#all it did was solidify their interpretations of the characters even more. because we know THEYRE not gonna use wfa as a tool

[scattered-winter]

"WFA is a great way for new fans to jump into comics by introducing characters in a simpler, easier to swallow setting, thus giving new fans a starting point for the real stories" and "WFA has caused permanent damage in the dc fandom by solidifying the fanon version of the batfam characters and dynamics into the collective fandom view" are statements that can coexist tbh

[nonbinarytoast]

Nooooooooooo my entire speech for speech and debate isn’t under the cut………….. tumblr doesn’t need a ten minute rant about Greek mythology and culture…………….. they don’t want to talk about how modern reinterpretations are slowly destroying the original myths just like early Christian’s did………………….

When I was a kid, I went to my schools yearly scholastic book fare. And I found something.

I found a little book called Percy Jackson and the olympians. And that book consumed my life from 8 to 14. I’m 14 years old.

Now if you’ve never heard of Percy Jackson you don’t know what that means, but reading Percy Jackson is a slippery slope. First you read the first book. Then you read the first series. Then you’re reading the next two series. Then suddenly you’re watching a five hour video essay on how Ares got stuck in a box and how that solidified Artemis’s aromanticism.

Now, I love this. I love Greek mythology! But then, after reading countless Wikipedia pages, and watching countless informational YouTube videos, I found one of the scariest things I’ve ever encountered.

Modern re-interpretations!

All of a sudden, the stories I loved were completely different! Persephone was a radical feminist with an abusive mom, Hera was the mother of all of Zeus’s children, and Hades was a bad person just because he ruled over the dead. It scared me. It scared me to think of what happened to this beautiful myth of of beautiful stories just because the original meaning didn’t line up with our ideologies! So, with this speech, I hope to be able to tell you all that Greek mythology, however disgusting or vile to us, is a picture of history that does not deserve to be painted over and destroyed.

Before we even start on Greek mythology we have to start on Greek culture. Mainly, the relationships between family members.

The Greeks referred to the basic family unit in their culture as oikos. This word encompassed not only the people but also the house and the surrounding land. This little bit of vocabulary actually tells us a lot. Places and old family ties were very important to the Greeks, important enough to refer to a family not as the people in it but as the household itself. This is why so many myths make a big show of where someone is in reference to something else, because the Greeks liked to have that persons background. This was not only essential to the Greeks understanding of personal identity but also societal role. If you lived in a poor neighborhood, you were poor. If you lived with your family, you were a part of your family no matter what.

Then, there was the patriarchy in Greece, which was actually decently progressive given the time period. While the eldest man in the house was expected to show up for civic duties and keep society running, the women would take care of children and do household chores. However, in the event of the patriarchs absence, then the eldest woman would start doing the finances and making public appearances. While the Greeks did treat women better than most other cultures of the time, they still felt that women should be overshadowed by men. The Greeks saw women as a smart and talented, even good at fighting and capable of making their own decisions (which was not then common and still isn’t now). But with all of that, they still felt that women were more smart, decision making, talented, battle worthy objects. Not people.

Another thing about Greek culture is that weddings were very important. While most had arranged marriages, almost no spouses hated one another, as the marriages were built on getting more political power and finances. Because if this, often the two getting married had a mutual respect for each other and carefully evaded quarrels that could turn into a sad life for them both and their children. All of this is important to the next thing we’ll talk about, common themes.

Many myths share attributes and common themes, making the gods less like Gods and more like characters. When a god says or does something so many times it becomes a character attribute, and when you get enough character attributes whatever you were seeing can be classified not as a god, but as a character.

If we see Zeus as a character instead of a god, we see that he is a serial cheater and rapist. Accounts vary, but overall most think that Zeus had around 92 children. And, the make it even worse, only 41 of those children are gods. All the rest are with assorted mortal women, most of whom weren’t willing to carry his child. And out of that 41, only 4 are actually his wife’s kids! All the rest are just with other random goddesses, most of whom, yet again, were not totally willing to carry his child. Almost all Greek myths start with not the story of the hero, but the story of the hero’s mother getting impregnated by Zeus.

The next common theme is the laws of hospitality. Something always comes up with the laws of hospitality, and they really aren’t that hard. They referred to these laws as Xenia, a word directly translated to mean “friendship with guests” and all you had do to follow it was treat people kindly. The host had to provide food, clothing, and whatever else the guest needed, and in return the guest had to be courteous, kind, and respectful of the hosts wishes.

That doesn’t sound so hard does it? Well, you’d be wrong. A few instances of this are, say Tantalus who technically did feed his guests, but fed them his own son. And although it doesn’t say it, the meal you have to provide your guests shouldn’t be human. Then there’s a bad guest, Erysichthon, who killed a sacred tree while in one of Demeter’s groves, and was then cursed to be so hungry he eventually ate himself; which was a perfectly sound punishment for disobeying the laws of hospitality.

Now, during those last few sections, you’ve probably felt uncomfortable at least once. Whether it was the misogynistic views, or Zeus, king of the gods being a serial rapist, or the gods having so much wrath for so little a crime. And you should be uncomfortable. You should feel weird that I call Greek mythology beautiful while there’s all this disgusting stuff in it. But like I said. The gods are characters.

To the Greeks, the gods did play an important role in their society, but not the same role as most gods now do. Let’s take a look at Christianity, for example. Christians see God as an all powerful, perfect being, who sent his son down to us so that we could ascend to heaven. Then theres Buddhism, which is not the belief in God or Gods but more a belief in enlightenment knowledge and philosophy. Now, these religions are almost entirely different but there is one key similarity. Their god or beliefs, are always good. Christians see God as a perfect being and Buddhists see these teachings and enlightenment as the best thing someone can follow or do, but that’s not the case for the Greeks. The Greeks didn’t see their gods as perfect. They saw them as people. Powerful, insane people who lived up in the clouds and drove the sun across the sky, but people nonetheless. The Greek gods were not made to teach people how to be better. The Greeks knew how to be good. The god were there to warn them. To say “if you don’t take in a kind stranger that kind stranger can turn you to ash”. They existed not to be perfect, but to warn people of what could happen to them. And yes, the Greeks believed they were real, but all of the prayers and tributes didn’t get written down because there was no need. Only the myth got written down. Stories of great kings who never even existed, born to tell a tale and teach a lesson.

And that is why modern reinterpretations cannot be true to the original stories. We can’t think how the Greeks thought. We think “surely they must’ve meant for the god of death to be bad” but they didn’t. We think “the king of the gods would never do that” but he did. And we change those stories. Because we’ve already changed them far too much.

During the 9th century non-native cults, Christian’s, and other religious groups started invading the Mediterranean Sea and other Greek lands. Slowly but surely, the ancient Greeks culture started to get lost in battle with these new and exciting religions. The Greeks also had a descentralizar belief system, where every city-state that made up what we call Ancient Greece had a slightly different set of beliefs. While most major gods and stories existed throughout Greece the stories changed ever so slightly, and sometimes the city-states would have their own myths entirely. This meant that when a city-state was taken over by a new religion, part of, or even entire myths were lost. There was no reason to keep them around anymore.

Then it was only a matter of time until Rome came along and destroyed everything the Greeks ever knew. And now we’re here. Historians picking up murals and carvings on cave walls trying to make sense of it all. But not all of us are historians.

Some of us keep destroying it. Some of us need these beautiful stories of hero’s and gods to fit our personal ideologies so badly that we’re willing to spread misinformation just to get people to agree. So here’s a little more information that you’ll want to go home with.

Persephone did not choose to go to the underworld.

Hades is not and never was a satan figure.

Artemis never fell in love with Orion.

Hera hated Heracles so much she killed his wife and kids and then forced him to go to court and do 12 trials to pay for her crime, AND his name is Heracles not Hercules so SCREW YOU DISNEY!

And finally. We don’t know everything. Many parts of greek myths are still a mystery. But we don’t have to make them more of a mystery. And if we do, we can at least be informed that we don’t have the full picture.

[echidnapower]

Now that Ash's series is over, how do you feel about the decision to write Misty out of the main cast at the end of Johto in 2002? As we know besides brief cameos and the last few eps of MPM, she really did stay off the show for 20 years, 6 series, and somewhere over 850+ or something episodes. Once Hoenn started and May was introduced, the writers likely decided sometime in 2003 they weren't going to bring misty back to the cast (her cameos with Togetic aired this year), and then that was basically it.

I always assumed the writers would have brought Misty back like how the Brock/Tracey switch was reversed after Orange, but I guess May became too popular it convinced the writers they had no reason to bring Misty back to the cast. So they slowly started phasing her out over AG as her cameos/specials started to dwindle, then by the time we got into 2005/2006 she got her final episode for over a decade. Then by the time DP started and they decided to bring Dawn in, that was basically it. They brought in a second new female companion for a second full gen, and Misty didn't get to appear in DP at all.

