and Rhaenys’ treatment of their sister has on her. Rowan doesn’t hate Rhaenys, but she strongly grows to dislike her because of how much pain her actions have brought to two of her most beloved people, Visenya and Maegor. While Rowan has the emotional intelligence to understand that Aegon is the one responsible for most of the conflict that exists between the three conquerors, she also cannot imagine ever having a sister and treating her like an inconvenience, the way she sees Rhaenys do.

Of course, Rowan is very young and clearly has her own biases, despite having the emotional intelligence to know she doesn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, but as she is one of the main characters of this fic, her mostly negative view of Rhaenys is one of many that paint her out to be ‘the bad guy.’

The two conflicting images we have of Rhaenys were very much on purpose. She’s seen as either a sweet, carefree, kind and loving person, or a selfish, thoughtless and ignorant little girl. All of the PoV characters are biased and have their own reasons to be so, making the reality of things very difficult to grasp. I will say though, that since Rowan is meant to be our window in, her PoV will lean the most toward the ‘truth of it all’ if there can ever be such a thing. She’s a person that tries really hard to be objective (despite how partial things have become in recent chapters, she’ll get back on her feet, promise) so her PoV will be, in a way, a clearer one.

I hope this was a satisfying enough answer anon! I’m glad you asked, because I’ve gotten some comments on ao3 about this, and I really wanted to get the chance to expand here as well! Please let me know if there’s anything else you want me to expand on, my inbox is open! ♥️

[washipink]

Rain by Jocelyn Samara D Year 1: 2010-2011

erSo I recently found out that 1 year ago, a comic that was INCREDIBLY important to me as a trans middle schooler who went to catholic school had wrapped up. This year, I’ve decided I’m going to read through and review Rain by Jocelyn Samara, 1 year of the comic’s run at a time. First up: Year 1, which covers Chapter 1 (The New Girl) through Chapter 6 (Fallen Angel). I’ll be summarizing the story and characters for those unfamiliar, so feel free to follow along.

There’s a LONG-ASS post under that read more. If you have any experience with the comic or enjoy the post, please talk about it with me. It’ll be a good time.

Year 1 Summary

The star of the show is Rain, a transgender 17 year old girl who moved in with her Aunt Fara after her mother’s death. It starts on the first day of her senior year of high school, the first time she’s ever tried to pass as female in front of... anyone???

Based on some of the language used in the character bios, I should be very clear that this comic is from 2010 and written by a trans woman who is most likely older than most of my followers. There may be language used that you personally don’t agree with. I’m not a fan of being called transsexual myself, but there’s nothing wrong with saying it.

Anyway, the basic gist is that Rain passes EXCELLENTLY and attracts a lot of attention from her male classmates, much to her dismay.

But the men aren’t the only people with their eyes on Rain. Lesbian classmate, Maria and her fake boyfriend, Gavin make a bet of 5 United States Dollars out of who can talk to Rain first.

Here’s the rub: During Role, Gavin seems to recognize Rain’s last name. It’s the same as his childhood best friend, Ryan. Gavin and Maria then banter a little bit, jokingly saying “what if that IS Ryan? could ya believe that?”

Little do they know...

One thing about Rain is that its cast of characters is by no means infallible. Even characters that I came to love, like Maria, are kind of insensitive. Just about no one in this cast has ever MET a trans person in their lives prior to Rain. It’s very true to life in that way. You meet a lot of people that are ignorant or accidentally insensitive. And sometimes, they learn to stick up for you.

The realistic portrayal of how trans teens can be treated by other teens is one of my FAVORITE things about Rain.

Anyway, Gavin brings up Ryan Falherty to Rain, which causes her to panic and run away.

And Crash Directly into the fifth member of our main cast, RUDY!!!!

A rather gossipy gay boy that sees up Rain’s skirt and thinks she’s just a REALLY brave gay dude. He tells Gavin and Maria pretty much right away and Gavin does not take it well. The majority of Year 1 is spent on Gavin and Rain repairing their strained friendship after years apart from one another. That begins here, with Gavin confronting Rain about her identity.

Gavin’s super upset about the whole deal, but Maria and Rudy are some of Rain’s biggest shooters going forward. Even if they can ask a LOT of invasive questions.

If I’m being completely honest, there’s no MAJOR developments in Chapter 2. Fara gets a call from Rain’s older Sister about how their older Brother hasn’t talked to either of them in forever. This lays a few seeds for later events, but it is PRETTY unimportant for a while. There’s some really good emotional dialogue in it though.

In Chapter 3, Rudy’s meddling directly causes Rain and Gavin to reconcile. They have a discussion about how the reason she never told him was just that she was scared to lose her only friend.

MEANWHILE, in an attempt to make some actual friends, Fara reaches out to her neighbors and meets Ky(lie) and Heather Coven, a Gender Ambiguous Teen who goes to a different high school and her less approving older sister.

Kylie, also known as Ky, swaps gender presentations incredibly frequently, not really showing any bias for one or the other. So do not expect me to be consistent with their pronouns. Their gender is kinda messy. Almost like he’s some kind of... real person with a real life gender. Crazy.

Anyway, Fara invites them over and she and Heather get drunk, which means she can’t pick up Rain from the mall. Rain needs a place to sleep that night and Gavin invites her to stay with him.

This begins Chapter 4, in which Gavin and Rain realize that things may be different from when they were kids... but there’s a lot that hasn’t changed. Gavin remarks about how much more feminine Rain is than when she was a kid and how that’s WEIRD for him... but they end up playing a game from their childhood pretty much all night. It reminds them of all the good times and ignites within them the hope that they can have MORE good times going forward.

As an adult with friends I’ve had on-and-off relationships to, this speaks to me way more powerfully than ever before. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The next day, during her hangover, Fara sees Rain’s older brother on an ad for a dating website with his new fiance.

And on the way back to her apartment, Rain meets Ky for the first time. Neither one of them is aware that the other one has ANY kind of Gender going on and they won’t be for quite some time.

The chapter ends with Aunt Fara telling Rain about what happened with Aiken.

Chapter 5 is a simple one, Popular prep girl, Emily is giving out invitations to a Halloween party for her “perfect senior year”

Everyone but Rudy gets one, which causes Maria to give Emily a talking to. She assures Maria that he wasn’t intentionally excluded and it definitely wasn’t because he’s the only openly gay student in the whole school.

Oh, also a dude beats Rudy up for that exact reason, earning Maria’s fury later on. Rain invites Ky to come with the rest of them to the party.

Like I said, pretty simple chapter.

The last chapter of year 1 is Chapter 6: Fallen Angel.

Everyone is showing off their Halloween costumes before they leave for the party. Rudy’s reads as a bit insensitive to rain, as he goes as.... a high school girl.

