#and spends more time on the things that were glossed over in the narrative

[skufdaddyswansea]

Mouthwashing, Dual Protagonists, and Captain Curly

While the vast majority of Mouthwashing is shown from Jimmy's perspective, the events leading up to the Tulpar's crash usually follow Curly. There are several interesting reasons for this, but there's one reason in particular that I'd like to focus on.

By setting Jimmy and Curly up as dual protagonists, we're invited to draw comparisons between them. Not only are they the lenses through which we view the story, they pass the role of Captain back and forth between their chapters.

It's easy to feel sympathy for Curly, given the state he spends the larger part of the game in. It can also be easy to gloss over his more subtle shortcomings when measuring him up against Jimmy.

In this post, I want to take a closer look at Curly's character. And more specifically, how he relates to one of the game's most obvious themes.

Is Curly able to deal with the consequences of his actions? Does he realize his own failures and how they harm the people around him? What does he do with the power he's granted over others?

Does Curly take responsibility?

Jimmy's fixation here gives us a good jumping-off point. It's certainly possible that he's only really been told this once or twice, but because he's Jimmy he's blown it out of proportion out of spite. It's also possible he's entirely making it up because he's projecting, but I think the former is more likely if anything.

And, if I had to take a guess where he heard it from, I'd put my money on The Pony Express itself.

In the eyes of The Pony Express, a "great leader" isn't someone diligent or able to meet the needs of his crew. The real reason Curly was able to rise to the top of the ladder and become captain is because he gets the job done without rocking the boat.

I'm establishing all this because I think it's worth examining by what metric he's being judged. Because, while it may be Jimmy who most often digs this point up, Curly doesn't disagree with him. Even in the depths of his ennui, it's important to him that not only is he the Captain, but a good one at that.

When comparing the two, that can again seem difficult to argue against. Jimmy is quick to lash out and shift blame. His resentment and insecurities often drive him to pick fights. Curly prefers to avoid conflict, but knows his position doesn't always allow him to do so. He tries to pick his battles, but when he has to get involved he focuses on de-escalating the situation.

But although their similarities are few, they do exist. And they greatly influence the narrative. Because it is from their shared selfishness, callousness, and cowardice that the entire story is born.

It's time to address the elephant in the room. We can't draw any conclusions about Curly's nature, his character, his role in the story, and his relationship to its themes without digging into his handling of Anya's assault, and the chain of events that follow.

I find it interesting that we never see the initial conversation Anya has with Curly about the assault. We simply know that she confided in him. He is the Captain, after all. The crew is his responsibility.

The thing is, we don't really need to know the exact conversation they shared, because we can imagine it went quite similarly to their conversation about her pregnancy.

She tells him how scared she is. She fears for her life. It never even occurred to him that she was upset about anything other than losing her job. He swears to her that everything will be fine. They'll fix this. All he has to do is talk to Jimmy.

He does not talk to Jimmy.

Maybe the first time he really did intend to. He just needed time. Jimmy has always had... struggles. If we want to, we can be generous to Curly, we can assume his old problems were much less vile. Otherwise, he would have never pulled the strings to get him this job, never put him in a position of power over vulnerable people. Right? But now, this was whole new beast altogether. Because he and Jimmy go way back, he had to process this, figure out what he was even supposed to say.

But at the same time, The Pony Express had just gone gone under. He'd been struggling with dissatisfaction and indecision for so long, and now his hand has been forced. He has his own problems. And Anya seems fine, doesn't she? If she hadn't said anything, he'd never have even known there was anything wrong. It just doesn't seem that important.

Anya talks to Jimmy herself.

She's scared, she fears for her life. But now she knows now that Curly won't defend her, nor give her the means to defend herself. Still, he promises her, they'll fix this. He just has to talk to Jimmy.

Things are different now. He can't sit by and wait for things to work out anymore. After all, it's not only her problem anymore.

Now it's Curly's problem too. How is he supposed to find another job with this on his record? There's only one other person on this ship who understands what he's going through.

He talks to Jimmy.

And he understands. Not that what he did was wrong, of course. Not that he'd done something horrific, irreversible, cruel. But that it now had consequences, and that he wouldn't suffer them alone.

Curly made his decision. He chose his paper-thin illusion of peace and his eroding friendship with Jimmy over the safety and well-being of his crew. And when it all came tumbling down, he decided it was better to bury them all under the rubble than to face the struggle to rebuild.

If Jimmy hadn't been there, hadn't been his co-pilot, Curly almost certainly would not have been able to bring himself to actually follow through with something so selfish and reckless.

But Jimmy was there, and Curly made sure of that.

So, it's time to ask again. Does Curly take responsibility?

Well, yes.

But it's too little, too late.

As much as Mouthwashing is about Jimmy fighting furiously against the consequences of his actions, it is also about Curly being forced to watch them unfold anyway. His silence and inaction, once a choice, are inflicted upon him by his mangled body.

Jimmy may have crashed the ship, but Curly gave him the keys. And so it's fitting in the end that Curly is made to take the full weight of responsibility by the man who he helped avoid it so many times.

[annerbhp]

There are some narrative sleights of hand possible in fanfiction in particular that I just love to play with as an author. I really think it's an underappreciated part of the craft, knowing your particular genre inside and out and then manipulating it for evil writer shenanigans.

For example, fanfiction is unique as a genre in that it usually assumes a level of pre-knowledge of the reader. Fanfic doesn't spend a lot of time reintroducing characters or the canon plot. We just get on with it.

But when you combine that with another aspect of fanfiction: the willingness to more or less overlook various aspects of individual fanwriter's styles/execution/personal preferences, that things get really fun.

Like, we are all able to suspend a certain level of disbelief beyond any squicks or no-gos for us as readers. We might gloss over things, because maybe something in the story is artistic license or a personal headcanon or a simple mistake or mess up of canon. Like, when is a character out of character and when is it a personal interpretation and when is it done on purpose?

That's the place that makes it so interesting to play with. To clearly signal in the story that something isn't right, that something is off, but the readers might miss entirely or just skip over and only later when the narrative choice is revealed, does it become clear that those little "mistakes" or "inconsistencies" were carefully planted. It's SO FUN to pull that off sometimes.

So a character that died in canon is suddenly walking around again? Is that the writer embracing their personal headcanon? Is it the writer making a simple timeline mistake? Is it just AU? Or is it a sign that massive narrative shenanigans are about to rain down on the reader? Only one way to find out!!

[elderberries-and-honey]

As I understand it, the old family is abandoned and we will not see a continuation of Winifred and Lawrence?

I wouldn't say they are abandoned as much as they are just archived. I'm in the middle of finishing up my last English credit, and beginning a dental hygiene program after that which is an extremely difficult and surprisingly competitive field to get into, while also planning my wedding, and working full-time.

Playing the game for an hour or two each day, or something close to, and spending five or ten minutes editing vs spending an hour just finding poses, then writing the story, setting everything up in game, and editing in a way that satisfies me are very different energy levels.

It is my ultimate goal to be in a good headspace, with a healthy balance for leisure, studying and having financial stability, but right now, that's difficult to come by. I miss The Baudelaires every single day but their story also deserves to be told the right way, especially the more sensitive parts that require more research and figuring out how to present it in a palatable way. And again, especially when you consider that the Baudelaire's are living in, what today, is considered Northern Ireland in the early 1900's and there are significant moments in history quickly approaching that I must tell correctly and would feel wrong to just gloss over simply because I'm pressed for time and rushed through it just to get a post out.