People tend to forget that long before the modern pokemon era (XY, SM, Journey's, etc), the writers seem to already decide back in the early 2000's from 2002-2010 during the Hoenn/DP era that they weren't going to bring Misty back full time. And as we know, they didn't. It's just kind of ironic to me when you stop to realize how long ago that was, 2002 was the beginning of the millenium, it over 22 years ago now, and Misty left at Gen 2 of the franchise whereas Ash's series went through Gen 8. She basically was only there for like 20% of Ash's series, and missed 80% of the anime.

Do you believe the writers were in the right to remove her? Since you write fanfics with Misty staying, did her departure shock you or did you think the anime couldn't go on without her? In the end I guess it doesn't matter now, but it says a lot so many original fans decided to continue to watch without her year after year.

Well as someone who considers Misty "best girl" I would never condone the decision to have Misty leave the group. What I will say though is that it was clear to me that the writers for the anime back in those early days had no idea what to do with Misty since her "goal" as it were was to become a water-Pokemon Master, but they never took any steps to have Misty actually try to BECOME that. She was playing a support role for Ash and that I feel like was an extreme disservice to her character.

What we did get though was an evolution of her personality over time, as she became less violent with her actions and started seeing Ash more as an equal rather than someone who needed her coaching to become a good trainer, and in that change, the ship started to solidify for me. There were plenty of "shippy moments" during Indigo, but the more Ash grew as a trainer the more it felt like there was room for their relationship to grow.

By the end of her tenure, it was clear to everyone (or me at least) that the very thought of leaving Ash to go take over the gym because of her irresponsible sisters was a source of emotional pain for her. In her mind, Ash wasn't just some brat that stole her bike, he had become her very best friend and (depending on how you choose to interpret it) she'd fallen in love with his passion and devotion to Pokémon, because that's what made him stand out from all the other trainers out there. The lengths he was willing to go to in order to make sure that his Pokémon became the best they could possibly be and the love that he showed them, it even trickled over to his human friends as well, which of course included her.

And even with all the other girls that came along after Misty's departure, you could tell that there was a special bond between her and Ash that was never replicated with anyone else. In my mind, Serena kissing Ash before she left isn't the most impactful scene in the anime, it's the fact that Ash shed tears over Misty leaving because he knew how much he was going to miss her. To my knowledge, aside from her and Brock, Ash didn't cry over anyone else's departure. It was always "until we meet again" and then off he went on his new journey. Even Serena didn't get a tear from Ash over saying goodbye. That honor falls only to Misty (and Brock).

All this being a long-winded explanation for what makes their relationship so special, I'll address the other part of the question. Do I think the writers were right to remove her? Of course not. I think they should have given Misty something to do rather than just stand there with Togepi and cheer Ash on, and in an anime where character growth coincided with aging (yes, aging as in getting older and more mature, something Pokémon is notoriously allergic to), eventually Misty would've had to be given something to do. Their solution I suppose was to give Misty a new goal, one that was separate from her travels with Ash. I don't like it, but I get it.

May and Dawn were the main characters for the next two generations of games and they were made into coordinators so that they wouldn't overlap with Ash's goals. Contests weren't available in B/W I don't think so having Ash travel with Hilda would've been redundant, so they gave Iris to Ash since she was the most...rambunctious character in those games, and Cilan took on the Brock role now that he was finally off pursuing his new path. Back to the old dynamic but it wasn't the same. Iris wasn't Misty, and neither was any of the other girls he went with, Serena included. That BOND just wasn't there. The closest one who got there IMO was Dawn, and ironically aside from Misty herself, I think Dawn got the most returns to the anime out of all the Pokegirls.

I started writing my story over a decade ago with the mindset of "fixing" the anime, by putting Misty back where she wanted to be all along, but now by aging them up a few years (which is what they should have been in the first place) I opened the door for Ash to actually see Misty as more than a friend, paying off all those little moments they'd previously shared where Misty caught his attention when they were traveling together and he saw her as more than just "Misty," she was also "girl" which bizarrely Ash understood better early on in the show and forgot later on somehow with any other male/female interactions. I made Ash and Misty finally get together, strengthening their bond even more as now the titles boyfriend and girlfriend make it so that Ash AND Misty get something out of the relationship. She hasn't done much in the way of training for herself, I'll admit, but the way I write her, Misty doesn't just stand there and support Ash, she's his go-to for companionship, a partner he can count on when the going gets tough, more than the others. She's put on a pedestal as someone special to him, which she already was but now the role is more defined. And Misty now gets to be a big sister to Dawn as their relationship has grown throughout my story. Dawn looks up to Misty now, seeing her as someone she also can turn to when she's struggling with something. Ash is her mentor with training, but in a world where human interactions are more than just "Let's battle," Dawn needs someone to help her navigate those turbulent waters, and that's big sister Misty.

I rambled for a long time and for that I apologize. The anime could and did go on without Misty, and other characters who took her place have their own roles and their own merits. I won't take that away from them. But Misty is special I believe because there's just that bond that is difficult to define in words between her and Ash. They can push each other to their limits unlike any other characters in the show can, and undoubtedly Ash sees her as his very best human friend aside from Brock. If the anime had allowed him to age and grow, there's no doubt in my mind that they would have gotten together anyway, because a bond like that can't be broken by distance. If anything, it would just inevitably bring them together again.

[edgygayguy]

!!!JADE SHADOWS SPOILERS!!!

I played the quest and it was ok. Felt very polarized by it.

The Warframe baby is a very fucking crazy and unexpected idea, the consequences of turning a pregnant person into a Warframe are really interesting and I want more lore and I want it yesterday. It will probably take like 2 years to get back to that tho. I would be happy with just some relevant codex entries. Also the baby to me looked pretty ugly and idk why I focused so much on that detail, but the piece of cloth stalker held it in was just not it. Like why does it look like he knitted that for the baby in advance. I'd rather have the baby itself be more visually interesting and wrapped in just black.

The quest was way too short, if I wasn't following devstreams I would feel no attachment to Jade at all. She's just there and the only thing we know about her is that she and stalker are in love, had a pregnancy and then got turned into Warframes.

I still have a lot of questions that went unanswered. Did the orokin turn both of them into frames at once or did Stalker get turned after the fall? If so was it voluntary? Why does the stalker hunt the tenno so fiercely? We know now why he hates Warframes but weren't the orokin responsible for turning his love into one? My headcannon is that the conditioning the orokin used on the dax was very effective on him, he couldn't bring himself to hate the golden lords so he began hating the warframes and in turn the tenno. I think he voluntarily turned himself into a Warframe, but how? No idea, maybe he managed to seek out Ballas who decided it was a great idea to create a hunter for the ones hunting him.

We know that some frames didn't get piloted by a tenno, Kullervo, Jade and most likely also Dante. The stalker seems to be the same. These 4 somehow managed to maintain their sanity, unlike most of them. This is the only question the quest answered for me, but not really, it just solidified what we already knew.

I love the inclusion of the sisterhood and the dialogue from Parvos, Ordis and Hunhow.

While browsing through Tumblr I saw two popular opinions I didn't even consider.

The first one is that stalker should have been trans. At first I had no idea if people were serious about it or not. The only evidence I saw brought up is that stalker hates himself and in his dialogue with Hunhow there's some stuff that could be interpreted as trans allegory. The latter I do see on a second read, but the first one is just weird. Is deep self hatred on the level of Stalker really a prerequisite for transness? I'd hope not. People being mad about their headcannon not being realized in this instance is odd to me, yeah it is pride month but there's plenty of transness in Warframe already. Ticker and Sentients (especially Hunhow, a man who constantly reminds you of his womb) are the first things that come to mind. I believe that Warframe is inherently trans and has been since the begging. You control Warframes, you can easily swap between them and they are representations of both sexes (+Xaku and Equinox). After the second dream that gets even more reinforced, "dream not of what you are but of what you want to be". Transness is so prevelent in this game that the stalker not being trans isn't that big of a deal, it's not like all of this game's representation was hinging on this one character.