We’ve all heard this one, right? young queer person that wants to toy with their gender expression uses a Halloween costume as an excuse? It can hit different watching your friend do this when you’re a stealth trans person and especially when you’re one as self-conscious as Rain.

When they reach the address for the party, they find out that Emily... has an older Boyfriend. Like, a WAY older boyfriend. Who lets all these literal teenaged children drink at a party in HIS HOUSE.

also he’s dressed as the devil in case you needed any more signals he was BAD NEWS.

This sounds like a good time for an aside: Fara is on a date with someone she met online. He works at a manga translator and offers to get Rain a meeting with her favorite mangaka.

Meanwhile, at the party, Chase seems to recognize Rain from somewhere. What could this mean?

Anyway, remember how I mentioned the underage drinking? Yeah, Rudy is HELLA drunk. And the results are not pretty.

The whole school sees this and is... BAFFLED. Because of course, Rudy is gay. how could he kiss a girl? Did he do it because he was dressed as a girl? Was it the alcohol? was RAIN Gay? Who knows?

The chapter ends on Rain riding home in tears.

Thus ends the first year of Rain.

Art

Ok, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. This art is... not too impressive. Every character looks like they jumped out of a How to Draw Manga book and Rain’s design is VERY 2010. Backgrounds are infrequent and many panels feature just 2 characters next to each other against a flat color.

But I think that’s okay. While the visual design of Rain is not immaculate, it’s certainly passable. Samara had a story to tell and she didn’t let her art hold her back. She just took pen to paper and let it go. As the comic goes along, you can tell she’s trying different things and experimenting with drawing a variety of poses. That said, the art style never really changes at all during the comic’s run.

Pure Unfiltered Story Opinions

Rain was one of the first real queer stories I’d gotten a chance to read. At the ripe, young age of 12, every word of it was unreal to me. A girl like me made REAL friends in spite of it all and got to be who she was. And now, reading it again, it really holds up.

Rain has a depiction of queer friendships that’s very true to a lot of peoples’ lived experience. Not everyone GETS each other, but they try. Sometimes, they ask a stupid-ass question. Sometimes, you get into fights. 

Also, sometimes people in your high school get prayed upon by creepy weirdos in their late 20s who think they can get easy tail from CHILDREN. (Trust, people. This gets addressed. This is NOT a fucking glorification and if anyone in the notes says it is, they’re blocked.)

I look forward to seeing where the comic goes from here and I hope you’re ready to take that journey with me.

[archduke42]

My thoughts on Ahsoka

I kind of wanted to wait a few days before giving my thoughts. Lots of mixed feelings, some things I liked, and the things I didn't like are the typical writing problems Dave Filoni consistantly commits. I liked: The Fantasy space opera of it. Things like Ahsoka vs the space fighters, the Night sister magic, the Epic notions of the Mortis Gods and World Between Worlds, etc. I often take issue with how Filoni writes his stories, but when he writes an Epic fantasy energy, I do enjoy it. I love doing that in my own writings, so it taps into my vibe. I liked how Thrawn and the Night sisters and undead stormtroopers have such a Gothic thing (Ominous music, the chants of the soldiers, etc.) His Star destroyer has that feel of an old castle in a Dracula movie, which is pretty cool.

I did like the idea of Merrok being an undead Inquisitor, but I refused to take part in the speculations of who he was. I certainly got tired and anxious over the whole speculation of it being Barriss Offee. I just wish they had established early on he was a new character.

Overall, I am a flexible forgiving fan when a creator takes some liberties. Some things in the show were pretty cool, like the mysterious Planet Piridea, the Night Sisters working with Thrawn, the samurai motif of the scavengers on the planet and the little aliens with big shells for defense, etc. The light saber fights were pretty awesome (Ahsoka vs Morgan was quite excellent) I liked Baylan and Shin. Interesting characters with a bit of mystery of where they came from and where they want to go. Though Ray Stevenson has passed away, I have no doubt Filoni will try to continue or conclude the journey of Baylan Skoll somehow. I also get Filoni's Wolf thing that he puts in all his projects. It's a bit amateurish to have wolf stuff everywhere but I do that kind of thing in my fanfiction sometimes. Skoll, Hati, Morgan and Merrok are all from some kind of Wolf based mythology. But then that's where I start to take issue with Filoni (with all due respect to fans who liked the elements I am taking issue with) Much of Ahsoka is his own, unstructured, frenetic fan fiction. He changes and retcons things at the drop of a bucket. He drops things in our laps with no back story or explanation and expects us to just accept it. When did Ahsoka and Sabine develop this Master/Apprentice relation? Why was Sabine being trained to be a Jedi? How did Sabine's family perish? How does somebody with such low Force sensitivity suddenly have Force powers in less than a week when most skilled padawans take a lifetime to do what Sabine did with Ezra? Why would Sabine be such a rebellious teen skipping the Lothal celebrations? She could have just said no thanks if she didn't want to be there. Why is she the trouble maker now, while Ezra seems to be the sensible one? It's such a character switch from Rebels, when Ezra was the loose cannon when she was the team player. HOW is Thrawn going to be a threat to the galaxy with one rickety, barely working Star Destroyer and dwindling resources? I suppose he might unite the warlords but that is going to take effort if they are not impressed with what he's starting out with. Plus, I have never been keen on Filoni's portrayal of Thrawn. The trouble is that Thrawn is the most brilliant military mind in Star Wars. Not to anger anyone, but there is no way he was going to lose against the Rebels. He only gets defeated when there is an insubordinate officer, a mysterious obstacle like the Bendu, or just plain fan fiction contrivance. Filoni and the creators at Lucasfilm really should study Napoleon, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General George S Patton, etc to create a believable military villain of this magnitude. But that's just my opinion. Thrawn is so unbeatable it would take a pack of Space Whales to totally counter his abilities (Another epic moment I enjoyed at the end of rebels) Not a fan of Filoni just dropping these plot complications without any backstory to explain them, but he does that all the time. He relies too much on fans just figuring canon out on their own when he really needs to explain things a little better. Also not a fan of Filoni's penchant for letting the protagonists be irresponsible yet suffer no consequences whatsoever for their actions.