I think it's easy for us to look at these historical events through a lens of academia and perhaps even through rose tinted glasses in some respects. But, for me at least, it feels so much deeper when you are telling it through a personal narrative perspective. For example, the suffragette movement. Yes it was a movement that gave women the right to vote but it also was extremely prejudice and by and in large excluded women of color. Yet, I rarely see that ever presented or shown in the stories written here. Now, I do understand that perhaps people feel they shouldn't share that history out of respect but I also think it's important to be honest about the fact that even the "progressive" women of the time were not all that progressive by today's standards. Or even the various wars that are coming quickly, like The Great War and the Irish Civil War. Civilians are always the ones who suffer the most when it comes to war, and again, I personally would feel wrong not showing that or mentioning it, at the very least.

But again, that also requires a lot more research on my part, while also staying true to who my characters are at their core and considering how these significant things would shape and bend their moral compasses, and impact their relationships with each other (because, spoiler, it will definitely have an affect on their interpersonal relationships within the family).

Now, that isn't to say I don't put as much love and care into the Flores Legacy because I still adore them as well or that I won't try to present these things where I can! But it is different in terms of perfectionism because of the fact that it's mostly gameplay and the game helps to steer their story in some ways whereas The Baudelaires are completely directed by me alone, if that makes any sense.

I apologize for the long rambling answer but I needed to get my point across that The Baudelaires are my babies. I have been playing them for years at this point and Winifred in particular is my favorite Sim that I have ever created in my 20 years of playing the sims franchise, and it was not an easy decision to put their story on hold. But I miss playing the game, and I miss historical simblr, so I decided to do something a little different, even if that's disappointing for some or even for myself.

Tl;Dr: they're not abandoned so much as they are just simply archived for right now.

[anemonecoronaria]

SPOILERS

The love I hold for Miquel Moliner is the one he should have had, he deserved so much better than Nuria and Julian and the absolute shamelessness they had, especially when it came to his death. I can’t believe how much this man sacrificed for so little in return and for such an awful life, he needed better friends.

And Julian didn’t really love Penelope as much as he loved the idea and memory of her, because what he did was cheating (even if Penelope was actually dead by that time but he didn’t know that). You come back to Barcelona under the pretence that she’s still alive and awaiting your return, and in the mean time shamelessly have sex with a woman who has an unrequited love for you? It’s callous and disrespectful, and I’m shocked how the narrative glosses over this. I feel so bad for Nuria.

The only decent person in that backstory was in fact Miquel Moliner. That’s not to say that I don’t absolutely love Julian Carax and Nuria Montfort, they are excellent characters. I can appreciate the tragedy of the whole thing, and do understand why the author chose to craft his story that way, but I can’t get behind the love story between Julian and Penelope, to be honest. Whatever love he held for her, I think it was borderline obsessive, especially into adulthood, otherwise it was so clunky. I think that could have been improved upon, and Julian Carax spends a lot of time unpresent in the book, when he could have showed up more, he held a certain menace and gravitas that was lacking by the end.

However, I can overlook all of this in favour of the ambience, enchanting prose and gravity of this book. Zafon was a phenomenal writer; I could feel the brilliance of the Spanish language beneath the English translation. The characters also had so much heart and were very vivid and memorable. I think The Shadow of the Wind has a soul, which not many works of art do. If I have a criticism, it was that much was left to be desired from the female characters. All of them were two dimensional and boring, and Nuria Montfort was by far the most complex, and even then she was surface level and lacking.

My thoughts are very jumbled at the moment but despite the flaws, the fact that this novel has a heart and soul that many other books lack, raises it very easily. I fell in love with it from the very first page and this is making me ignore the glaring flaws, even if I’m not blind to them, they add to the beauty of the book in a way that’s very rare. An overall charming and gorgeous read, definitely one of my absolute favourites.

[thegreatzombieartisan]

Worldbuilding: Life During the Numenorean Expedition Voyage to Middle-Earth

Logistics

The ocean’s conditions are comparable to the Atlantic.

Depending on conditions, the route from Numenor to Middle-Earth was about 3 - 4 weeks.1 or 2 days sailing upstream. Some estimations say 2 or 3 days on horseback to Tir-Harad and fighting the orcs. ssues here: If this were scouting expedition, this set up makes sense. Except Miriel would not have joined. Consider the risk of t makes more sense to address the Southlands' issue with a combat expedition.

However, as a combat expedition, it would have included many more arms and ships to ferry them. Galadriel and Halbrand, as royalty, would be on a separate ship from Miriel with respective private cabins.

Galadriel x Halbrand

The voyage affords them all three conditions to build intimacy: proximity, repeat interactions, and safety.

Official duties — As the expedition commander and king-in-exile, they would be exempt from performing crew duties. Perhaps some time devoted to solidifying expedition affairs with Miriel and officers. Otherwise, they had cause to spend considerable time together.

General routine — Sharing meals. Strolling around the deck. Watching the sun rise and fall. All inadvertently romantic. An unspoken agreement existed to be discrete of course. Miriel might join them at times.

Getting more familiar — The show makes it seems like Galadriel never learns much about Halbrand’s past. But that would verisimilitude, or narrative believability. They have nothing but time. Further disclose about each person’s backstory would have occurred en route. While Halbrand’s alleged backstory is tragic, he never declares it off-limits.

The Numenroeans, curious about this king-in-exile, would also likely seek to learn more about him. Aligned with his honest-as-possible character motif, Halbrand would discreetly speak about Aulë, Melkor, Umaiar, etc.

As for Galadriel, the calm beauty of the open seas (and getting her way) would have a relaxing effect on her we rarely see. Made her more open to sharing about herself to Halbrand.

Did she tell Halbrand about Celeborn? It’s hard to imagine glossing over such a major life detail. In any event, when Sauron later proposes, he either believed her a maiden or LACE (laws and customs of the Eldar) doesn’t apply in RoP.

Numenroean Crew

The expedition ships appear to be modeled after Byzantium era “Novum militarium” ships. Sail power demands a large busy crew working in long shifts around the clock.

Elendil — As sea captain, he’s responsible for the expeditions sea voyage operations. His word is law and it’s hinted he runs a right ship. Elendil would work closest his first mate, navigator, and coxswain (person who steers the ship).

Most often, only Captains have the luxury of a private cabin. If the ship had only one, he would forfeit his own to the Queen Regent.

Daytime on deck —During the day, the deck would be a busy place. We didn’t hear it in the snow but the few might sing sea shanties to pass the time. Off-duty crew might practice swordsmanship with each other and/or Galadriel. Perhaps Halbrand would demonstratehis own skills and help with training.

Night time off-duty —At night, the day shift would mostly settle in the haul to unwind and sleep (lower ranks might sleep on deck). There’d be card / game playing, sometimes music, reading, writing, whittling wood and lots of conversation.

They would talk so much, they would run out of things to talk about until they landed. It’s how soldiers bond quickly. It’s crucial to know who they are fighting alongside.

Few topics are off-limits: the mission, Middle-Earth, politics, rumors and gossip, food, sports, family, spouses or significant others, sexual conquests, tales, poetry, jokes, hopes and dreams, etc. Pretty much everything.

(For a greater idea about foodstuffs, grooming, and other ship life aspects, click here. )

Queen Regent Miriel

As queen, Miriel is most likely to Seinfeld much time in her private cabin.

Any expedition key expedition discussions would occur here too. As in the show, she would likely be (re)learning about Southlands / Middle-Earth. Sometimes from from reading material, other times directly from Galadriel and Halbrand.

Exempt from crew duties, the trio would pass some time together. Strolls around the deck with them or separately. Dinner or conversation in her cabin. From Galadriel, Miriel might wish to discuss the Elves and how to move forward together.