The second one is that Jade doesn't have autonomy, she's stuck suffering and exists solely to give birth. I believe this wouldn't be a problem to most if we got like 20 minutes of extra time in the quest, Jade herself and even smaller things like our operator's involvement felt rushed. From the flashback we see that Jade wanted the child, if anything the quest advocates for autonomy. They should have shown us more to make it more obvious. It was illegal for Jade and Stalker to love each other because of their caste, let alone have a child. If only the quest took a minute to shit on the orokin instead of hoping everyone does that themselves. While in our world the major issue with women's autonomy isn't "I can't have a baby" but "I'm forced to have a baby", I think that these are both sides of the same coin. The underline still is: a woman was stripped of her autonomy. The message unfortunately wasn't clear enough. Also it doesn't help that this is Tumblr and LGBTQ+ people don't usually have the best relationship with pregnancy. And we live in a world where people are being forced to have babies for literally no reason, so it's pretty logical that the thought of someone literally dying to give birth is very emotionally charged and polarizing.

No hate to people who think that stalker should have been trans (I just don't see it) and to people who think that the quest portrayed women's autonomy in a bad way, while I don't think it's the case the devs should have known better, speeding through such a relevant issue was not a good idea on their part. They should have made it clear that Jade really wanted her child and her autonomy was taken from her by the orokin (it would also have helped if we got more Warframe biology).

[dazzlerazz]

epimenides,,,,, (you don't have to answer the second question)

EPIMENIDEEZ NUTS!!!

How I feel about this character

I found him really interesting in my second playthrough which was the first where I spared Byleth, ultimately I felt as if there was a lot of potential to Epimenides that could have been but never was, and I still feel similarly. Epimenides in canon was so vastly disappointing. Don't get me wrong, what we got was AWESOME, but as like one of the key characters of the game I think he failed. But to be fair we got even less of Sothis but also she wasn't a BRAND NEW CHARACTER NEVER EVEN REFERENCED IN THREE HOUSES BEFORE. Like, if you want more canon Sothis, go play three houses, but uh, if you want more canon Epimenides? Fuck you I guess lmao

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I've really really REALLY been into Epimenides & Myson lately. Quite literally all of their relationship is based entirely off of my own imagination but I like what I've created! It's almost like this was thought up by a super hot person who knows exactly my tastes fr fr

My unpopular opinion about this character

This is adjacent to Epimenides because there's just so little of him to see ion canon but I don't like it how people overwrite Arval's they/them pronouns with Epimenides' he/him pronouns just because of their connection. The game tells us that Arval is its own being and I think the different pronouns really solidify that. I think Arval in canon wouldn't mind being called by he/him pronouns because I think Arval would use any pronouns but in the meta/fandom world it really makes me a little pissed, because it's like they don't even care about Arval enough to properly use their pronouns. It's an easy mistake to make and not that big of a deal but as someone with mixed pronouns it makes me upset

One thing I wish would happen / had happened to this character in canon

I think the purpose Epimenides served was a great one, I enjoyed the story and what was left implied and unanswered and up to our own interpretations. I do wish we got more of Epimenides all around because he's such a cool character in design and in concept. Like, a mad scientist so powerful he actually literally made himself a god? We see that a lot in sci-fi and contemporary concepts, but never quite medieval fantasy, and he did it specifically out of love for his people rather than just being power hungry! I admire him as a character quite a lot

[ectonurites]

No hate meant towards him at all, but ngl I really kinda didn’t think Tim and Bernard would make it this far as a couple or like, last this long? I’m not even sure Meghan Fitzmartin thought they would, because I remember an interview or something where she was asked why she chose Bernard and rather than it being something about his character or relationship with Tim, she said it was because he was from the time period in comics she wanted to evoke, iirc. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Ah yes, so first of all I do know exactly which interview you're talking about, I had gone and transcribed the section you're referencing myself a while back! I'm not gonna copy & paste all of that, but here is a link to the post where I did it so you can see her exact phrasing.

One thing I do want to note is that Bernard's relationship to Tim was at least kind of part of her reasoning—specifically that Bernard was a friend of Tim's who existed outside of the hero life: "[...] it really was important for it to be like, ya know, not in a superhero space but like in a- in a very Tim personal space. Like, this is who Tim Drake is and this is a person who knows Tim Drake."

Also, funnily enough your paraphrasing ("because he was from the time period in comics she wanted to evoke") actually kind of... sounds more like it's based on a line in the commentary I made where I was explaining how I interpreted what she said ("A seemingly big factor in why Bernard was chosen was to evoke feelings of that specific time") rather than her actual words ("I, um, I really sort of wanted to get back to that particular emotional space for Tim.") Maybe we just make similar word choices though lmao.

But anyways: I did specifically link the version of that post where I had made that additional commentary talking through my thoughts on the reasoning behind picking Bernard—tldr being that imo the story of Sum of Our Parts was about 'Tim figuring out his identity' above 'Tim finding the ultimate romance', so picking Bernard as a supporting character from Tim's old solo run to solidify and support the theme [rather than an extensive history with Tim being the deciding factor] made plenty of sense for the story being told and worked effectively.

Now, that post was written in 2021 so obviously things are in a different place now—but I do say something there that I wanna bring up, because I think it captures what my opinion on the future of the relationship had been back when it was new:

"From here on they could either further develop the relationship to be something with a lot of romance, or maybe Bernard just serves his purpose as the guy Tim realizes he likes guys with and they part ways to go on to date other people, either thing could work and make sense depending on what stories future writers (either Fitzmartin if she gets to continue with Tim after Urban Legends #10, or anyone else who picks him up for content focused on him in the future) are trying to tell."

I was always in a 'this could go several different ways' camp! Kept an open mind, lmao. And I do think that like, from the ending point of Sum of Our Parts, that was probably the intent—while having one bit to continue the story in Urban Legends #10 was obviously secured by the time of publication for #6, the vague end note of #10 (which just states the fact that Tim would get content in 2022, not specifying what) definitely implies that beyond that/at that point in time things were less certain about his upcoming direction. Having things end in an open enough way where if Meghan didn't get to continue with Tim there would be a complete story, but that if things did get to continue with her she'd have a plan/path to go down, yk?

And I think it's clear now that they did end up going down the 'further developing it' path since Meghan stayed on as Tim's writer for a while (between Tim Drake: Robin and Dark Crisis: Young Justice). And frankly, despite the reasoning behind Bernard being chosen seeming more theme-related than anything else, I think it's also clear Meghan just had a fondness for him/that timeframe he came from, hence why she took the opportunity to explore things further with them when she was given it. Like, idk maybe this is just based on Vibes™ but I feel like Meghan's intent was always to keep going with the Tim/Bernard thing as long as she was the one writing Tim.

I do feel like if anyone else had ended up as Tim's primary writer after the Urban Legends story, things may have turned out differently and the relationship may not have lasted the way it has—but it's hard to truly say since that's not what happened.

Now that she's not currently slated for anything upcoming with Tim (at least not that I'm aware of, frankly Tim doesn't have much coming up at all aside from a general 'he'll likely be showing up in some capacity in batbooks' sentiment) I think the future of the two of them is a bit less steady. Not that I think they're immediately doomed or anything, but just that next time Tim gets solo content it could easily be from someone who doesn't want to deal with a civilian boyfriend element, who knows. But now that they actually do have some content under their belt in Tim Drake: Robin, it could be something someone else wants to pick up and explore even more, too. It's simply... hard to say!

But basically: I definitely understand being surprised they've lasted this long, because a part of me is surprised about that too/didn't expect it to last this long—but another part of me is less surprised based on some factors of the situation (namely just: who has been doing the majority of writing of Tim).

[sonicasura]

Two Paths Of A Transformation: Transformers Series

I decided to add this list of Transformers Series I seen and what you might see if I choose one interpretation for either Trollhunters/Transformers scenario.

Here is the list in general

Transformers Cybertron

Bayverse except The Last Knight (excluded but some characters from it might show up in Reboot)

Reboot Movieverse (No spoilers for RotB only characters mentioned are from the trailer i.e Mirage and Arcee)

Transformers Prime

Transformers Robots In Disguise 2015 (merge with Prime as there'll be major changes to the former like Older Bumblebee and both character groups interacting.)

Transformers Animated (Excluded from My Motorcycle Is A Robot since it's a fresh start for Prowl)

Now that's done. Here we go! This is what you would most likely expect between these two scenarios and the respective Transformers iteration if chosen.

Troll or More

Transformers Cybertron: Post EP 2

Autobot Discoverer: Jetfire

The Autobot was looking for clues about the Omega Lock and heard that Arcadia Oaks will be a best place to look. Jetfire didn't expect an actual war aftermath between peculiar stone creatures, humans nor the strange beast like Cybertronian. There goes hiding in plain sight.

Congrats Optimus Prime! You just became a cool dad to four more human teenagers, one teenage Cybertronian, one wizard, two Akiridions, one dragon familiar, two trolls and one plant fairy demigod. A larger audience for thy dad jokes!