Ahsoka disobeys the council/Anakin/etc suffers no real consequence for insubordination Ezra goes AWOL to try to save Kenobi from Maul, which would have severe repercussions, but gets a slap on the wrist and a wagging finger Sabine disobeys Ahsoka multiple times and endangers the New Republic by letting Thrawn have the capability to return, but no consequences are ever forthcoming. Now, I know sometimes it's exciting when the Star Wars heroes are mavericks who dismiss the rules for quick actions, but I'm 52, and it kind of chafes me when people break rules for selfish reasons and create problems for those of us who play by the rules. I sometimes wish Filoni would have characters go the common sense path, but there you go. The Asian Senator follows the rules, he gets boo hissed by everyone, while Hera breaks the rules (even with Good intentions) and is celebrated as a maverick hero. I got nothing but respect for Hera but Filoni's Star Wars has a habit of celebrating irresponsibility in the Heroes while the characters who follow rules are written to be sort of villains

The worst habit Filoni has is to end his stories with ambiguity. Characters leave dramatically to an uncertain future, leaving more questions on what happens next. I get that this is a way to make fans want more, but it's a tired tactic so he can leave things open rather than have a concrete conclusion. Plus, we have no way of knowing when there will be a followup. If there will be a season 2, it might not happen until 2025. They announced Filoni will be directing his movie, but that might not be until 2026. It's a lot of wait time, just as there was a lot of wait time after season 5 of TCW and season 4 of Rebels. Then there's the whole Barriss Offee question I've come to simply accept that Barriss Offee is likely never returning to Star Wars canon (I think Filoni tells us he has big plans for her just to keep us waiting). I saw a story about how Filoni wanted to bring back Ventress in the Resistance animated show but then scrapped it because her popularity would overshadow the main characters. That kind of brings me to the conclusion that I don't need to wait for Barriss to return to any animated show or live stream series. Her popularity would just distract us from other characters Filoni wants to focus on. As much as that saddens me a little, I accept it and will not be pushing any more speculation articles or youtube videos trying to sensationalize her return. We all got excited when there was a mystery over who rescued Grogu and that Illuminerdi article that boasted the casting of Barriss for the Ahsoka show (Another red herring) It kind of deflates us when we realized we were wrong about it. I think we should just celebrate Barriss with art and stories and not fall for the stringed carrot bait anymore. In the end, I can still watch future Star Wars stuff, and I am curious to see what happens to these characters. But the wait will sort of make it all it bit Meh. Overall, I liked the Epic style of the Ahsoka series and the characters but Filoni's bag of tricks are a tired thing for me.

[linkspooky]

Do you have any thoughts on Blackfire's recent portrayals in DC comics? since 2011 it feels like they've been flipping back and froth on if she is secret good or not. Also do you have any Blackfire recs?

The most recent mention of Blackfire in the recent Starfire One shot is Starfire saying that she'll never get along with her sister. I'm worried this means we're going back to the evil Blackfire characterization, and not my favorite one where she becomes Queen and is actually good at it because no matter how hateful she can be she loves Tamaran.

However, it's pretty consistent Starfire doesn't forgive her sister. She victim blames Blackfire a lot which is uncharitable of her, but since Starfire spent literally her whole child trying to connect with her sister and love her only for Blackfire to like continually abuse her it's understandable and also her right not to forgive her. it's really tragic that their parents shitty parenting ruined their relationship almost beyond repair.

I think Blackfire's writing has been pretty bad for years, but if you want a good Blackfire Story you should watch Season 3 of the 2018 Titans. The show is actually really good don't believe it's bad reputation and it has the most human depiction of Blackfire outside of New Teen Titans, and one of the few depictions where Starfire might not forgive her sister but she's forced to acknowledge her parent's abuse and favoritism of her. She can acknowledge Blackfire's pain without forgiving her, because NUANCE.

I'm writing a Teen Titans fic where Starfire's character arc is about her bond with Blackfire too, to keep shilling my own writing.

[romancomicsnews]

Who should play The Flash in the new DCU?

Given Ezra Millers crimes, the disappointing box office of The Flash, and James Gunn resetting the DC Universe, a new take on the character of The Flash seems imminent.

Unlike many other DC heroes, The Flash has had a pretty good history in live action. He's had 2 shows headed up by John Wesley Shipp and Grant Gustin, and even appeared on Smallville. And while Ezra Miller is a criminal and should be tried for their crimes, they had a decent portrayal of the character, particularly in Zack Snyder's JL.

After the big three, I'd argue The Flash is DC's most iconic character. He's the most well known speedster across media, has one of the best rogues galleries, and has been a fan favorite across comics.

I believe after Batman, he will be the next big cast. Which begs the question, who will play The Scarlet Speedster?

First we gotta answer some important questions:

Which Flash?

You'll now notice in the previous paragraphs I didn't refer to any Flash by their name.

That's because there are many iconic characters who took on the mantle. Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, Avery Ho, there are a lot of choices. And with the recent casting of Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern/Guy Gardner, it's clear James Gunn isn't going to necessarily introduce these characters in comic book order.

In order to determine which Flash we should choose, we should look at what has come before to determine what we should do next.

Grant Gustin as Barry Allen

The most iconic and best interpretation of the character, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen rules. He's charming, he's funny, he's dorky, and he can nail some one liners. What I think really determines a good Flash is heart. He's not a god among men, he's not a billionaire, or an alien. He's the most regular guy on the team, which usually makes him the heart of it. Gustin nails this, and it shows in his more dramatic scenes.

Any Flash from now on will be compared to Gustin, so I think it would be beneficial to look at other characters who took on the mantle of Flash in order to differenciate.

John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen & Jay Garrick

John Wesley Shipp is the only person on the list that has the luxury of playing the Flash twice, once as Barry and once as Jay. I am more familiar with his Jay Garrick, who is a mentor character. He is strong, he is kind, and feels classically heroic.

While he is a good actor and a fun character, it doesn't feel like Barry Allen in the same way Adam West doesn't feel like Bruce Wayne. The suit is rad though.

Ezra Miller as Barry Allen

Ezra is... annoying. Which I think isn't necessarily bad, it is partially what The Flash can be. But instead of comedic, they feel more pathetic. T

his Barry does have that heart I was talking about Grant exemplifies, and I think if we would've had more Ezra, we could've seen it more in the JL.

While it is a decent interpretation, I don't think beating it will be extremely difficult. I believe Ezra Miller will go down as a Val Kilmer Batman, solid but overall forgotten. Given that it was so recent, something fresh may be in order.

Given the three big live action versions and the characters they played, I think it's time for something a little different. A character who can give us the iconic look and feel of The Flash, but be different enough to blaze their own trail.

A fan favorite character who has been seen throughout animation but barely ever through live action:

Wally West.

Who is Wally West?

Wally West is the nephew to Barry Allen, Iris West's Nephew to be exact. After trying to recreate the experiment that gave his uncle powers, he becomes Kid Flash, The Scarlet Speedsters first sidekick.

Wally West had made several appearances in media. He was a fan favorite on Young Justice (shameless plug for my Young Justice article here) Teen Titans, and several animated DC movies.