Soldiers, Halbrand, & Galadriel

Naturally, the soldiers would be curious about the unlikely pair — separately and together.Speculation no doubt on the nature of the true nature of Galadriel and Halbrand relationship.

Halbrand —With his charm and graciousness personality, it’s easy to imagine he would be a big hit among the soldiers. He would captivate them with tales, anecdotes, and knowledge. Perhaps also becoming the go-to person for advice. To Galadriel, perhaps some things he said it knew might seem a bit off but she would explain it away.

Galadriel — The Soldiers would likely wish to hear her talking about the war against Morgoth and their Edain ancestors; life in Valinor and the Ainur; other people and places, almost long gone and found only in books and tales. Isildur would’ve been an eager audience member, as he’s interested in Middle-Earth.

Galadriel might join these off-duty gatherings as briefly as possible. She knows a superiors presence does little to put lower ranks at ease.

While the crew and Halbrand slept at night, she would be most likely awake on deck, as Elves don’t require sleep as much as Men.

Thank you for reading! Likes and tagged reblogs are appreciated. Got feedback? Do tell.

Enjoy it? Learn something? Had something to add?

Disagree? Go on. I love good faith verbal sparring!

Found a possible inaccuracy? It happens. Tolkien lore is complex! Drop it in the comments 🙏

[discountalien-pancake]

Mmkay. So I didn’t hate it. I definitely didn’t love it. I don’t feel like my time or money were wasted on reading this book. I also feel that this book would have greatly benefited from several more rounds of editing. This was very much a book that could have been good. And not in the way that people say it about SJM’s books. There was a clear, sense-making plot progression, purposeful foreshadowing, follow-through on all the Chekov’s guns (well, most, but the last one i think is probably resolved in the sequel which I probably won’t read?).

The problem was I found myself hurtling through the book, and not in a good way. I wanted it to get to the damn point. So much of Kadou’s point of view is spent dithering within these gratuitously overwrought panic attacks. There’s just so much and so many of them that it actively interfered with the progression of the narrative, not simply of in-world events. Everything would just grind to a halt while Kadou spends two or three paragraphs self-flagellating, carry on for half a page, and then more self-flagellation. There were multiple chapters of entire days, sometimes multiple days or even a month, crunched down to just lengthy descriptions of Kadou being a helpless, shivering wreck, interspersed with one-sentence summaries of all the important official business he’s carrying out as a prince on probation.

And then we’d swap povs and get Evemer’s rundown of the exact same events again but from his perspective. And it makes sense to do this once or twice, so that we can get out of Kadou’s head and see things more objectively. But the fact of the matter is that this book could have been a solid 50k words shorter and lost nothing of the plot or even the character development.

I feel like I’ve only been saying negative things, so here’s what the book did well: it established a very diverse cast who are all treated respectfully by the narrative. It established that there were a great many cultures coming into contact with this region, though I would have liked to see more people from those regions rather than just mentions of the material culture. It established that nonbinary folks are a normal, common presence within society and didn’t make a Big Deal out of any of it. The politics were mostly reasonable except for what I feel was a deeply contrived set-up. There was a lot of thought and care in the handling of the power imbalance between Kadou and Evemer, though I still feel that it failed to convince me that they have an equal partnership. You mileage may vary on that point. Evemer, in my opinion, was a delightful and very endearing neurodivergent character (definitely on the spectrum, probably a bit OCD). The author definitely did a lot of research on textiles and garment construction even if I can’t quite agree with their taste.

Would I recommend this book? Maybe. Depends on the person. I think if you like the bodyguard/prince trope, you might be able to gloss over more of the issues than I did. Perhaps you will be more sympathetic of the Anxiety Goblin prince than I. I fully admit I have little patience for characters like that. If you want a queer romance between an anxious prince and his demi, autistic bodyguard, then you’d probably enjoy it. You might find Kadou’s narrative cathartic. IDK. On my part, I found Evemer sufficiently compelling to finish the book despite the other flaws.

[gamesception]

These tweets are both true, at least of comic Scott, at least for a certain segment of the audience. Comic Scott Pilgrim is a shitty guy, and deliberately invites readers who are also shitty guys to identify with him in the opening half by presenting him as a sort of wish fulfillment ideal of a shitty guy - all the same toxic behaviors but he's popular and girls like him anyway because he can skateboard and he's in a band. But then the story spends it's back half calling Scott, and by proxy the readers who did identify with him, out on his/their bullshit - saying even though he's cool is in a band, his selfish behavior and poor treatment of those around him, especially his girlfriends, drive away everyone who gets close to him.

Sadly the Edgar Wright film, while it did an amazing job translating the tone and aesthetic of the comic to live action, opted to cut out most of the core element of the comic's criticism/deconstruction of Scott as a character. And while the film pulls some punches in terms of cutting out or glossing over some of the shittier things comic Scott has done, film Scott still ends up more hate-able than his comic counterpart ime.

Partially because it cast Michael Cera doing his meek passive pitiable thing, which leaves the audience wondering why anybody puts up with his shitty behavior in the first place. This isn't a problem in the comic because comic Scott, for all his shittiness, is depicted as having a sort of infectious confident outgoing energy that makes him believably fun to be around. Unlike film Scott, you totally buy that people would overlook comic Scott's faults until they were personally impacted by them.

But mostly it's that movie Scott never gets properly called out. Comic Scott's sins are both greater and more numerous, but he's forced to face up to and accept that he's been a shitty person and start changing for the better, and in doing so he starts to earn back some respect from both his friends and the reader. In comparison film Scott is validated in his shittiness. He's 'not that bad', he only needs to learn 'self respect'. His lack of respect for others is left largely unaddressed.

The difference is most clearly seen in the Nega-Scott subplot of the comic and the film. In the comic Nega Scott represents all the terrible things Scott has done to his friends and especially his girlfriends over the years that he chooses to either remember wrong or not to remember at all in order to preserve his own self image. The only way for Scott to escape Nega-Scott is to merge with him, symbolically accepting that he really did all those things, that he's basically been a bad person up to that point and he needs to make fundamental changes to his attitude and actions going forward.

Film Nega-Scott on the other hand is the exact opposite - representing film Scott's poor self image, the bad things he thinks about himself but that either aren't true or aren't really that bad, and the subplot is resolved by film Scott having a friendly conversation with his shadow self and realizing that they, and by extension he himself, were never really that bad in the first place and he just needs to cut himself some slack. Which is a cute and funny subversion of the evil opposite trope, but is absolutely disastrous for the story and the audience's relationship to Scott as a character.

If time constraints or differences in directorial vision were the main reason that this narrative thread got inverted in the film, then hopefully an animated miniseries with O'Malley at the helm should be able to do the comic better justice in this regard. I'm certainly optimistic in that regard. On the other hand, seeing a version of Scott in full sound and color and motion who is more true to the comic - in that he treats the people around him even worse over a much longer run time - could make for a pretty hard watch, even if he is eventually forced to face up to the reality of his behavior and start to change it by the end.