Can I say Autobots in Trollmarket? Let's be real that Bud would honestly want to at least have a second base with Arcadia being a good hub for public relations as the main reason. Real one is because he wants to know more about magic.

Humans on the battlefield! I repeat humans on the battlefield! Claire just teleported Thundecracker into a cliff! Toby whacked Starscream with a gravity hammer! Where did Steve and Eli get those cannons?! Douxie clearly earned his name as he just hit Megatron with a magic guitar!

Jim is precious and he snares Jungle Planet with the curiosity of a lost Sparkling in seconds. Even when he rams Scourge for being mean to Lori. He's got 'Adopt Me' written on his forehead.

Strickler and Optimus being the responsible dads with huge responsibilities. (Both are intimidated by Barbara too.) Pirate jokes ahoy as Strickler tends to hang out on Optimus' shoulder like a parrot alongside their pirate captain.

Movieverse: Post Bumblebee

Autobot Discoverer: Mirage

Was just passing through and Arcadia Oaks being a pit stop. Optimus knew the moment Mirage mentioned running into a war aftermath that it's going to be a LONG DAY. The strange stone organics and the Cybertronian amongst them solidify it.

Tired dad Optimus Prime acquires 12 more kids with only one being a Cybertronian. All of them are mischievous gremlins and have either weaponry or powers. Primus help him.

Bumblebee is FINALLY not the youngest Autobot of the group anymore! He called dibs on big brother in an instant much to Mirage's dismay. Jim's just confused about why they're bickering and a bit too hungry to care.

Arcee has now joined the kickass girl's group. She often hangs out at Tarron's place and they talk about all kinds of stuff together. It is very refreshing especially when the girls prank the boys.

Optimus has an aneurysm the moment the kids run into the battlefield. Mirage thinks it's cool as he, Toby and Krel try out a new combo. Bumblebee is shooting from atop Jim's back. Arcee doesn't help either as she gets Douxie closer to fire off a spell.

Truck dad goes to Trollhunter dad for advice as the other two troll dads are enablers to the kids' dumb antics. Strickler just pats a shellshocked Optimus on the back while Barbara regains order in seconds.

Mirage decides Arcadia Oaks is the coolest place to hide out at. Drive Thru Movie theaters are so much more fun when you don't have to go incognito. Even if the trolls are snack thieves.

Transformers Prime/Robots In Disguise 2015: Post Darkness Rising/Trust Exercises

Autobot Discoverer: Ratchet

He rarely goes on missions, especially solo ones as someone has to maintain the space bridge. Sadly Ratchet is the only expert when it comes to strange Energon signals. He knew he shouldn't have left the base upon the now inactive warzone with the humans, stone creatures and the lone teenage Cybertronian.

Ratchet dumps 12 kids for Optimus to be an awkward dad for as he ain't herding them alone. Man is stunned by the betrayal and is so confused. He drags down Bumblebee with him since the bot got his new voice box.

You can bet your ass every Autobot had an aneurysm when the human kids ran into the battlefield. They tend to forget about the superpowers, magic and high tech weapons. It doesn't do much to ease the panic.

Secret base number 3 in Arcadia Oaks specifically connected to Trollmarket. Ratchet has to put his tools under lock and key as the trolls will eat em. At least he can study this 'Primordial Heartstone' in peace.

Optimus being so awkward especially since Jim is apparently clingy when it comes to the Prime. Why does this youngling keep trying to ram him or butt his horns against him? Blinky's answer about this being standard troll behavior for young trolls, well Jim specifically, confuses him more.

The kids and less mature Autobots definitely teach each other swears in respective languages much to Bumblebee's horror. It's quite infectious as Ratchet blurts out a Trollish swear then gasps in horror. Sidesweep and Miko thinks its hilarious.

Strickler has to help the poor Dadbots in reigning the kids. Trollhunter duties do include establishing the peace. Even if it means Barbara has to step in cause Sidesweep, Miko and Toby together are terrors.

Animated: Post Home Is Where The Spark Is

Autobot Discoverer: Bumblebee

Ratchet wanted Bee to inspect a strange minecart that had been uncovered below the base. The little bot didn't expect it be a speedy trip to California. Nor the aftermath with humans, strange stone creatures and a very odd bot.

Ratchet tries not to have a stroke thanks to the 12 new kids involved in their mission. Optimus awkwardly uses his inspirational dad skills to keep some semblance of peace. It works half the time.

Bumblebee is happy he isn't the youngest Autobot anymore but is annoyed that he's still the shortest. How come the new kid matches Bulkhead in size already and is still growing?! Toby just pats him on the back as consolation.

Prowl and Nari are nature siblings. They got a homemade garden growing near base alongside one for meditation purposes. AAARRRGGHH is often confused for a mossy rock though.

Optimus Prime is happy that someone likes hearing his speeches as Jim and Draal are curious. Everyone jokes he can now add Dadbot to his personal title. He prefers the term Dadimus.

Probably the least concerned about humans on the battlefield as they can properly defend themselves. None of the bots let them stray too far though. Even if it's funny when Starscream gets whacked in the face with a guitar and hammer.

Sari loves not being the only human in the group. Although Strickler makes sure she doesn't get into serious Troll business once the bots decide to have a second base in Arcadia. Barbara is a life saver for Ratchet when it comes to treating human youths.

My Motorcycle Is A Robot

Transformers Cybertron: Post Episode Landmine

Autobot Discoverer: Landmine

Optimus figured he should give his comrade some freedom would keep him from going stir crazy as he recovers. Why not check out California with Cody? Neither of them expected to discover a now inactive warzone nor the lone bot amongst humans and strange stone beings.

Congrats on the 13 new kids Optimus Prime. Although it seems Prowl is less than enthusiastic to talk with the dad pun machine. Maybe something happened in the past?

"How To Accommodate A Half Troll In Your Secret Base, Written By An Autobot". Red Alert learns that Jim should never forget his special Sunlight Protection necklace as sunstains are difficult to tend to. Disgust Against Merlin increases. P.S Lock up any important tools or they might get eaten by a hungry half troll.

Autobots try to bond with the ninjabot albeit with varying success. Landmine has the most success while poor Optimus needs Draal and Jim to help him even talk to Prowl. It's gonna take awhile...

Teenagers being absolute terrors on the battlefield much to the Decepticons sudden horror. You know shit is about to hit the fan when Starscream gets clocked by a crystal hammer then knocked over by a half troll teen. Prowl is the only Autobot proud with the chaos.

Barbara being an absolute terror as she represents the Trolls when meeting planet leaders. Scourge gets throttled by a half Troll mother into next week much to Override's amusement. Better by on your best behavior in Arcadia should ya visit!

Beast Cyber Planet Key and Jim? Unpredictable combination of monstrous proportions. Jim learns how to be a beast alongside Leo Breaker. Prowl gets dogpiled later as the poor former human misses his brother.

Movieverse: Post Bumblebee

Autobot Discoverer: Optimus Prime

He had picked up an unknown distress signal linked to his comm. system. The source being somewhere in Arcadia Oaks, California. Optimus never thought it to be a horrific aftermath of a war between humans, strange stone entities and the lone Autobot who looks at him like a ghost.

Optimus becomes an even more tired dad to 13 kids with one avoiding him and Bumblebee like the plague. At least he has some help in the form of the human 'Trollhunter' turned half troll. Primus give him more assistance.

Young Autobots are curious about how it's like to have two non-Cybertronian siblings and be adopted by a former human. Prowl just stares before pointing at his two trollish siblings cross horns as they spar while Barbara fell asleep on some tires from exhaustion. "...Guess this is how bossman feels everyday."

Is it bad to be half concerned about how feral these teenagers are on the battlefield? Prowl ain't holding them back nor is Barbara. Optimus knew he needs a drink later when Toby began to FLY with his hammer.

Secret weapon to handling young Autobots is a half troll mother. It is quite a sight to see a small woman drag a giant robot by his servos after he got into a police chase. Even more impressive with the scolding that follows.

Bee and Optimus try to reach out to Prowl. Ninjabot closes up until his two siblings give him a shove. Reluctant bonding time with heartache ahoy!

Arcadia Oaks proves to be very whacky after they welcome the refugee Autobots. Laying low is a bit difficult when a goblin hungrily stares at your tires. Good thing there are places they can hide out that isn't the street.

Transformers Prime/Robots In Disguise 2015: Post Darkness Rising/Trust Exercises

Autobot Discoverer: Arcee

She had been investigating a possible Energon Mine when a signal reached her. Arcee obviously alerted command before she went to check it out. The war aftermath between humans and strange stone beings were not what Arcee expected. Neither was the bot amongst them.