He is also thee Flash on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, with absolutely no mention of Barry Allen, voiced by Michael Rosenbaum. This makes him a lot of hardcore DC fans introduction to the character.

He is also given an underrated performance by one Keiynan Lonsdale in the CW's The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. As Kid Flash, Lonsdale is funny, arrogant, a good partner to Barry. He had some of the best fight scenes and quips, plus he really rocked the look in my opinion.

How does he fit into the DCU?

In Lonsdale version of the character, he is a mix of Wally and Wallace West (don't ask comics are weird), so instead of Iris' nephew, he's her brother.

For this version, that's what I'm going to go with. It explains why he's older, and how he can recreate the experiment.

I will also go out of my way to say Barry Allen was The Flash in this universe and is now missing. He can come back in the future maybe, or not! Truly, I don't need Barry. This will not be a Kid Flash movie, this will be a Wally West Flash movie. He will be the DCU's Flash.

In the film he will recreate the experiment, try to don the costume, and eventually create his own spin on it and make being The Flash his own.

What is Wally's ethnecity?

I just want to touch on this rather briefly, because as you can see in the pictures and gifs, there's some ambiguity.

Wallace West in the comics is a person of color, but Wally West is not. When combining two ideas for characters, it's important to acknowledge this can get dicey.

In live action media now, Iris West is often portrayed as a black woman, which I think should still remain. However, one thing Fan4stic did well was trust audiences can understand the concept of adoption, and brother/sister characters don't need to be the same ethnicity.

For the time being, I am going to say either way works, as long as they fit the character of The Flash and Wally.

Are there any Other Stipulations?

Yes, a few.

Whoever is playing this character needs to feel younger than our Superman, David Corenswet, who is currently at the age of 30. The Flash being the youngest member of the team was something I did like in Justice League, and would like to remain.

I'm looking for a lanky build simple to Gustin.

He should also feel more comedically gifted than all those who came before.

I don't mind recasting someone who has done a superhero role before, but I don't prefer it.

Because The Flash is such a big character, I think we can bring in someone with a name, but who can excel at bringing out the comedy in others.

Finally, I want someone with that Heart.

My Top 3:

To be clear, I love all three of these picks, and I think any of these can absolutely nail the role.

3. Jharrel Jerome

Known for his work in Moonlight, When They See Us, I'm a Virgo, and Across the Spider-Verse, Jerome is a star on the rise.

He's been playing younger characters who are discovering themselves and their strength, and that's exactly what we need from a Wally West. And at 26, he's younger than our Superman and could be in this role for years to come.

My only concern with Jerome:

He seems pretty darn cool. Not that The Flash can't be. But much like Spider-Man, there's a dorkiness to The Flash that is key. But then again, Andrew Garfield was cool, and he proved us all wrong.

Jerome playing a superhero feels like destiny (he's got the alliteration name and everything), and is not a matter of if but when. While I can see him as a great John Stewart of Henry Irons down the line, I think his Flash would cause a lot of buzz.

2. Ncuti Gatwa

If you don't know his name, you will soon.

Known for his breakout role in Sex Education, Ncuti Gatwa has upcoming huge projects such as Barbie and most notably, Doctor Who as the 15th Doctor.

Gatwa of the three choices has the most flair and screen presence. Much like Justice League Unlimited Flash, Gatwa is a scene stealer in pretty much every episode of Sex Education. While he is a flawed character, he definitely shows heart, with his best friend Otis and boyfriend Adam.

Gatwa knows comedy, he knows sci-fi, and I think is the only one on that list that can fit that classic superhero look John Wesley Shipp did in that suit.

My main concern is age. At 30 he is on the cusp with our Superman, and with his strength he may come off as older.

And unlike our other candidates, Gatwa's got a franchise he will be leading for years to come. While he could do an incredible Flash, his focus may be else where.

1. Justice Smith

Detective Pikachu. Dungeons and Dragons. The Get Down.

Justice Smith is exactly what I'm looking for.

Smith is not only able to hold his own against big hitters like Ryan Reynolds and Chris Pine, he somehow finds a way to elevate performances as to make the whole cast funnier. He's the type of actor you want in a big ensemble piece like Justice League

Even in films I don't particularly love like Paper Towns or Fallen Kingdom, Smith always find a way to highlight his strengths.

He's got the heart of Gustin, he's got the comedy of Rosenbaum, and leading man power coupled with ensemble energy.

And at 5'10 and 27 years old, he feels young enough to be the kid of the team, old enough to be a threat.

That is Wally West. He's funnier, cockier, but at the end of the day, that same heart Barry has. Smith is the type of actor who can give us the iconic Flash we deserve on film.

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[across-stars]

other, mostly random, thoughts on A New Hope rewatch

the first time I saw ANH I didn’t really care for Ben/Obi-Wan, and tbh I never thought of prequels Obi (whom I adore) as the same character However, he is def my fave character from this movie, the line delivery is absolutely excellent, and he has a soft, kind type of strenght

I also never picked up on Luke being whiny, (probably bc I was a whiny teen myself) and was very surprised and didn’t understand it when I first saw it mentioned somewhere on the internet, but yeah...that is an accurate description lol, still love Luke though

I liked Han a lot more than the first time, he is defintely memorable

I didn’t recall much of the scene’s featuring the Imperials, they were all very interesting though. I also thought they all wore the olive uniforms, but already now the various different colours were present

However, I had always thought the portrayal of the Imperials as being strict and militaristic, like all having the ‘‘drill instructur’ personality. But, there is actually much more diversity in how they act. The portrayal of Wilhullf Tarkin for example is excellent and bustling with personality

RD-2D is actually really cute

It completly went over my head how big the Rebellion already was at this point! For some reason I had perceived it as this small group that had only very recently emerged and that wasn’t of any real importance until Luke destroyed the first Death Star, but this is far from the case .

the interactions between Luke and Han are pretty great and fun to watch

the guys (both the heroes and imperials) all have really nice, very fluffy hair, love to see it. I also like all the verious types of sideburns

the information density and worldbuilding in some lines is amazing! makes the world feel so vibrant

everyone in the cantina going back to their business again was really funny

really liked the scene with R2 traveling Tatooine by himself

the Homestead looks really cozy

I like that it has a proper ending instead of a cliffhanger .

some scenes felt rather lenghty, like the attack on the Death Star and C-3PO and R2′s misshaps at the start

To conclude, I can’t believe this was only a two hour move, it felt way longer, in a good way!

[ikementally-deficient]

Alpha Reader(s) Wanted!

I’m looking for an Alpha Reader(s) to help me out with two stories in my Ikemen Sengoku: Iron Chef Sengoku universe. Please feel free to reblog if you think your followers might be interested.

Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku, modern AU fusion with Iron Chef - fandom-blind readers are welcome, see General notes

What do I need? I am looking for feedback on plot points, story structure, and general cheerleading to get me going again. Especially appreciated would be anyone open to voice chats on discord or other platforms to talk through things in real time - I benefit greatly from Rubber duck debugging and it’s even better if the rubber duck talks back.

I’ve never worked with alphas or betas before, so this might involve a bit of a learning curve for me. I work in google drive and will share a commenters-access document with you.

I appreciate frank feedback. As long as you’re not deliberately mean, and you’re willing to explain your negative feedback to me, I’m pretty thick-skinned. Even if your feedback upsets me, I promise to take notes and sit with it until the upset passes so I can take it objectively.

That said, the Shingen/OFC story I need help with is coming from a pretty personal place, emotionally, and I might be more married to some aspects of it than I realise.

I absolutely plan to credit my alpha/beta readers publicly unless requested otherwise. 

Timelines: I don’t really have a set timeline for finishing either fic aside from being frustrated with my current lack of progress. I’m not committed to a posting schedule, but would prefer being able to talk with my reader(s) at least once every week or two for a couple of hours.

Contact me: You can DM me on tumblr as @ikementally-deficient, or on discord as GottabeKD#7725. I live in the Eastern timezone and work ‘normal’ business hours. While I’m online pretty much constantly, involved conversations or voicechats are best for evenings and weekends. 

General notes: Because this is an alternate universe to the original canon, no in-depth knowledge of the Ikemen Sengoku universe is required. If you are coming in fandom-blind, I can easily provide you a context summary and a chart of the canon characters’ relationships as I’ve translated them to this universe. 

The canon characters are intended to be consistent with their in-game portrayals (with appropriate updates to a modern setting). The only exception is Kenshin, who is a cis woman in this universe (cis man in canon), with the same yandere personality (she is only a supporting character in these two stories, so that aspect will probably not come up much).

I don’t believe either of these stories contain any triggering elements - the Shingen/OFC story does contain a blind date with a throw-away character who gets physically aggressive, but the POV character is rescued before any harm is done. The Masamune/MC story contains a lot of dirty jokes and innuendo, plus allusions to the characters’ implied sex lives, but no on-screen sex or graphic violence is planned. There are no non/dub-con elements in the main relationships.

For examples of my previous writing, you can check out my stories on AO3 or my writing tag on tumblr, which includes small ficlets and head-canons that never made it over to the archive. If you’re interested in alpha reading the Shingen/OFC story, I specifically recommend reviewing Oncoming Storm (explicit first-time virgin smut), or Advanced Entomology (explicit smutty smut with some dark psychology). 

ICS Season 1

I put the first chapter up on AO3 about three years ago, wrote two more chapters, and then got sucked into real life things and didn’t touch it again until a month ago. I’m still very excited about the story and have been re-plotting and outlining, but I’m having trouble with the actual writing part.

Rating: General/Teen audiences

Genre: Heterosexual Romance, cooking competitions

Summary: Date Masamune owns a restaurant in Tokyo and is invited by his former mentor and investor, Oda Nobunaga, to join a revival of Iron Chef as Iron Chef Japan. Masamune reluctantly agrees after seeing the audition tape of Mizusaki Mai, a baker and line cook who works to integrate and publicise Ainu culture in her cooking. He is attracted to Mai, but hesitates to act because of his own emotional history and their positions as rivals on the show. Complicating the issue is the other competitor, Mouri Motonari, who has his own attraction to Mai.

Length: My finished chapters are clocking in around 25 pages right now (8-9K words). This was originally planned as a 9 chapter story, but may end up giving or taking a chapter. Currently chapter 1 and 2 are written, chapter 3 is progress. The chapter posted on AO3 will probably be altered when the work is completed.

What do I need? Bonus points for anyone with big thoughts and lived experience in minority cultures, as Mai is half-Ainu in this continuity. I am fully open to being told my representation is inappropriate or insensitive and updating it to do better. Also you should probably enjoy cooking shows, since at least a third of this story involves me blathering on about food.

Iron Chef Sengoku Season 1 Untitled side story - Shingen/Original Female Character

This is a side story taking place in the same universe as the above, but not related to that plot. I've kind of gotten stuck up my own ass with overthinking and desperately need some tough love/encouragement

Rating: Explicit - heterosexual sexual activity in the climax (heh) of the story. Smutty, but vanilla. 

Genre: Heterosexual Romance

Summary: Akiyama Maki, a divorced mother of one, is getting back into the dating scene at the urging of her best friend Sumire. It’s not going great. Dating with a small daughter is hard, and Maki’s insecurities from the breakup of her marriage (and the general crappiness of dating) is making it harder. But her best friend’s friend Takeda Shingen is just so supportive, and nice . . . 

Length: Currently about 5K words, I suspect the finished work will be somewhere between 10-15K. 

What do I need? Bonus points for anyone with female experiences of divorce, pregnancy, and body/sexual insecurity; this OFC and story grew out of some of my own ambivalence about and after giving birth. The themes of this story are very personal to me.

[luhrmannatural]

I also agree about Noah thing. People want to believe in actors' words but they can often be dubious and misleading, whether be it intentionally malicious on purpose or not, actors sometimes make such comments especially if the topic is about shipping. I also don't expect Noah to have a wider knowledge on what the queerbaiting means or what the problematic things like bury your gays means. He could as well as just be like ''yeah ship byler guys it's happening'' casually, it doesn't mean byler will be canon. It's also less clear if it's gonna be one-sided or not. At best Will could be revealed as gay but be rejected by Mike. We're lucky if Will gets to live without having a bury your gays moment if he is revealed as gay. We've seen the same kinds of stuff happening over and over again in many TV shows and movies that is has become so tiring, but this kind of stuff is still happening today. Teen Wolf, the SPN, Sherlock, many shows featured in Disney, Voltron etc I can go on and on... All these shows had harmful portrayals involving either queerbaiting or bury your gays, or both. I don't want to go on details here to avoid spoilers, but I think many people already know about these shows and are knowledgable about them to an extent.