[vacantgodling]

the old english baron — mini review

just for context, i was much much quieter in my live reaction from the other three books i’ve talked about reading on this blog, and that’s kind of because like. this book was very… eh.

the context that it was written “in direct response to the castle of otranto” actually does it more harm than good, because seriously this book hardly feels like a goth lit at all. all of the quintessential things that create a good gothic literature piece are just missing from the narrative, or glossed over. if anything this feels more like a medieval period piece with gothic elements. which, tbh, i don’t mind—i saw reviews with some people getting annoyed by the entire latter half and end of the book being devoted to court proceedings but because i enjoy history i was actually kind of fascinated by it. but the fact that all the “gothic elements” were resolved within the first 100-150-ish pages wasn’t really great bc all the intrigue that could’ve been fell by the wayside.

the main similarity this book shares with the castle of otranto is its lack of focus; but i think it’s done worse lmao. it’s very clear in this book that edmund is the main character but it’s not necessarily built up that way—the first part of the book starts with sir phillip who the reader immediately likes and feels sympathy for and we get a detailed backstory for; however the story then shifts to focusing on edmund who is like. for all intents and purposes jesus fucking christ reborn. i like him much less than theodore from the castle of otranto; theodore is a more complex character who does have some faults despite his (generally speaking) overwhelming good qualities (which is just a thing in gothic lit and old european books in general; the characters are very overwhelmingly Good and Virtuous Christians LMAO). but edmund is a fucking SAINT. i somehow like little billee from trilby SLIGHTLY (oh so very slightly) more than edmund bc edmund Literally Is The Perfect Man and at least billee was interesting by virtue of being ridiculous, having a foot fetish, and getting on my fucking NERVES lmao.

furthermore a lot of this plot hinges on random characters who are “villainous” doing “villainous things” out of just. jealousy???? barely explained jealousy at that. we spend very little time with the murderer of edmund’s parents nor the kinsman of the baron who edmund lives with who hates him for idk breathing air… and like it’s saying a lot that i can’t remember their names because they are THAT inconsequential and make THAT LITTLE of an impression. meanwhile manfred made himself no. 1 enemy of the state by PAGE SIX. i hated him and i wanted to see him get his shit rocked. that makes a good villain!!!

and despite being written by a woman, this book is so uninterested in talking about the few female characters that exist it’s painful. lady emma is introduced as a love interest after never being mentioned out of FUCKING NOWHERE in the middle of the story and just said “btw she’s perfect also and edmund’s been in love with her since he was a boy but dw about it” and i’m just ??? bruh lmao. otranto gave so much more respect and character to its female characters; all of them had distinct personalities and goals and furthermore THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE OF THEM!!! (and i’m not counting edmund’s adoptive mother in this bc sorry she is also like only in one scene and is basically irrelevant. yeah she tells edmund about his mom but we did like Nada to give her anything. she and emma count as one for me).

— going to show that just because a woman has contributed to something does not automatically mean it���s not misogynistic (looking at jkr as well 🙄)

anyway the other main thing that strengthens my stance that this isn’t Really a goth lit book is there is Barely any tragedy or lingering melancholy that haunts the narrative. yes, edmund’s parents died but there’s literally like two scene with the ghosts (or anything spooky) and yeah edmund is sad about it once he learns the truth but it’s just all… never expanded upon. it’s talked about but the emotions aren’t felt. the loss doesn’t take center stage; it’s simply a vehicle to propel the story to edmund triumphing over his circumstances and getting Literally Everything he wants out of life. which; mind you, i’m not against like at all. i don’t dislike the overall story (sans edmund being a mary sue? edmund sue? and it being kind of just. boring lmao) but i dislike the insinuation that it’s gothic lit like at all. it has gothic elements. but it’s just missing everything about the genre that makes it good.

so going back to my original point—the author positioning herself to try and make the castle of otranto “better” or “more realistic” is just. ridiculous lmao. it’s no different than people who make adaptations of media they’ve barely engaged with and that they don’t understand: it will never be as good.

overall 5/10. i wouldn’t read it again but just bc it’s kind of boring lmao. but i don’t hate that i read it lmao

[yellowocaballero]

oh no you're right about all of it i'm not jewish either i'm on the other spectrum of the scale that is abrahamic religions (unnecessarily convoluted way to say i'm muslim idk why i phrased it like that lol anyway) so as someone who's pretty used to seeing characters with the same religion as me onscreen either having that aspect of their identity pretty heavily stereotyped or just trivialised i was hoping the show would handle it sensitively considering that (i haven't read the comics) marc's jewish identity does play a huge part in his characterization even if he wasn't conceived as jewish from the get go

and you're right we get like a handful of scenes that establish he's jewish (even less so for steven someone else pointed out the mezuzah in a fic but i'm not really good at finding stuff like that so yeah) and like yeah there's a lot going on in that scene but it's just subtext yk? it's written as something that's meant to be inferred and idk i do feel like there should've been more explicit text (tbf a lot of my problems with mk is that they rely way too much on like the audience piecing things together i mean i'm not asking for an exposition dump but it would've been nice to have like more flashbacks for characters and some more exposition and stuff)

the mcu is definitely heavily pro military there's this yt video by skipintro i watched a while ago which talked about the support the military funding of the mcu movies and how the avengers can be very easily equated to the united states' tendency to be the global police and how cap and tony represent american exceptionalism vs imperialism in their civil war conflict (great video btw you should check it out if you have time)

and yess i agree like yeah the story was very scaled up and didn't have as much time devoted to the characters that i feel an initial outing should've had especially considering that these are characters having their first appearance in this franchise + the way everyone keeps talking about it being a contained story like i have such mixed feelings about this show because there's a shit load of potential and i feel like they missed out on an important chunk of it but i do really like the characters so that explains why i'm always looking up for fics with them i guess

please don't apologise about the question i started the ramble and ngl i was kind of anxious for some reason after sending that ask lol so your very cohesive reply was great i had to reread it a couple times to be sure to formulate my response to everything (might've still missed one or two points wouldn't be surprised if i did)

anyway as an actual answer to your answer to the question i asked i really love that idea of jake being really philosophical and same idt i'd ever feel comfortable writing about marc's relationship with his religion because it's pretty different from my own (we both have a complicated relationship with though lol) and yeah thank you for answering my ask so eloquently hope you're having a good day/night

You are absolutely fine I love rambling and talking.

I love comic books and I hate the MCU as a whole so I am perpetually stuck in a sticky situation where I still glean joy from MS MARVEL on SCREEN doing her TEEN HIJINK but also it's all tepid and insipid. Which is...that is so fine, things are allowed to be tepid. But if you do nothing but read comics then you become a redditor and it's the same way with any sort of, for lack of a better word, 'trashy' stuff. I watch an insane amount of the trashiest genres one may imagine that I don't talk too much here about, and it's great, but if it was the only thing I watched my brain would leak out of my ears.

And yes, totally, MK brings up some insanely interesting stuff that you can just go way deep into, and I did enjoy how it did not assume the audience was stupid. With only 6 hours of content I am guessing that they just simply did not have time to stretch things and lay them out more explicitly. My brain is a rabid hyena and media analysis is crack cocaine to me, so I was really satisfied with the amount that it left me to figure out, but you are right - criticism should be laid out. You should be upfront. And while it's cool to leave some stuff (themes, imagery, metatextual relationship with the MCU, commentary on DID in media) implied, stuff like Marc's Jewishness has been implied enough. Again, like, look at how many Jewish characters we have. When writing, especially for TV, you have to make a lot of sacrifices to choose what to cut and what to keep, but I believe it's important to prioritize stuff like that. Wish things were different, wish it wasn't MCU, wish it had more than 6 episodes, wish it could have a harder bite. Verdict Of Would Be Better If More Episodes And Not Disney.

The MCU, and you could make a very strong argument that the entire concept of superheroes, is rabidly pro-military and it's disturbing. At the very least it's propaganda for the American hero narratives of the Exceptional Man and propagating exceptionalism, at the most it is just funded by the military. I could go REALLY fucking into comparing how the military is portrayed with Steve Rogers vs Carol Danvers vs [mostly implied but very much there] Marc Spector and it's fucking fascinating. The show has a subtle relationship with the rest of the MCU. But, like, military propaganda, so. It can't just not be that. So [mostly implied but very much there].