13 kids gets adopted and split between Ratchet, Bumblebee, then finally Optimus. Prowl doesn't seem to want anything to do with the three Autobots or Bulkhead though. Not a great start.

Grimlock wanting to roughhouse with Prowl's trollish siblings? Absolutely! It's way more fun when they can be wild just like this Dinobot! Barbara makes sure the boys don't go too far though troll mom might step in for a turn.

Most concerned about humans not only being on the battlefield but Prowl is all for it! Becomes clear that the 'War For Arcadia' went much deeper than they thought. At least there is some supervision...

"How To Treat Sunstains, Written By A Tired Autobot". Ratchet is just lucky that it's similar to dealing with metal burns. Although Miko is getting scolded later as Jim gets treated. At least he doesn't try to run like some patients.

Blinky, Eli and Fixit are disastrous conspiracy nuts that need to be watched at all time. Doesn't help when Krel, Sideswipe or Miko likes to enable them for even extra chaos. Prowl is quick to call Barbara before they set a house on fire.

Team Unknown Heartache tries to befriend the ninjabot. Half troll mom intervenes before Prowl has a mental breakdown. Trauma is very hard to recover from so it's best to take one step at a time.

And that's it! Until next time folks, I'll see you back in Arcadia. For now Transform and Roll Out!

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Oh Viv.

Oh Viv ....

Oh that Classic Disney Animator Syndrome Cringe goes deep, huh?

Like oh no....

I'm sorry but This Bimbo.

"She's not one big fat Jewish stereotype that I've constantly made fat jokes with in the past she's just a 1920s flapper girl I vaguely based off a chicken!"

...Okay ... So still fatphobic and honestly kind of sexist and yeah ... Sure she's based on a chicken, Sweetie ... Just like how The Penguin from Batman and that shitty Harley Quinn Animated Series is just based on a penguin and like how Disney Villains are just Disney Villains and it's not like any certain types of coding sometimes just objectively goes into making cartoons whatsoever whether one might be conscious of doing this or not and people are allowed to read into these things and interpret these things critically how they want to and there might actually be a valid criticism here this time for once even if it's a bit of needle in a haystack moment.

Yeah no, I'm going to let people have this one. The "chicken" should've had her head cut off the moment you decided to have her stop riding Alastor's pecker. Like I'm sorry, but you should've killed that Darling.

And oh yeah we need to talk about the gamer incel problem in this damn fandom. I didn't get this screenshot from twitter I got it from a short made by the guy who's gone on record saying that his favorite youtuber besides Viv is pewdiepie, and that he thinks Viv should be more like pewdiepie (because he always has to insert his shitty opinions into his boring drama reports) and if you know anything at all about pewdiepie, you know I don't give a shit what some vivziepaparazzi thinks when he says he doesn't think Medrano created an antisemitic stereotype due to bad character design, which yes, I'm sorry, is objectively the case regarding Mimzy this time.

And for all his own harping about how Medrano can't take criticism and needs to ether get a social media manager or get off social media and keep her mouth shut, Medrano really did need to just keep her mouth shut on this one and take a break from social media this time.

Also, given... some things I just learned last night while watching JayLaws video on Brandon Rogers, Vivienne has absolutely no right to be claiming she's uncomfortable, like oh my god. You hired this man.

I do love her, but next to the Blair White/ Sh0eonhead tribute this is probably the worst tweet she's ever posted and I'm so glad I wasn't there to witness it in real time.

I still love Brandon too but JayLaws video solidified that I'm never buying merch with Blitz on it ever if the whole "Rolling With Robbie" thing wasn't enough to convince me of that compromise already.

Tactless.

Speaking of ...Antis and Fantis obviously DNI.

[wanderingandfound]

So, long before I had tumblr I wanted to write fantasy books and so did my friends. We in fact solidified as a discrete group of friends doing NaNoWriMo in high school. And then obviously, tumblr is the blorbo website.

So I was surprised to the point of being lost for words on Sunday when I was chatting with my D&D group before our session and they were like "does Synodic even care about others?" and I explained that yeah, she's on good-ish terms with all the party members except for Gampy because one time he tried to mind control her and she values autonomy above all else. And the GM was like "sorry that lack of autonomy is kinda a theme here" and I was all ????????? it's a cosmic horror game? I built this character on purpose to interact with the themes? I like to see Synodic suffer?

And then someone asked why I wanted Synodic to suffer. 😭

I said that she wasn't me! I don't like to suffer myself but she's a fictional character. We've been playing for a few years together and I don't know how this hasn't come up before. I just assumed that even if other people were playing more as a power fantasy or the satisfying feelings of min-maxing the mechanics, they'd understand the concept of making a character to put into a terrarium jar and shake around.

This is explains why whenever I wanted to interpret the rules less charitably, like saying þ couldn't swim so falling off that pillar into the ocean with a backpack on should have been a bigger problem, or interpreting a third-party advancement on eldritch blast that said once per action when used it explodes and causes damage to those nearby as being a mandatory explodion and not an optional one, everyone was quick to reassure me that it didn't need to be so hard.

[psychewritesbs]

Hi there! I recently read your ask about Gojo's relationship dynamic with characters of Utahime and Nanami, I'll just focus on Utahime for this point I'm gonna make.

I'm a gjhm enjoyer, i mainly see myself in Utahime's shoes, she's very similar to me but I'll just say that, what I'm trying to get at here is that the song her CT is named after is more about "one sided love" rather than something forbidden, i mean forbidden yes but for singers perspective because she has these feelings for a man she knows will never truly love her back and is more than likely playing with her feelings yet she still cannot seem to stop harbouring affection for him. It is a very sad and tragic message about an unrequited love. Now, as someone that can relate to this type of emotional pain and heartache, i can say that it is not impossible but whether that was authors original intention or he decided to name her CT after a certain singers song is anyone's guess. I'm choosing to believe it's the former but since it's a very vague thing, it doesn't mean 100% unfortunately. Your point about Gojo not being emotionally available for anyone further solidifies this topic, and I'll just say that going off from a realistic take on the manga and what i understood about Gojo is that he did love Utahime/AND everyone else as he stated himself but for Utahime, not necessarily romantic, unfortunately. I get the sense that Gojo longed for that very understanding he once had between him and Geto but whether that understanding would further swim into a romantic territory is unknown. To me, he has an interesting dynamic with Utahime, one that i love to read as romantic were the circumstances different but also the one that i can totally see as platonic, sad but still.

I'll just end this ask here by saying that this isn't about undermining anyone's interpretation about characters relationships and how they see them. We do not need canons material approval to enjoy something however we like and how that resonates with us. I hope this ask wasn't too problematic for you, if it is, then you don't have to answer this at all and can yeet it out the window. Have a good one!

P.S i just remembered Akutami-sensei's comment about Gojo not being capable of showing sincerity/true heart to any woman... 🤓

Hola gjhm enjoyer anon! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! You sending this ask is not problematic at all, mate. I love the impartiality you share. Problematic would be you calling me delusional or sending a hateful anon ask because you don't agree with me and aren't open to the idea that a different perspective is not a threat to yours.

And frankly, even if I stand by my interpretation (because we see the world as we are and not as it is)... I have enjoyed reading about the different perspectives of this one topic 👍.

I've said it before, my experience of jjk is richer because of the many different perspectives of the people who share their thoughts on it. Some I agree with, some I don't, just the way not everyone agrees with me, c'est la vie.

So thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[conchelle]

So I've thought a little bit more about Subahibi. Some of my opinions have changes while others have solidified. Its definitely a visual novel that invites the reader to come to their own conclusion about whats happening and yeah, I think I'm gonna do just that.

I still don't accept the simple message of "Live Happily" from this VN. To me it just doesn't make sense if you even begin to think about what happened in the first half.

But then I realized a crucial detail that I was missing. Perspectives. Each chapter is told in an individual character's perspective. There is no solid information given in Subahibi. Only interpretations through another character's lens. The only way we can confirm the existence is something is if it's consistent enough with multiple accounts.

By the end of Subahibi we are still locked to someone perspective. That being Tomosane. In the end what the reader takes away from him is to "Live Happily."

As a core message, this fails for reasons I've already went on and on about. But then I stopped and considered. What if this wasn't the story itself trying to relay a message, but rather the advice from a cast of characters with heavy survivorship bias.

That's when everything made sense to me. The character we're left with by the end of the story are more or less completely uninvolved with the characters we came to knew in the first half. Tomosane doesn't know anything about Zakuro. Hasaki never really got to know the Takuji her brother ended up becoming. Yuki never even got a chance to meet anyone who atteneded Kita high school

They don't know the suffering of the characters who didn't survive. They only know their own and their own recovery. Living Happily worked in their situation and that's the advice they had to relay.