What I'm saying is that ship whatever you want guys but don't keep your expectations up that much. Yeah Stranger Things is a quite popular show and people say we already have a queer character (Robin) but honestly... that's very different than actually having a fleshed out gay romance between two main characters in a horror themed show, especially if one of them already has been shipped with a female character from the very first season. Is it impossible? No. But it's very rare and unlikely, if it happens it will be very interesting to see and cheer on. But still, it's better to not keep our hopes up for what's coming next.

yeah i’ve been having similar conversations with friends about will maybe dying. i’d honestly be shocked if they did a bury your gays thing because they cannot possibly be that stupid, but homophobia has been proven to outweigh intelligence before so who knows. i do appreciate the people with high expectations for adding some much needed positivity to the gap between episodes, but i also hate seeing people get upset when the reality doesn’t meet the expectation because it’s so justified and outsiders always react poorly.

i really do hope that for once people are proven right though. it would be really vindicating for me as someone who’s been dealing with the same thing over and over for almost a decade (whether i’ve cared about the ship or not) and i’m sure for a lot of other people too. and for it to happen on the one show that everyone’s talking about would be pretty powerful for sure

[kidflashimpulse]

Fully admit that I was never a BB fan to begin with but the annoyance is exemplified when Bart isn’t highlighted for having good leadership nor trauma. He can clearly take charge when needed while still listening to other’s opinions. And (not to sound like I’m comparing) has probably suffered so much more, has probably had to see so many loved ones die in his time. Restraining so much not to rant lol. Hope it’s fine to dump this : P!

omg!! My first anon!!! HELLO thank u for coming into my asks and sending in your rant I appreciate it and i’m always SUPER happy to hear peoples thoughts on things :D  <3 No worries on restraining urself, feel free to say whatever is on your mind :) 

warning: this is pretty much an essay oops

Honestly, I at first wrote an essay in response to this especially regarding the parallels between Garfield and Bart, because they're definitely there and super interesting to discuss. But I felt like I was gonna be dumping this ask with my own rambles and unasked for think piece and didn't want to stray too much off topic lol. 

Basically, I totally understand where you're coming from anon and the biased side of me entirely agrees! Its kinda ridiculous that we don't get to see these aspects of Bart being highlighted which essentially serve as a foil to Gars Phantoms arc. 

I think its also a complete waste of an opportunity (yes I understand there are time and work constraints on creating a show, but of course, I believe there is always a way especially with how YJA prides itself in balancing a multi-plot storyline), that the parallels in Gars and Barts characterisation weren't explored. Because otherwise, it leads to the type of frustrations that both you and I feel on this topic, because theres no on-screen resolution of it. 

Like you said, its not a comparing game. But we really can't help but do a side by side comparison when they have been two characters that have basically been linked since season 2. When Bart first appeared, BB was one of the first people he properly met and “fought” lol. They're also the closest in age among their generation of heroes. Then theres the whole Outsiders plot, with Bart obviously supporting Gars initiative and by the end of season 3 at the ending clip Bart was joking with BB. The two are clearly good friends, considering their history, and whilst BB was trying to work through his trauma its almost ridiculous that we didn't even get a mention of Barts input on his situation. 

But im kinda going off topic here. My point in relation to your post is, there is very much a basis for the parallels between the two to be drawn. So its not unreasonable to compare the twos history. Ive read people on the young justice discord also very reasonably compare the two and what they mentioned that I entirely agree with them on is that Garfield is clearly particularly sensitive to death.

Which is very hard for someone in a field of heroics and all that. Especially as a team leader. 

Bart is clearly on the opposite end of the spectrum, pretty much desensitised to death clearly cause of his original timeline. 

Now, I find BB being sensitive to death very on par with the shows rendition of his character. He started out as an innocent, open minded, animal loving kid. Hes vegetarian (possibly vegan I can't remember) and really easily warms up to new people in his life for the sake of found family. He is sensitive and empathetic that way, which I believe is a prerequisite for his powers too as he has no problems to easily take on any creatures form. 

I used to be a fan of him from Teen Titans (lol) and I read a lot of his comics when I was a kid, and honestly, a lot of iterations of his characters throughout all these series, both comics and cartoons (TT included) he is often annoying and a douche bag in one way or another (arguably a poor portrayal of him, or maybe it really is just him because its so common lol). So him not being a massive asshole, in fact being this some what naive and sensitive guy in young justice, is definitely a welcomed breath of fresh air. 

So when I try to be “unbiased” I recognise that with all the tragedy that BB has been through, its fair for him to act the way to he has throughout Phantoms. 

I think this “objective” fact, that different people react in different ways, could've easily been demonstrated by drawing explicit parallels this season between the two. Bart is known at this point in the show to have an incredibly traumatic childhood and I think involving him in this plot could've showcased more how subjective the experience of trauma responses can be and actually explicitly showcase that Gar is sensitive to death which I think would've helped the ppl both on Tumblr and the YJ reddit who were not particularly impressed with BBs phantoms arc, to be more sympathetic to him. Because I think having opposite sides of the spectrum, really sheds light on one another. 

However we are left with the two parallels not being connected this season, with the outsiders not so much as being shown a second of their reaction to Barts disappearance and him not being shown for a second in Gars Phantoms arc. Its annoying. And frustrating. But it is what it is. And just gives us more excuses to come up with whatever interpretations we want to fill in the blanks they gave us.  

Its cool that we got to see Barts independence, resilience and capabilities, especially considering his background this season (despite the way too many times hes been nerfed this season lol) and it would've been so many times more satisfying if we saw its context within the rest of the Outsiders. But who knows, if the show gets renewed or maybe even in the comics, we might get a glimpse of all these things. Anything is possible lol. 

So yeah, I kinda went off track and still wrote some kind of essay. Welp, my bad lol but I very much found ur ask super interesting and inspired all this lol and hope I addressed some of ur frustrations which I agree with.

p.s My personal headcannon based on what has been shown of Bart in the show, especially his desensitisations to death is that he really isn't as traumatised as people often express/expect him to be. Doesn't mean he has zero trauma, or doesn't have his issues, or his childhood didn't fck him up a bit, I feel like anyone growing up in some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland will be messed up one way or another. But definitely not in the classic trauma response way which Gar was shown to go through this season. I feel like the resilience that Bart has shown throughout the seasons makes a lot of sense for someone who has survived what he has so that's why im not really on the same camp of the people who say that they would like to see what Gar has gone through, for Bart. Because ultimately, they are two different characters and these kind of journeys aren't copy and paste, nor is it realistic to be universally applied to everyone. Which is why I would have again, appreciated the parallels to be more explicitly linked and Barts story to be more highlighted this season. 

On a semi-unrelated note, I am literally writing a fic right now on Barts messed up worldview as a result of his growing up in his OG timeline (in a some what light-hearted) way. Because of all the lack of Outsiders this season I was inspired to try to write a one shot on some of their team dynamics and I think ppl naturally think Bart is weird (its both an original comics and in show constant which I appreciate) so I wanted to explore this weirdness a bit. So for anyone who is interested in this, I should be posting it some time this week! For zetaflash fans, theres some sprinkled in there too lol and for Blue and Bart besties 4 ever fans, there some of that in there too lol for those who don't care feel free to ignore lol

Again, apologies for basically writing the story of my life, but then this also shows, feel free to rant anytime for however long u want ! My asks are open!!! (and not broken, all this time I thought maybe I did something wrong so that's why I didn't get any so im so happy anon, thank u again for ur message! <3 :D)

[bengiyo]

BL Round-Up

This is the first time in a while that I’ve been watching less than 10 shows at once, so I figured I’d get some of my thoughts down.