Unfortunately "really enjoyable, had a lot of potential, charming characters, didn't quite live up to the potential" is. The ripest, most fertile ground for fanfic.

Very quickly re: writing identities that are not your own - I have a pretty basic formula, which is that as a basic foundation I look for similarities and shared experiences between myself and that identity, and how I can relate and halfway-understand. I normally get this through talking with friends and exchanging viewpoints and also keeping in mind that not all experiences of discrimination are equivalent. In the story, the stuff that I will just never understand I downplay and the parts that resound with me the most I spend more time on. I fill up the gaps and add detail through research, speaking to friends again and reading testimonials, and doing more straightforward Wikipedia stuff for terminology and etc.

[flightfoot]

I don’t get the argument that Adrien’s emotional issues were glossed over in the NY special. He didn’t swallow his frustrations. He literally had a meltdown in the sewers and quit. He didn’t swallow his frustrations and come back. He was upset because 1. He almost killed someone and 2. He thought he was a hinderance to Ladybug after their argument about him leaving Paris. He came back because the person he almost killed came to get him and 1. Told him he was forgiven and 2. Convinced him that Ladybug still needed him. His problems were dealt with in a believable way and his emotional tolls were acknowledged. Sometimes I feel like people get an idea in their head and then can only watch the show through that filter. Ladybug has the monopoly on finale emotional support but the show has repeatedly acknowledged Adrien’s emotional struggles and had people support him too. The Christmas Special where he’s extremely upset and everyone comes to spend Christmas with him at the end or Felix where all his friends send him encouraging messages and get akumatized because they thought he was being mean to them? When he’s thrown a gay party in Party Crasher because Nino wants to spend bro time with him? When he becomes the anxious one for once in Reverser and Ladybug is so sweet and encouraging to him? Even Marinette’s initial charm bracelet was first given to Adrien because she was emotionally supporting him when he felt down. This narrative that the narrative never gives his emotions any consideration or weight is biased and blown out of proportion. Like there’s a difference between “ I would like to see Adrien’s emotions given more consideration for certain things” and “Adrien has never had any emotional consideration a day in his narrative life”. The latter just isn’t true, even in the earlier seasons.

Yeah, agreed on this. Adrien's emotions are given consideration and space and are centered many times. Now, I still would like it to happen more often than it does, especially with how much his life is like a horror story in some ways and that he has no idea about it, but his feelings aren't completely ignored, and I do think that ends up exaggerated.

[sapphiresaphics]

Have to disagree with ya there. Class inequality was definitely a thing, but the Arcane and its influence on BOTH cities has been there since the beginning too. You don’t get the tragedy of Vi and Powder without the success of Jayce and Viktor. There’s a reason those scenes are intercut together with one another. They are linked to the events of the Arcane in deeply profound ways. Always has been.

Also, are we watching the same show? Because all of Act 1 of season 2 was about the imbalance between the cities and the repercussions of the wealthy elite taking things out on the poor. Caitlyn’s entire arc is about her retreating back into her privilege and using her family’s legacy AGAINST the people of Zaun. How is that being left “unaddressed” when we’ve spent so much time there seeing how it affected everyone?

Also, interest you bring up Lord of the Rings, because have you gone back and read it? The pacing in that story is WAY off. It starts off super slow. Literally takes months for events to get going. Spends multiple chapters still in the Shire working their way out on their journey. And by the end of the book entire battles are glossed over with in a matter of paragraphs. Helms Deep is barely even a chapter. It got faster and faster and faster as the story came to a close.

What you guys have done is identified a theme of the story, correctly… and then you’ve projected that theme onto the main focus of the narrative, which is incorrect.

You can want the story to focus more on the oppression of the working class, but at the end of the day THAT was the framework they were using to tell this much larger more abstract story about power and privileged using the Arcane.

Feels to me like you guys have decided the themes you want the show to explore and are angry when the show says “nah fam, that was never our goal.” At the end of the day, that’s a YOU problem.

I find it hilarious when the show called ARCANE starts talking about the ARCANE and the ARCANE starts having a more prominent role in the trajectory of the show named ARCANE that people are only now complaining about “lore” being added to the show.

Like, my dudes… the show was about the ARCANE. Now that it’s reacting and developing and becoming the big thing the whole show is heading towards… NOW you’re worried about the “lore” messing things up??!

Hahah

Sorry guys. I know we started with class inequality, and that’s definitely a theme of the show… but the TRUE star has ALWAYS been the ARCANE and how it reacts to the events around it.

They wouldn’t have named the show ARCANE if they weren’t going to address the ARCANE.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

i need to rant real quick because this "friend" of mine is making me frustrated 😭 this will obviously gloss over a lot of details because i can't tell stories without jumping into other side stories akjdfn

okay so i've known her since i moved in middle school and she's the sweetest person ever, and now we even go to uni together and since she's a math major we have classes together so we get to spend more time together which invariably is a good thing!!

or so we thought

can i tell you she's become the biggest pick me girl known to mankind good l o r d-

to sum it up: there's this guy in our calc class who she asked if i thought he was cute and tbh i'm not really paying any attention to anyone of the male species rn because i kind of have someone which is a story for another day but i said "yeah kind of i guess? i never really looked at him closely" and then she said that she thought he was cute and whatnot, and dropped the subject and started talking about other things that were going on in our lives, and while this is happening we're walking in the student center which is structured in a way where there are group study rooms on the second floor, and since they have glass walls (?) people at the top can look down and see the lower floor

so as we're walking there's this group of guys studying in one of those rooms and one of the guys looks down and sees us walking and starts smiling in our direction which i thought "oh maybe he knows her or something" but then she asks me if i know him which i have never seen him ever so obviously we're confused and she goes "he was staring at you!!" and then changes her narrative to "wait he was staring at me" and then back to "he was staring at you" BACK TO "he was staring at both of us beautiful women ^-^" he was in fact staring at me which i know because i made eye contact at him and half smiled which made him smile more

AND THEN THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING EVER is that she's always like "oh look at me" and keeps making a bunch of comments in class about the content, which might i add is quite loud, makes unprovoked dark humour jokes which literally just seem more unnecessary than joking when other people do it

but idk it's been annoying me and there are a ton of more instances where she's been like "guys think i'm flirting with them but that's just how i am 🥺" and it irks me which makes me feel bad because she's genuinely a nice person and would quite literally lay down her life for me and i for her :((

Ah, Rose, I'm so sorry you have to deal with someone like that. Of course, even good friends have their... icks, so to say, and to put it in my perspective (granted I only know so much about your friend), it sounds like she's still rather immature. Things like this take time, but I'm sure your friend will come around once she realizes that she actually has to start taking classes a little more seriously. I definitely understand your annoyance, I used to be friends with someone like that. We really only stopped talking because she was a business major and I'm in biochem but she's the same, we were basically closer than sisters and in some ways we still are. I can't say distance is the best solution, because I'll be honest it really made me sad lmfao, but if worse comes to worse you might be better off calling her out on it. Sure, it'll hurt her feelings at first, but if you're as close as you're implying she'll understand you and you'll both be able to work through it!

[fictionadventurer]

Literary World Tour: Weeks 2 through, like, 4?

I've had a lot less time to read, between life getting busy and me spending more of what free time I have writing, but I feel like I should talk about the few books I've read with this project.