From that viewpoint, that message makes complete sense. I can accept that. But it just brings up probably the biggest issue I have with the story.

The first half and second half of Subahibi are almost completely unrelated.

Subahibi is a remake of a 1997 visual novel called Tsui no Sora that more or less follows the same story beats as the first half. So basically the original plot was written without what would become the second half of Subahibi in mind. And yeah it really shows.

Everything in the first half of Subahibi that relates to the second half just feels like a convenient excuse. The story tries to make the viewer think "Ooooo does this story have supernatural elements? Or maybe it's all just mental illness oooooo~"

The story really wants to throw me for a loop and I'm just not buying it because the fact that the whole Supernatural or Mental dilemma exists at tells me all I need to know.

Because the thing is. Everything that could possibly be the work of some kind of super wacky magic powers just make more sense when you frame them in a more human lens.

Was Mamiya really possessed by his deceased brother or is it just years of abuse and being forced to take on the image of his dead brother that destroyed his mental state and sense of self?

It just seems like a no-brainer to me. Why would you even attempt to insert the idea that supernatural magic can be involved when the explanation already provided is sufficient and realistic enough?

Did the trauma Mamiya experience cause him to develop DID or was it just Yuki and his original soul inhabiting his body the whole time?

Again. In this context the more fantastical option just makes less sense. The whole "magic" aspect is never expanded or developed enough to make me believe that this could even be a possibility in this world as opposed to trauma and mental illness which the first half of the story heavily focuses on.

My main issue with the second half of the story is just the fact that all it's attempts to connect and relate to the first half feel completely out of place. It pretends that its trying to throw some interesting questions at you to ponder about when in reality every question it brings up has already been logically explained in the first half.

It all just feels like a convenient excuse to distract the viewer from realizing that the second half practically throws everything you already know in the garbage and desperately tries to confuse you in hopes you won't notice. None of the characters we leave off with have anything to do with the characters we start off with.

Mamiya Takuji? Completely retconned. Despite being a whole person with thoughts and desires his entire character is wiped and never mentioned again. If we look at this from a completely realistic lens. His trauma is completely wiped cleaned and his cured from all mental illness. He doesn't get to improve as person or recover, he just reverts back to the younger version except with all the knowledge of someone of his current age. It doesn't make sense.

So let's look at this from the magic supernatural lens. His personality is wiped because it's actually his evil dead brother that's possessing his body and eventually he comes back and make the evil spirit go away!

None of these ideas are thoughtfully developed and one explanation shows gaping holes in the writing while the other is a more feel good quick excuse that tells the viewer not to dwell on it too much. Either way they both accomplish the same goal of completely writing out one of the most important characters to the first half so they can loosely connect him to the "true" protagonist of the second half.

How about Zakuro? She's a pretty integral character in the first half. She more or less kickstarts the plot so what's up with her? Despite being deceased her presence is heavy in the narrative and ends up effecting a good amount of the characters. So what do they do with her in the second half? Nothing? Absolutely nothing? Cool!

Like I get it. In the end her death wasn't anything more than just that. She lived and she died but the characters inflate her existence into something more even though she was mostly ignored while she was living. She wasn't a God or a savior. She was just a girl and that's fine.

The issue is that by the second half her entire existence has become irrelevant. None of the characters we follow know anything about her other than the fact that her suicide was the catalyst to all of this.

We never get a follow up on what really happened afterwards. It's implied she still has a family out there but they never make themselves known. Apparently it was a huge thing in the news but this is only mentioned in a passing statement. Despite it having an impact on so many people the cast we're left with barely acknowledges it.

Yuki is a whole character I genuinely don't even feel like going in depth into. Apparently she exists because Takuji wanted the ideal version of himself to be the only version of himself and in order to do that the old Yuki would be replaced by this new one who had the same personality but none of the memories and this had to happen because...reasons.

Her character really is just the most convenient excuse as to why the Yuki we end up seeing in the second half doesn't align with the first one we see. Once again she's just another character that very loosely relates to the second half and is quickly written out of the story when convenient.

The ending of Subahibi resolves all its conflict by writing out all the characters that were involved in the conflict. The conflict can't exist without the characters driving the story so how do you come to a resolution? Just remove them. Make them irrelevant. Takuji was obliterated from existence. Zakuro was forgotten. Yuki just stopped being relevant. So of course the characters in the second half got their happy ending. They were barely involved with the events that happened.

So in the end what do they have to say about everything that transpired? A simple message that has nothing to do with the events that actually occurred.

There is a third ending though. It's very vague and the most popular interpretations of it is that Ayana is somehow the ruler of this universe. Whether it be her dream, she's God disguised as a human, or she's the writer's self insert. It intentionally invites the viewer to come to their own conclusion about what all of this really is. And you know what? Yeah. I like it.

I feel it's way more in line with the themes Subahibi was trying to present than any forced happy ending for characters who could matter less. For a story like this, yeah.

I've seen a huge split between people who feel like the story dragged on and picked up in the second half and people who thought the story was interesting in the first half and fell off it the second. I'm not surprise there's such a divide because they are fundamentally two different stories with a very small convenient thread connecting them

I never really mentioned how I feel about the second half's narrative on it's own. I think it's alright for what is is. But of course it's greatly held back by the fact that it's trying to tell a story by hijacking another one. It's at its best when it doesn't even try to connect the two.

idk idk these are my thoughts. maybe they'll change again but I feel pretty solid on this

[op-sys-chaos]

As someone who loves the idea of “sassy badass grandpa butler Alfred Pennyworth” but who also knows he’s a problematic enabler, let me add my two cents.

Some of my first exposure to Alfred was comics like Red Robin 2009. Where you can see Alfred praise Tim for throwing hands with Damian (mostly because Damian was being an asshole and kinda deserved it iirc). What you don’t see in that comic is that the source of that argument, which was Damian getting Robin, came from Alfred. This thread is in fact the first time I learned that Alfred was behind that. (I haven’t read the Dick!Batman Damian!Robin run outside of maybe a single comic or two.)

But what’s interesting is even then, even when Alfred’s being sassy and all “good for you for sticking up for yourself, master Tim,” he’s still encouraging the siblings to fight. He’s enabling Tim and Damian’s whole fucked up dynamic instead of saying “hey, you two should sit down and talk it out and get your shit together.” Damian constantly tries to kill Tim and all Alfred says is “well done, you stood up for yourself and fought the child who keeps trying to kill you.”

Alfred is a massive enabler. He stands aside and lets shit happen.

Alfred wasn’t happy about participating in the 16th birthday thing iirc. But he did it anyway. Because he doesn’t say no to Bruce, no matter how wrong he is.

He did at one point quit during Tim’s 90s Robin run because he was mad at Bruce, and he went to go support Tim instead. Idk exactly what Bruce did bc it didn’t occur in the comics I was reading, it likely happened in a Batman comic and I was reading the Robin run. But Alfred does have a limit to what he’ll support. And I think him leaving and supporting Tim (who was also kinda pissed at Bruce for being an asshole) helped solidify the “Alfred loves his grandkids and supports them” stance for those who read it. It certainly helped me form my opinion of “sassy badass grandfather butler” because that was what he did in that run.

Basically, I’m conflicted. I love fics where Alfred is awesome. I love awesome Alfred. But also, I can definitely admit that he’s problematic. I already knew he was a massive enabler of Bruce’s bullshit. But I don’t think he’s so problematic that you can’t see him in a good light. And I don’t see the harm in painting him as a good grandparent in fics, because it’s fanfiction. Just like how Pit Madness is the only reason Jason was ever mad in the first place in some fics, if people want Good Alfred they can have him. Both make reconciliation fics easier, and we in the DC fandom do love our found families.

Side note, I don’t think the whole “allowed the negative narrative about Jason to spread post-death” argument is particularly relevant. Yeah, you’re not wrong, but literally everyone was saying it. Tim was saying it and the other Titans, Jason’s friends iirc, were saying it too. And it’s not the kind of thing Tim would ever say if that comic was written today! It was a product of the time. Readers hated Jason Todd so the writers talked shit about him and made him look bad. And so, the characters did too. That’s less “Alfred allowing a shitty thing to happen” and more “the writers had EVERYONE doing a shitty thing.” The whole hero community was pulling that crap iirc. So I don’t think that’s a point against Alfred since the whole hero community was pulling that.

Another side note, canon is very subjective when it comes to DC. There’s so much content that you’ll never be able to read it all. I’d never even so much as heard of Julia, because I hadn’t read comics that mention her.