Big Feelings

Where is the Sexual Tension?

I am in a weird funk with BL right now about how saccharine shows want to be. I feel an intense mismatch with how much exists within the drama and what feels like overly-modest portrayals of relationship dynamics. Maybe it’s just actor chemistry not lining up effectively with the shows, but I’ve been deeply bored with a lot of pairs active right now, and I wonder if it’s just because the gap between the good and the bad feels extreme for me right now. So, sincerely, where is the sexual tension in the dramas right now? Did KinnPorsche suck all of it out of the genre at once?

Running From Embarassment

This is a Japanese trope that I think I’m falling out of love with. Ever since @absolutebl conflated it with blushing maiden trope, I’ve not been able to unsee it. It feels like an easy way to bring a scene to an end and avoid a Now Kiss moment, but I kinda hate watching boys from each other if they feel a rise in romantic or sexual tension.

The Shows

Close Friend 2 - I am actually liking this show, even if I think it’s a bit slow. I know a lot of people were frustrated with SOTUS S and IPYTM, but I really like when we go past the high of getting together with someone and plunge into the not-so-pretty world of being with someone. I really like that Fluke and Ohm get to show a couple suffering inside the closet together. However, I think I’m learning that I’m not a KimCop fan. I’ve bounced off of almost every project they’ve been involved with, and I’m struggling here too. I like the story being told about their characters and their pairing, but I don’t think I’m really feeling them as a pair. To be clear, I think they’re doing an admirable job even if I’m not totally with them.

Dear Doctor, I’m Coming For Soul - This is another post-school show that I will always support in the hopes that the genre doesn’t get stuck only telling stories about teens and undergrads. However, Prakan’s god complex has been frustrating, and Metha’s misplaced jealousy is going to worsen care for patients. It’s bad enough that I’m questioning Nuch’s crush on Metha, because he is giving off such terrible vibes. I think Nathee falls for Kheeta a little quickly (in the sense that I didn’t feel his feelings shift on screen even if I understand where it may have occurred), but I’m invested in seeing their dynamic through. I’m enjoying the supernatural components, but I’m not entirely certain where this story is headed. 

Still, I want to appload this show for delivering solid intimate chemistry with its couples, which I’ve been wanting a lot more of lately.

KinnPorsche - There’s a lot of feelings all over the tags about this show, but I am still liking it. I think the episodes can have some huge tonal swings sometimes (I felt that in episode 2 especially), but damn do I really love how earnest this show manages to be when deceit and manipulation are a big part of the storytelling. There are some banger posts folks have been writing about this, and I’m having fun seeing a lot of folks intensely engaged again. Feels like we haven’t had that since Not Me or Bad Buddy. Really enjoying the work on this show, and enjoying the way Be On Cloud has been doing BTS drops. I feel like this show has a lot of ground to cover in six episodes, but I’m really enjoying the cast and especially the way Mile and Apo are playing out this relationship. More than Dear Doctor, I’m enjoying believing that the characters want to bone. 

La Cuisine - I like the friends and family of this show, but HOO BOY is this show SLOW. That being said, I like that this show called a gay bashing what it was, and I like seeing a famous actress express righteous rage at the way paparazzi violate the privacy of children. There are an alarming number of stories in recent years from SE Asia about reporters inflicinting injury on infants and toddlers to get to their parents. Ram and Lukchub are a bit weak for me, but this show has been an easy watch, so I’m not gonna be harsh. There are a lot of neat things in this show, especially seeing people suss out NamNing right away and bring the correct response. Half-joked to my bestie that she was gonna have a gun, and I am sad that I am correct.

Meow Ears Up! - I often struggle with shapeshifter stories for a lot of different reasons, but this show ended up being more fun (so far) than I expected. I struggle with Meow’s awareness of the world, because he seems overly sheltered sometimes and supremely aware other times. Evan and Faiyen are a lot easier to approach. I have enjoyed the GL in this show with Jin and Manni. However…where is the sexual tension in this show? It’s too sweet for me, I think.

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But To Kiss! - I am really loving this show. Japan is always good at taking a very narrow concept and getting a lot of character mileage out of it. I like Shinomiya being firm with Fukuhara and demanding they be clear about their intentions for each other, especially one that covered a lot of ground. I like Fukuhara starting to look at his life differently. I like the vibe of all of the other classmates. I liked the end of the episode, where once again Shinomiya keeps his worries private and only expresses joy and relief to see Fukuhara whole. We even got to see Shinomiya in an apron that looks so much like overalls that it sent me to the stratosphere. (Shoutout to @liyazaki for giffing that for me). I like this show a lot, and my biggest hope is that we understand why Shinomiya has liked Fukuhara since before the first episode. Also, why is there a GUN in the next episode. So many guns in BL right now!

My Secret Love - I am watching this to support Earth Teerapat, but I don’t know that I’m feeling it after the first episode? It took me three sittings to finish it. Maybe I’m nearing the end of my ability to watch all school BL, particularly enemies to lovers. I think the implication that there are multiple secret pairings is interesting, but eh? Otherwise, the show sincerely seems fine; I just think my tastes are shifting.

Plus & Minus - I love, love, love this show. I’m a sucker for long-term pining between best friends. I’m also a sucker for someone living a quiet life getting sucked up into a new romance with a far more outgoing partner. The bed scene of episode 8 is probably something I will talk about forever, and may devote a second post to. For now, let me say that I was so glad we got to see both Fu Li Gong and Zhang Ze Zhou awkwardly prepare for their first night in bed as a couple. I like that they were able to find comfort in each other, and I really like Ze Zhou being comfortable with Li Gong wanting to stop for the night. We rarely see that in BL, and I loved it. Also, the double date camping trip was incredibly endearing for both couples. I look forward to this and Mr. Unlucky very late on Thursday night to the point that it’s affected my watching of Critical Role. 

Star in My Mind - I like that it felt like Kluen could lose Daoneua for not getting his shit together, but goddamn was this show painful for me. I don’t generally enjoy noncommunication as a story driver. I’m also not a fan of the way Kluen consistently kisses Daoneua unexpectedly or when he’s sleeping. This felt pretty familiar in terms of Thai BL, but I don’t think I’m going to reflect on this one fondly. 