Salt to the Sea by Ruth Sepetys (Germany): I actually already had this one on audiobook from the library (since I'd loved Between Shades of Gray), and had been considering returning it to focus on the world tour, because the ocean isn't any country. Then someone recommended it as taking place in Prussia, so I counted it toward the project. Fascinating look at WWII from an angle it's rarely covered from in American literature. I loved how it managed to convey that these people in this mostly-forgotten disaster all matter, even if it didn't end well for most of them. The four first-person narrators was weird, and I had trouble sinking into the narrative because of it. The readers were excellent, but having the stylized prose spoken aloud does make some passages sound more stilted. From what I saw in reviews, I think the audiobook may have made the German soldier seem more nuanced--everyone was talking about how over-the-top evil he was, but the narrator gave him a Mr. Collins type of pathetic-ness that made him seem ridiculous, so the evil-ness kind of emerged as chilling underlayers. Not nearly as good as Between Shades of Gray, but still very glad to have read it.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Russia): I don't intend to talk about books I don't finish, but I loved this one so, so much before I abandoned it (at 60%) that I'll make an exception. What a delight of a book. Would have been one of my all-time favorites if content (I get picky about sexual content and the Lord's name in vain) hadn't forced me to abandon it. Count Alexander Rostov is a Russian version of Peter Wimsey and I (mostly) loved him. The sanguine-phlegmatic cultured gentleman both trapped in horrific circumstances while living in relative sheltered luxury. (I want to know what idiot of a cover designer was responsible for making him look like the most boring man in the world). Loved the hotel setting, loved all his friends, loved the conversations about the shifting world and what makes a gentleman, loved the child characters. Pity that I couldn't finish it.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan (India): Middle-grade book about a thirteen-year-old girl left a widow after her husband's death a couple of weeks into their marriage. Read this in one sitting. It felt rather underwritten--huge scenes were glossed over in a sentence or two, telling us most things rather than showing us anything. But it was still a fascinating story about a very different culture, and I've explained the plot to at least two different people since reading it because I found it so interesting.

Norah of Billabong by Mary Grant Bruce (Australia): Third book in the series that starts with The Little Bush Maid; already had it on my Kindle. I have such a strange relationship to these books. The setting (early 1900s Outback Australia) is so interesting, and the characters are likable overall, but the story can be so boring, until it has a few absolutely thrilling chapters that get me just engaged enough to contemplate continuing the series.

There is a shocking lack of tension in this story. Things go wrong, but they wind up just turning out alright with little action from anybody, or the characters just kind of shrug and move on and you don't get the sense that anyone's emotionally affected by anything. I think part of it is a massive overuse of passive voice. And then the characters! I like them, but it's sickening to read about how the Lintons are the absolute ideal at outback life and always good at everything and everyone loves them. My favorite characters were Brownie and Jean because they weren't good at everything; they had insecurities or flaws. Jean especially was satisfying to follow, because she wasn't sure how well she'd do at this life, so her accomplishments felt meaningful.

(I'm not usually one to get too worked up over outdated ideas in classic fiction, but oh my goodness, if anyone tries to say that Little House on the Prairie is racist, they have clearly not read these books. Little House may have some racist characters, but it has the general worldview that the Native Americans have a valid culture and what happened to them was sad (or at least acknowledges that there are multiple views of them). Here, any mention of any brown person, but especially the Aborigines, is ruthless in telling us that they're primitive, dirty, lazy thieves, and while it's an accurate depiction of a settler's POV back then, it was kind of brutal to read.)

But anyway, the chapters with the fire were great, and it was interesting to learn about this time period, and there was just a shade of compassion shown toward the Aborigines at the end, so it's just possible I may cave and read something else in the series, but I'm not sure it'll be worth it.

[big-ball-o-twine]

Hope you don’t mind if I take you up on your offer to discuss! <3 

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed season 3 quite a lot. To understand my take, I feel like you need to know that I straight up dropped season 2. Only managed to get through it at all because I heard season 3 was out.

Like you, I got really frustrated by the lack of follow up on season 1 plot lines in season 2, especially in regards to Viktor. He couldn’t make any meaningful progress on processing what he did (ie literally killing everyone on earth) or on moving past his resentment/anger and forming more positive relationships with his family because he had amnesia until literally the last two episodes. He spends much of the season just blindly accepting what he is told with very little introspection about it, in narrative limbo, and that (for me) made it really hard to get through a lot of his scenes.

Another loose character thread: in one of the most dramatic scenes of season 1, Viktor slit Allison’s throat, nearly killing her, leaving her mute and without the power she has relied on for all her life. And then…nothing. Season 2 glosses over her losing her voice with a quick little flashback, and Allison and Viktor both can’t even work through this incident because of the amnesia. On top of that, Allisons driving motivation in season 1, Claire, is barely mentioned at all, despite being so vital to her character in season 1. 

Luther’s storyline (guilt about locking Viktor up) is one of the few that does touch on the emotional fallout of season 1 in a meaningful way, which I appreciated, but it’s quickly derailed by the Allison romance situation. Diego has a romance that takes up a lot of screen time (with no hang ups despite the fact that Patch died mere months ago for him). Klaus spends a lot of the time embroiled in cult hijinks that are mostly there for comedic relief.

It all felt like filler/distractions from what I wanted to see: the family’s dysfunctional and complicated relationship to one another. Season 2 seemed to lose focus of that, instead getting caught up in the time period and in romance subplots. It had some incredible moments (loved the tiki bar scene, Five murdering the board, etc.) but it just didn’t hit the mark in terms of being a continuation of the story that came before it for me.

That said, going into season 3 I had zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised. This season re-centers a lot of the things that I felt season 2 forgot. Viktor has to confront the effect his powers have had on the world and those closest to him. All the problems that Allison has been ignoring (with her daughter and also Viktor himself…) bubble to the surface and she can no longer brush her feelings aside and it’s messy. Klaus grapples with his powers and his identity more directly than he ever has. Five actually gets to interact with his family beyond just barking orders at them and being stressed out (ball of twine moment!!!). I thought Diego’s subplot was a fresh angle to tackle the daddy issues he’s got going on, and seeing Luther move on from Allison was refreshing (even if the Sloane romance is a bit forced imo).

Season 3 is not a perfect season by any stretch, I’ve seen a lot of very valid critique, but it does use previous underutilized character threads to push the characters forward in really fresh and interesting ways imo. It was ambitious and I really respect what they were able to produce even under COVID restrictions and forced re-writes. I find the hate that surrounds it understandable but a bit excessive, you know? 

And all that said, season 1 is still king obviously lol. People who bothered to read this long as hell comment: thank you for your time. 

i think that’s the thing that gets me is like. season two and season three were not bad tv. like yeah personally i had some gripes with the dialogue and the effects or whatever, but they were absolutely fun tv

but like. i didn’t just want tv out of seasons two and three, i wanted a faithful continuation of the story and characters and themes of season one. and i do think that on that level, season two but especially season three are a fundamental failure in that respect

[bigskydreaming]

I am once more begging people, BEGGING, to at least READ Batman #416 if you’re going to cite every moment of Dick meeting Jason and then blowing up at Bruce, except in a totally ‘that’s not at all how it happened’ kinda way.

If I have to read ONE MORE sizzling hot take about how Dick blew up at Bruce and stormed off at the end of that encounter, when THIS is how it ACTUALLY ended....

Ah yes, the famous Dick Grayson temper, better described as ‘someone else loses their shit at Dick and fandom twists it into the exact opposite so he’s actually the bad guy all along.’

Was Dick heated before that point? Yup. Did he have reason to be? Also yup. Did Bruce, however, have reason to be heated that Dick had the gall to be coming back to his childhood home to confront him about the fact that after eighteen months of not speaking, when Bruce is the one who CHOSE to not even say goodbye to Dick or make any effort to still make a place for Dick in his life after firing him, with the only possible indication in all that time through which Dick was expected to come up with even an INKLING that Bruce missed him was discovering from reading the paper that Bruce had given his old mantle to a new, even younger partner? Its gonna be a big fat NOPE from me, guys.