So if you’ve only read Good Alfred comics you’ll assume he’s a great guy. And if you’re like me and you’ve read some of each, with Good Alfred first, then you’ll have the image of “generally good guy who can be a problematic enabler.” But if you’ve only seen Enabler/Asshole Alfred, or that’s what you saw first, that’ll be your image of him. Whatever your interpretation is, that’s the correct one. There is no “right” way to see canon. Even two people who’ve read the exact same comics in the exact same order will come to different conclusions. So read and write what you want. :)

One trope that i find weird is that during batfam reconciliation fics, the batfam members use alfred as like the big red button to bring jason back, but i feel like that wouldn't actually work. at all.

Jason would HATE alfred after everything he did after he died. Canonically, it was alfred that made the "a good soldier" memorial case, bruce wanted it down but alfred insisted he keep it up, he was the one that gave tim the Robin suit THAT JASON DIED IN, and drove him to save batman and nightwing with NO training at all. He also helped keep up all the "jason was always doomed for a life of crime, and he was an angry child that got himself killed" narrative that was spun after DitF. Alfred pennyworth is batman's biggest enabler, and has stood by while bruce did all his bullshit, such as the whole UtRH arc, and RHatO #25, where he said that it was inevitable that jason would go back on the whole no killing agreement.

Alfred may care for all of Bruce's children, but his only grandchild is damian, as shown when he made him robin behind tim's back( the whole "dick made damian robin" thing is just to add to tim angst. Dick was infact against that whole shitshow). If it doesn't benefit bruce, his pseudo son/employer and landlord, he wouldn't give a fuck.

It's basically impossible to write a reconciliation fic at all without completely rewriting characters, especially jason and alfred. Jason believes that batman's mission is flawed and useless since he doesn't permanently stop crime, so he'd never fully give up killing, the whole reason there's a rift between him and bruce, and alfred isn't this doting grandfather that always sides with his grandchildren and bakes cookies and makes tea.

Also, one major thing the fandom forgets is that alfred is canonically a shitty father to julia, his bio daughter. He abandoned his own daughter for the waynes, he'd never prioritise bruce's children over him.

[nikethestatue]

I am really looking forward to reading about Elain’s inner journey. Because she is such a mysterious character, I need to know how she views herself--does she think that she is strong? The fact that she survived so much in her short life, has it made her bitter at all? Does she resent Lucien? Does she like her new life? The opportunities? 

I really wish we found out more about her desires for herself--not romantic desires, which we are already aware of, but what does she want to be? Does she have ambitions? Does she want to help? Or rule? Or marry well? Or heal?

We know that Nesta resented her power, did not want to use it, did not want to even think about it and saw it as this parasite inside of her. How does Elain feel about whatever powers she has?

Does she have visions that she never shares with anyone? Can she interpret them? 

I am always curious about her feelings about Nesta--how did she feel about Nesta’s cutting everyone off? Her self-destructive behavior? Was Elain angry? Resentful? Worried? 

Does she want to go on adventures? Is she sometimes upset (or always upset) that she is overlooked? That she is always being viewed a certain way by most people, even those closest to her, and she can’t seem to crack that solidified opinion?

If Lucien wasn’t her mate, would she enjoy his company? Does she find him amiable and pleasant? And will they become friends? (which I hope they do)

What did she see when she saw the Suriel? How did she locate it? How does she feel about the Cauldron and its strange affection towards her? What happened at the Hybern camp?

Does she really miss Graysen? Knowing what she knows now, does she feel like she dodged the bullet?

Is she a fanged beast? Can she shift into a monster? Does she? 

How much will SJM NOT address and how much will she retcon?

[invisiblegarters]

Eternal Yesterday Ep 4 Thoughts

This drama, man. It somehow manages to get just a little better every single week - how does it do that? Japan is killing it at the end of the year again, only this time I have no confidence that my heart won’t wind up ripped right out of my chest at the end. 

As with last week, I’m incapable of either objectivity or brevity. I blame these two:

This friend group is great. Even from episode one they seemed like a group who knew each other well and were comfortable with each other (and I was utterly tickled by the “this again *eyeroll*” reactions that Hashimoto and the Class Prez had to Koichi going on about Mitsuru’s cuteness in that ep. Said so much with so little). And I am glad that they explained the whole thing with Kagami, because now it is starting to make everyone’s acceptance of Koichi as the Living Dead Boy make a little more sense. They’re already used to weird and inexplicable. Also they make me laugh. From Hashimoto’s “Morning! Still dead, then?” to how excited Kagami was to see a demon in the flesh (so to speak). 

Dying.

I think that she and Mitsuru are the only two following the conversation enough to understand that Koichi might be feeding off of Mitsuru. I could be wrong, but that is how I interpreted that little nod between them. But it’s probably only a matter of time before Koichi figures it out, and then I think we’ll see him start to pull away. As if he isn’t horrified enough by himself already. 

Mitsuru’s house is so gorgeous and so sterile. It seems like the kind of place where you can’t actually live, because you might mess something up.  But I don’t think Koichi notices:

I’d be kinda worried it was a zombie thing if there weren’t a dozen examples of Koichi looking at Mitsuru like that already.  Best part? Now Mitsuru is looking back just as fondly.

I’m struck by how stark the difference is between the way he acted in the flashbacks vs. the way he is in pretty much this whole episode. And can I just say how much more attractive Mitsuru is when he’s making expressions? I’ve never liked him so much as I do this episode. 

The mom stuff just breaks my heart. I don’t know why, but I’d assumed she was a loving mother (I had also assumed she was dead, fwiw). Poor Mitsuru, with a distant dad and a strict mom who never touched him. No wonder he didn’t recognize Koichi’s love for what it was, sheesh. And no wonder he’s embracing the whole “Living Dead Boyfriend” concept. Who wouldn’t, if it meant that they didn’t have to let go of the one person that they knew loved them? I’m not crying, you’re crying (no, it’s me. It’s going to be me a lot I think). 

I am glad that we had some reaction from Koichi about being dead. He was so happy go lucky in episode two, not really seeming to care, and it threw me a bit. I am also completely fascinated with him finding himself disgusting and thinking that Mitsuru must too (I kind of love how it never occurs to him that Mitsuru feels absolutely the same as Koichi would if the situations were reversed). And Mitsuru is just lovely here with his reassurance. 

And then this drama proceeds to destroy all my expectations by not only serving good kiss:

But also bringing the heat:

Koichi went full seme in a way I did not expect holy shit. Although that makes his reaction when Kagami asks if they did something special that night even more hilarious. Chill, thy name is not Koichi.

So I had to eat all my words about JBLs and dead fishies, not that I’m complaining. I’d already come around to the idea that the kiss in the previous episode fit where the characters were at the time, but this solidified it. 

Okay WTF is up with the teachers? I’m officially curious. But also when I saw this:

I have to admit my first reaction was “we already have our zombie member, my dude.” 

Next week: more cuddles! And I’m guessing the teachers find out about Koichi. I guess we are going to see what happens with his family, which I was wondering about and which I know will probably wind up breaking my heart, like so much of this drama is set to do. Bring it on, I guess. I mostly knew what I was signing up for. 

[unreliable-narratoe]

Man, I have this take too. I think he was in his right mind and LWJ misunderstands gui dao (and he learns better in the second life- because if LWJ still thinks gui dao is harmful and doesn't comment on it, it's... Kind of weird?) Now some of the fandom agree gui dao is alright and doesnt harm the mind when there's a 'WWX had the responsibility to stop gui dao if it was affecting him and the people around him!' take but overblow WWX's "helplessness" in Jin Zixuan's death.

He was not led astray by his evil powers imo- he was consistently on edge, thought he could do everything by himself because if it's him it's okay if he hurts because he can power through and made a wrong call. If it wasn't Wen Ning but a sword in his head, Jin Zixuan would still have gotten run over.

The flute thing solidified that gui dao is more External too! Because no way is he letting a kid chew on resentment energy lmao. He's far too Good for that. I just think he's an incredibly charismatic and endearing person (hence why the wens warmed up to him) but in that current political climate he made some unfortunate calls because he thought he could combat it all with the fear he amassed as YLLZ.

Like he would win a battle but lose the war because he's focused on the daily everyday people and that's ALRIGHT. It's just how things are sometimes, and it's why the tragedy is more compelling. Maybe things would have turned out better if he did X or Y or if his loved ones did X or Y but there's never a guarantee, much like real life. So I think we should all give everybody who tried their best ( talking about WWX here in particular but also other characters) some grace without taking away their 'flaws'. Ofc it's alright to hate a character, that's different consumption of media and opinions, but interpreting everyone uncharitably and in black and white makes for a boring story. It's fiction for a reason.