What Zabb Man - I feel like I wanted something from this show that it absolutely did not promise at all. In a lot of ways, I actually think this show is really delightful in that it takes a lot of the movements of college BL and applies them to people working in food service. You get a competition. You get pining and relationship drama. You get the sort of cute, patient first steps of first time dating. You get a really possessive seme. You even get the complexities of huge wealth gap in a relationship. I think this show is truly fine. I just think I was hoping for the BL answer to Waiting (2005), and was expecting there to be more heat to this show, particularly amongst the kitchen staff. I thought this show would go that route early, but things felt rather chaste in the finale.

I’m still hoping that someone will give us the dramatic and “why is everyone having sex with everyone?” show that we need.

Final Thoughts

I continue to enjoy BL, though I will say I’m glad I’m not watching close to 15 active show right now. I feel like I’m not enjoying the more soft and cute shows with minimal sexual tension in them at this point, especially when the leads and characters are adults; I can understand the restrictions placed on filming and displaying minors in other countries. 

Honestly, I feel like I just want more of Kinou Nani Tabeta (aka What Did You Eat Yesterday?) and Papa & Daddy. 

[swanqueensalad]

TRIGGERWARNING!

Without triggering anyone I wanna ask two things:

1) Was Cora ever physically abbussive towards Regina?

2) I know many ppl's head canon is that Leopold raped Regina again and again as his bride, but is that your headcanon too?

ok again TRIGGER WARNING for abuse & SA (and brief mention of suicide) for anyone reading/scrolling!

i'm going to just explain my personal interpretation of the show and these subjects, bc i find regina so interesting and heartbreaking. and i actually do think part of what makes regina so fascinating as a character is her relationship within the cycle of abuse and how yes, she was incredibly hurt and manipulated all her life, but she eventually managed to break free of it all and work to be better for her own child.

buckle up because i have a lot of feelings and this is probably going to be LONG

so, my thoughts on exactly what happened and why regina is as fucked up as she is:

so yeah, cora was a horrific parent. it's canon that she abused regina both emotionally and physically for practically all her life.

in practically her very first scene, we see cora using magic to hurt her eighteen year old daughter - to violently restrain her/drop her to the ground when she 'misbehaves' which pretty clearly says this is a woman who uses power and fear as a control tactic, and is not afraid of physically hurting regina.

and if this is what she was doing when regina is almost an adult, i think it's safe to assume she's been doing it since she was very young - regina's response 'please don't, i'll be good' is the conditioned response of a much younger child. everything about the way regina was written, her relationship with cora, and the way lana and the directors chose to play it screams abuse victim. she is hypervigilant - she jumps when people come close or make sudden noises. when she's choked with magic she immediately knows not to struggle or fight back. as a young girl, she is terrified of doing things wrong.

(also, when we get the flashback to actual 10 year old regina, cora says she can't help her because 'it needs to be someone who's magic has never hurt her')

while i think most of the time cora relied on magic to physically punish regina - knowing how much regina particularly hated it/was afraid of it - i think she was definitely not above slapping her for more minor infractions

beyond just physical abuse, cora was clearly emotionally distant and got regina to a place of being pretty touch-starved and desperate for affection. (lana and barbara play this so masterfully as well) we see her being constantly, nastily critical of everything her daughter does.

i think it's also implied in the regina rising book that cora was controlling/restrictive of regina's food to ensure she stayed thin/attractive which is just a whole other can of worms

as for leopold. please bear with me while i RANT:

nothing will ever make me more mad than the fact this man was never held accountable in the narrative for his role in regina's story and how absolutely fucking awful he was.

first of all, even before he meets regina, he is dodgy af. he supposedly genuinely loves cora, but throws her out immediately when he discovers her pregnancy without even asking her if it's true/discussing it. also, even in that flashback the man is visibly much older than cora and even more so than eva, who he actually does marry (although i do believe they came to truly love each other). so yeah he has a habit of Not Listening to women and not looking at women his own age

and then we get to regina. the eighteen year old daughter of his ex fiancee (younger even than the unborn child who cora carried when she was engaged to him)

yes i think he raped her. because powerful old men do not marry pretty eighteen year olds for the company. (also, if it was just so snow would have a mother figure, well, she already had her maid joanna. and if snow really wanted regina around that badly, leopold could have just brought her to court as a lady in waiting, a fitting role for a noblewoman, and more appropriate seeing as regina was only about eight years older than snow)

regina is visibly distressed by the proposal. she is panicked. she looks to her father to help. cora accepts the proposal for her. and leopold does not care. i think this tells u all u need to know about his views on consent

(also it all gets ickier when you remember leopold was attracted to cora, and regina is considered to look like cora did when she was younger)

leopold clearly had zero interest in regina as a person. he used her for arm candy for events, to make snow happy, and to keep his bed warm. (later, he invades her privacy so much regina counts on him reading her diary as a thoughtless and integral part of a plan, and locks her up for receiving a present from another man) and yet he is never treated as a villain or ever held accountable (besides regina killing him - good for her - but even then it's framed more as a way to villainise her for tricking sidney) and it makes me FURIOUS

i sometimes see the take that leopold might have stopped raping her towards the latter years of their marriage, but i disagree - i think maybe it did get fewer and farther between, but regina was still his wife who he only saw as serving a few purposes, and the way he is so possessive of her in 1x011 makes no sense otherwise, seeing as he was so uninterested in her in every other way

i do think a lot of regina's rage and vendetta against snow is because of this abuse too.

hear me out: in s1 especially, both snow and regina refer to snow as 'ruining her life'. because regina blamed her for everything that happened to her. not only did snow cause daniel's murder, it was her desire for regina as a mother that prompted leopold to marry her.

and this marriage was hell. and i think people don't realise how long it lasted either - snow went from a child to at least her late teens before regina killed leopold. regina was a traumatised young girl, grieving the love of her life, with no friends, no allies, nobody except the literal dark one who was grooming her for his own gain. (no wonder she clung to the brief sense of freedom and control his lessons offered. no wonder she nearly killed herself.)

and while regina suffered, she was forced to play with snow white every day, who was so spoiled, so loved, so happy, and had no idea of the life she had unwittingly trapped regina in.

so yeah, it's all pretty dark.

and it's for all these reasons i think ouat ended up shying away from many more regina backstory episodes centring on the time she was married/pre-evil queen years, because they were on abc after all, and i don't think they were really equipped to deal with the horrendousness of the story they'd created

but lana most certainly did her work becaue i think all of this nuance does show in her portrayal

and it all just makes regina's ending - the good queen, in her own name, safe and strong and loved, part of a true family, her bond with snow healed - so much more of a relief.