There’s an exchange between them a few pages before this that always resonated with me....

Bruce: The truth is, I taught you everything I could. It was time for you to step out on your own.

Dick: So you figured the best thing for you to do was drive me out of your life, right? That’s exactly what you do to anyone who gets too close. Always hurt them before they have a chance to hurt you. It didn’t matter to you that I didn’t have any life other than the one we shared.

Like, I can not express any more clearly why it drives me so B-A-N-A-N-A-S to see people spin this so that it was Bruce that was somehow the victim of his son’s tempestuous, nomadic ways. Like he was somehow left behind, that Dick outgrew him or moved on, and everything Dick felt about Robin after the fact was him throwing spoiled temper tantrums that someone dared pick up something he no longer wanted. Umm. No times infinity and beyond.

Bruce was the one with all the power. Bruce was the one making all the choices. All Dick had, at most, was the choice to either stay somewhere Bruce seemed intent on driving him away from, or go somewhere else. This issue clearly expressed that like. Bruce wasn’t open to talking. Not when he fired Dick as Robin, there was no negotiating that, and even throughout this whole encounter here, where Dick comes here and says “I think you owe me some explanations” because based on everything Bruce was doing and how radically opposed those actions are to the last interactions he and Bruce had, which had a HUGE impact on Dick’s life, yes, he WAS owed explanations here, make no mistake....even here, Bruce spends the whole encounter acting like he’s being unfairly interrogated, like its trying his patience to even have to deal with Dick being there at all....

Phones work two ways, Bruce. There’s two people in this dynamic. If you haven’t heard from Dick in eighteen months, its equally true that he hasn’t heard from you in eighteen months. And if you missed him so damn much, you know what was always a perfectly valid way to express that, which DIDN’T involve anyone else? Picking up the damn phone and calling Dick and telling him that.

Bruce acts like that was never even an option, like HE was the one stuck with limited choices based on Dick’s behavior throughout all this time, and that’s just flat out, unconditionally, one hundred percent, NOT TRUE. Bruce was the one in charge. The one calling the shots. The one with the resources, the power, the authority. Dick was ALWAYS the one who had more to lose, of the two of them.

And Bruce knew all this when he took Dick in. He knew all this when he took Robin away from Dick while the latter was still a teenager, still living at home. And he was the one who failed to even so much as OFFER Dick an alternative take on how he could still be there, still be in Bruce’s life, part of his family, still share in being part of his life, the life the two of them had shared, now that Bruce had made the choice that Dick no longer had the option of living out his part of that life in the manner they’d BOTH built up for him originally.

And yet for so many years, fandom has added insult to injury by acting like the cherry on top here, Bruce giving away the very mantle he took from Dick, like this was somehow completely reasonable because in comparison, Dick is the one being unreasonable. People completely gloss over that little act of Bruce’s to focus instead on how Dick reacted, instead of giving that betrayal of trust its own fair due and focus, and the problem is....they don’t even actually focus on how Dick actually acted! Again, notice it was Dick who approached Bruce, and Bruce who told Dick to leave. It was Dick who had actual cause to be angry, but Bruce who blew up and broke shit because Dick dared demand answers. 

And this is the way Dick leaves things with Jason, btw. I know people know this part by now, mostly at least, about the phone number and such, but how many people have actually SEEN how that played out rather than just heard it summarized in a dry recitation of events that underplays just how that interaction went?

Like, that wasn’t just Dick acting like this was being FORCED upon him and bleeding reluctance at every turn. He went above and fucking beyond to make Jason feel welcomed and secure in his position as Robin. But that’s not how the narrative goes in fandom, is it? Even when acknowledging this part, people act like Dick was at most doing the bare minimum, instead of acknowledging that Dick didn’t owe anyone this at all. No, it wasn’t Jason’s fault he became Robin, but NONE of this was Dick’s fault, Dick’s choice, or Dick’s RESPONSIBILITY. He wasn’t living at home, in Bruce’s life, and he wasn’t adopted yet let alone even still Bruce’s ward at this point. He’d aged out at eighteen. Dick had NO actual ties to Bruce and by extension Jason at this particular moment in time, and thus no ACTUAL obligations to either of them, no matter how much fandom harps on him having failed Jason as a brother back during this time when more accurately, Bruce was actively failing Dick as a father - as in not even being one, but Dick’s responsibilities towards a family he didn’t have at the moment are supposed to be still intact? NOPE. Don’t think so.

But Dick, INSTEAD, puts Jason FIRST, puts him OVER his obviously hurt and bitter feelings to focus on what’s best for Jason here, and gives him literally everything he CAN to do right by Jason here. He gives Jason his own old costume and clear approval, cementing Jason’s place as Robin in a way not even Bruce could when giving it to Jason, because it was never Bruce’s to actually pass on. Jason even wonders earlier in the issue if Dick might want his old role back, and Dick puts that fear to rest, without any hesitation or doubt.

In addition, Dick offers up support and solidarity he doesn’t owe Jason, doesn’t owe anyone, because its HIS time, HIS support, its not something someone can take for granted and yet too many people do....especially considering that in the hyper-fixation on how much support and time Dick supposedly DIDN’T offer or grant Jason, most people pay next to no attention to the fact that it wasn’t like Dick was being given time or support by Bruce, ie Dick is going out of his way to offer stuff he’s not even getting himself, because he RECOGNIZES from that what its like not to have it. Basically what I mean is all that talk about Dick being a hypocrite for doing to others what he complains about Bruce not doing for him? Patently untrue, as we see here, because this is Dick actively acting upon what he’s missing out on by making sure that others don’t miss out on it because of Bruce’s failings or emotional repression.

And look at the end result.....Jason’s enjoying his teamup with Dick, these aren’t two people who look pained at being forced into proximity or acting like the other is a burden to be around or thinking the other doesn’t really want to be here. They were comfortable from practically the word go, because Dick knows how to make people uncomfortable but he also knows how to make people comfortable, and he made the CHOICE, the INTENT to make sure he was someone Jason felt WANTED to be there with him, the complete opposite of someone who is taking out their bitterness or resentment on their replacement or at least not trying to hide it very well.

So my question is.....what the hell else is it people wanted Dick to do? When they cite this issue specifically, at least, when they talk about the time Dick went to Gotham to confront Bruce about Robin, when they talk about the phone number or the costume or the teamup or the things that so often get mentioned in passing like they’re insignificant or the bare minimum or mere formalities that do nothing to take away from all the supposed OTHER asshole behavior that Dick allegedly heaped on Jason despite never actually happening anywhere, even a little bit, and thus that some people claim is just an extrapolation of how Dick PROBABLY acted off the page, given his clear resentment and jealousy....umm. Huh? Based off THIS? Seriously, I mean it. What ELSE was Dick supposed to have done, to counter that take, what else could he POSSIBLY have done to do right by Jason here, that he didn’t actually already do? What exactly did people want from this character, in order to not hold this eternal grudge they have against him for what a big old jerk he was to Jason, who did nothing to deserve it - with that part being true at least, and literally WHY Dick made the point to recognize that and not take out his feelings on Jason?