Sj too! I wouldn't want to be near him in real life, but he's a very compelling character and reducing him only to Child Abuser or woobifyjng him in serious discourse is a disservice to the writing.

And the nies are so interesting!! Technically their cultivation is the closest to 'demonic and they only scrape by because at least the swords are inanimate objects of resentment.

Also RE; LWJ's come back to Gusu with me. Oh man... that one was so.... for some reason people think WWX is oblivious??? The man climbed LWJ like a tree the moment he clocked actual interest. WWX is not oblivious lmao he's working with some comphet, but in the first life he simply has a lot going on. He doesn't have time for romance + LWJ is being so vague here.... imagine the uptight guy that went around telling you your obviously FINE cultivation you're using because you don't have a golden core (cannot overstate how much this impacted WWX) is evil and needs to be stopped is asking you to come back to Gusu?? Like whaaaat?? And where is LWJ going to put the wen remnants?? (Even if they communicated, WWX didn't let his own sect come under fire for protection the wen remnants. He kept saying he could deal with it himself. Why would he take advice from someone, who in his pov, is holier than thou?? Only we know LWJ's motivations)

They all have lives outside each other and beyond the protag centered morality regardless of what mxtx says about good person-bad person, so it's just a shame to reduce them to any one pining archetype imo

If one more person calls wuxians ghost path 'demonic cultivation' with no /j attached i will take arms the way nie huaisan does it (cry)

[ramblingaboutglee]

Do you have an opinion about Blaine’s character and how they changed him each season?

If this blog has proved anything, it’s that I can ramble, so here we go. 

Watching Glee independently of fandom was... weird. There are a lot of times I delved into fandom after and saw some plot point that I’d loved and found a perfect culmination, actually considered out-of-character or some such. From what I can tell, S2 was such a huge point in-fandom and with fanfic that the fan interpretations of a lot of characters ended up superceding the characters as they were on the show (take Will Schuester getting retconned to Journey superfan in one episode, when in S1 Journey was sung because of its association to Finn when Will wasn’t leading the group, so the show was clearly aware of what I assume are fandom jokes esp in regard to Will not listening to the kids and willing to play it up, and it did seem to happen at a few points). 

All that to say, with Klaine being as big as it was, I feel like Blaine got hit with that harder than most? How much was writers responding to some fandom-takes, how much was the televised version of the character departing from the fanon iteration, and how much was retconning is hard to say.

So, to go season by season. 

Whoops sorry, yeah this is going on for a while. 

Originally... Blaine didn’t really have much of a character? Season 2 was very bare-bones on the character front, they’d shifted the show’s focus to what was almost a sketch comedy at times so everyone was just one or two traits ramped up to insanity with little cohesion, Blaine existed solely in relation to Kurt, and he was ‘advice-giving gay kid, who’s less experienced than he lets on.’ (Like, he’s less sure of even his sexuality than Kurt). That was it. But I imagine this was also the time fanfic solidified him in a lot of people’s minds, when a lot of it wasn’t reflective of who Blaine was on the show? Especially with his minimal arc being presenting himself as more wise and knowing than Kurt, when at the end of the day this turned out to basically be an act/how he presents himself, and him being just as capable of misreading situations (Gap attack) as anyone. But if you read fic when you’d only seen him in his element with all the Warblers at his back and none of the layers being peeled back, I can see that messing with perception of him.

Season 3 defined him more clearly as a hopless romantic and a dreamer, both making more sense of his character, and fitting in with the themes of the show. The optimist who sometimes does questionable things in the name of that optimism, but trusts that things will work out well. Cliche views of sex, overcoming odds, romance... Which justifies his previous characterisation, though cracks start to show as he adjusts from being a big deal in the Warblers, to The New Kid. This carries on to season 4, where he faces he consequences of those aspirations, and acknowledges that switching schools for a guy is, well, a romantic idea in a storybook but kinda ends poorly in reality, following on from his alienation as well when the New Directions aren’t as in-sync with him as the Warblers were. Cue Blaine going from basically the head of a gay cult show choir in a private school with strict no bullying policies, in regular contact with his boyfriend, to alone in a homophobic less well-to-do school. He made the decision out of cheerful, unrealistic idealism, and it ended up the way it inevitably would. 

Which is when the meta element comes in again. Blaine is definitely acting different in season 4, but he’s also existing in a different context. For me, at least, it felt like natural development? He’s the hopeless romantic who feels like he can’t relate to his boyfriend, because Kurt’s graduated high school and moved to NY, Kurt has a completely different life and set of life experiences to Blaine. Heck, the fact Kurt ends up in an open relationship in S4, while the end of his dynamic with Blaine was down to him sleeping with someone else says a lot. Post high school, Kurt’s development is necessarily supercharged because that’s just how life goes once you’re out away from home for the first time, S4 was admittedly too overstretched to fully justify it all, but the fact that the NY cast had to adjust to a massively different context was one of the conflicts of the season. Blaine, meanwhile, is still in McKinley. Still in Lima. Unsurprisingly, he lags behind, and feels that pressure. 

Season 5 I guess is where we get weird? 5B, at least the New York stretch, follows on from the above well - post-graduation, Blaine is still the romantic, still tries for things with Kurt, and they definitely chafe a little to begin with when they try to completely jump into living together fresh after barely having gotten back together, and it clicks as a good follow-up to where they were. They have to get to know who one another are now, after massive transitional points in their lives. 

5A is, okay, tricky. The proposal fits who Blaine was - the same guy that swapped schools for Kurt, the impulsive romantic - but after, Blaine gets a gimmick every week, but then every episode of 5A was a different gimmick every week (then again, the same can be said for S2 where Blaine originated so hey) so it’s hard to say much about character. You have him befriending Tina and Sam, with all the crushes there, some stuff I am not touching, but it sticks out as well that Blaine does tend to stick with what’s familiar to him. But yeah, this is the bit where it feels like Glee dropping consistency for set pieces and jokes. 

S6 then sweeps in to conclude the arc. Obviously a big recurring element of Glee was characters finding themselves, deciding who they are and what they want to be, and Blaine gets matched with Rachel in this regard - he ostensibly gets a big success, but it doesn’t last, and he’s back doing nothing with no lodestone. So he does the same thing she does, and returns to his high school for the familiar atmosphere - and picks the school where he felt the most comfortable. One arc later, and his big song with Kurt for the finale includes the line “The daydream believer and the homecoming queen,” and I’m just assuming there are, like, a hundred klaine fics with that exact title.

Okay so, after all that. I don’t feel like Blaine necessarily changes at his core? At least for me, the arc’s easy to trace out - he’s a dreamer, a romantic, an optimist, who figures problems are easy to solve and that things will work out the way they do in daydreams. Reality challenges that at a few points, it hits him hard, and he loses both his Warbler-fame and Kurt and does start to spiral as Glee characters are wont to do. He definitely develops, but the core seems pretty consistent. 

Glee is really consistent with making characters question what it is they want, and whether it’ll make them happy. Like, basically every character has to go through that arc and come to their own answers. Rachel has her Broadway dreams and ends up struggling with the reality, Quinn has basically everything in regards to what she perceives as the ‘proper’ way to live her life, Kurt has his Broadway dreams especially with the limited roles for his range of voice... For Blaine, his dreams hit a similar beat, coming with the storybook idea as to how his relationship will go, solving someone’s problems with a few words (with Karofsky - a failure), being the wise mentor, grand romantic gestures that end up being bad ideas... 

Though I guess the oddities stick out more, with S2 and 5A as seasons with different focuses meaning you’re getting the same character in functionally a different genre which is always messy, and the vibe I get that fandom had a solid conception of who Blaine ought to be, before the end of S2? 

This was probably too long a reply, but hey. 

Overall, my opinion of Blaine is... relatively neutral? Which is no reflection on him - as much as I can make jokes about a lot of dynamics, I’m most attached to the characters after graduation just because, well, I watched the show as an adult. Unavoidably, they’re the ones I find more relatable. So barring characters with really solid inherent hooks (so, Quinn) I can enjoy the high school drama, but none of the characters immediately stand out to me - so Blaine works at a disadvantage with less than a full season’s length graduated. (Equally, to be honest, the seasons where Blaine felt like more of a presence, 2 and 5, were also my least favourite seasons, which definitely isn’t down to him but it does hurt his character, for me). I like his arc, Klaine is obviously fun, I like their dynamic as exes awkwardly navigating one another too sorry. He isn’t someone I hugely thought about because out-of-fandom he was a fairly secondary-to-tertiary character a lot of the time, but I like his development and he has some good arcs. I like how he goes full circle, from playing the part of a mentor in S2, to actually gaining the experience and confidence to fill that role by the end. 

Thanks for the ask! And, er, sorry