Like, this will never not be an axe for me to grind because like. The SPIN fandom always gives all this, when look at the last page of this issue......Bruce is watching from a distance, and even he’s like thanks Dick, and that honestly bugs me so much. Because in the end, the only one of these three characters who DIDN’T get what he wanted here, was Dick. Jason got the validation and security as Robin he was looking for, the approval of his predecessor, and words of advice and an offer to listen and be there should he ever want to talk. Bruce got Dick’s validation of the actions Bruce took that he had no right to take when giving his old mantle to Jason, but that Dick ratified all the same, even if it was for Jason’s sake and not Bruce’s. Bruce still got the closure on that particular mistake of his, with the evidence that Dick was willing to see past it for Jason’s sake rather than drag it out....like. Dick is the only one who didn’t get what he was looking for there, he didn’t even get an apology from Bruce for overstepping when he passed on Dick’s mantle, an acknowledgment that this was WRONG, the most Dick got was Bruce admitting for a single panel that he missed him.....before telling Dick to leave and get out and effectively taking back anything Dick could have possibly taken away from that admittance. Because what the fuck does it matter if someone misses you if even though they finally have you right there in front of them, they still tell you to leave again anyway?

In conclusion, I hate this issue, lol, because everybody seems to know what’s in it and yet practically nobody ever seems interested in referencing what’s ACTUALLY in it. Instead just forever playing telephone with the most bad faith interpretation of Dick’s actions possible.

[traincat]

Disregard my last ask because the latest issue raised a troubling question that I, as a black man, feel the need to clarify with you, a woman. That whole whole Ned Leeds/Betty Brant business is sexual assault via deception right? Like you know more about Clones and Spider-Man 616 than I but I feel like that’s besides the point because it happened to Betty. She is carrying the child of whom she thought was her dead ex-husband. And Ned clone has to know he is a clone. He has to know. Unlike Ben and Kaine, he has the awareness and information of the Jackal and the awareness of his progenitor’s death.

Or am I reaching too far and reading too far into things?

I'm glad you came back and asked this specific question because it's definitely something I have a lot of thoughts on, and I’m glad you asked my thoughts on it as a woman because I think this is one of those comic book storylines that’s hard for me to divorce that fact from -- the fact that I’m a woman definitely plays into how I view this storyline specifically and how it effects me, in ways I don’t think were necessarily intended by some of the writers involved in its ongoing arc who were not looking at things from the same perspective I’m coming at them from. I definitely don't think you're reaching or reading too far into things -- I think that is what's being presented on the page, albeit likely without authorial intent. Just as like a general disclaimer, I'm not closely following Spencer's run for the sheer reason that I'm not enjoying it very much, although I'm aware of the general directions it's taking through friends and social media. But I actually think this Betty/Ned issue goes back pretty far.

First things first, I think Clone Conspiracy really wreaked havoc on how Spider-Man as a series has always handled clones. Pre-Clone Conspiracy, there was a very clear clone narrative going on: clones are their own person, they are not direct copies or replacements of the original. You see this with Ben Reilly and you see it with the Gwen Stacy clones. Clones are treated as their own individuals, even if they have to struggle to get to that point -- there's even an issue of Spider-Man Unlimited where Ben and Betty go on a date. Betty doesn't know that Ben is Peter's clone -- he's introduced as his cousin -- and they both reflect on how you can't go back to the way things were. So even though Ben has all of Peter's memories regarding his initial romance with Betty, the narrative makes it clear that Ben and Betty cannot recapture that connection or that exact relationship.

Here's where Clone Conspiracy changed everything, in my opinion for the worse: Clone Conspiracy's clone narrative is that these clones are, essentially, the original person. I believe the Marvel wiki still actually lists the end of Clone Conspiracy as 616 Gwen Stacy's issue of death instead of Amazing Spider-Man #121, because Clone Conspiracy treated that Gwen not simply as a clone with all of the same memories, but as essentially Gwen resurrected through a cloning process. The Billy Connors who was cloned is treated as the same Billy Connors who was killed by his father in Shed (Amazing Spider-Man #630-633). And the clone Ned is treated as the same as 616 Ned. This is a mess, to put it simply, because it goes against all the previous Spider-Man cloning narratives and, honestly, most popular sci-fi clone narratives, and it's seriously undermining decades of good Spider-Man storytelling in ways that Slott didn't address and that Spencer seems unwilling to. It probably wouldn't have been a very big deal -- a frustrating one, but not a big one -- if all of the clones had perished at the end of Clone Conspiracy, but they didn't. Billy Connors escaped, and it's immensely frustrating to me to see Peter treating the Connors family reunion as something he can tolerate when Curt Connors ate his kid, and the Ned clone slithered away in the gutters to, I assume, spite me personally.

Which brings us to the current Betty Brant storyline in Amazing Spider-Man, where Betty has showed up heavily pregnant and informed Peter that the child is Ned's.

Yeah, I would say this is in fact the worst possible part. (ASM (2018) #67) Just speaking for myself, I'm generally not anti-pregnancy or baby storylines in comics, but this one is making me very uncomfortable for reasons beside Spencer being apparently unable to find any way to fit Betty into his stories without her showing pregnant.

So I'm actually going to take this back way, way to when Betty and Ned first got married, with some explanation of who Ned Leeds is for the uninformed, because, especially with the MCU's Ned Leeds in the mix, he's not exactly the world's most well known Spider-Man character. (I’m sure @ubernegro, who is much more well read on Miles Morales’ canon than I am, has thoughts on how the MCU’s Ned borrowed heavily off the character of Ganke Lee with a 616 Peter Parker character’s name pasted over him.) Ned was initially introduced as Peter's competition for Betty's affections -- Ned was older than both Peter and Betty, a working reporter, and presented as the more "stable" option compared to Peter, who of course Betty vastly preferred before circumstances tore them apart. Ned and Betty married in Amazing Spider-Man #156 and jetsetted off to Europe for Ned's job. This is where the cracks in the marriage began. Betty later reveals that she felt abandoned by Ned in Europe, to the point where she was able to come back to New York without his immediate notice -- as a woman, it's very easy to read their relationship at this point as being one filled with, if not abuse, then emotional neglect. Betty and Peter have a quick extramarital affair at this point -- Peter has just broken up with Mary Jane and Betty claims she and Ned are separating -- that persists until Ned returns and punches Peter over it.

(ASM #193)

(ASM #229) Betty and Ned reconcile off panel shortly thereafter, but that's pretty far from the end of the story. It's implied that the problems Betty and Ned previously had start to develop again, namely that Betty feels abandoned by Ned, that he is inattentive and, again, as a woman, it's hard not to read it as emotional neglect, if not abuse -- yet. Betty does start another affair at this point, this time with Flash Thompson, and Ned starts acting strangely. It would later be retconned that he was suffering the effects of hypnotism by the Hobgoblin, but like I said, that's a retcon, and what was happening at the time was that Ned was acting erratically in part because he was the villainous Hobgoblin. Ned becomes controlling, threatening, and verbally and physically abusive towards Betty.

(ASM #284)

(ASM #283) "I suppose you think it's all right for a wife to cheat on her husband!" "No -- but I won't let you hurt her, either." Leaving aside that Peter also had an affair with Betty, something he's conveniently forgetting in the above panels, I've always really liked this exchange, because the narrative makes it clear through Peter's response to Ned that, whatever the audience may think of Betty for cheating on Ned, it is reprehensible for Ned to publicly humiliate her and/or physically abuse her as a response.

Then Ned Leeds dies in Spider-Man vs Wolverine and he's revealed as the Hobgoblin posthumously shortly thereafter and that remains canon for years and years until it's later retconned out, as comics are wont to do. But that's not really that important for this conversation -- my point being, at one point in Spider-Man canon, it's made fairly clear to the reader that Ned is an abusive husband. He emotionally neglected and abused Betty several times over and physically hurt her at least once on panel, with the clear intent that the reader should realize that he is physically hurting her. So for me as a reader and as a woman, this has always been a really uncomfortable relationship. I have a problem with later Spider-Man comics claiming that it's "not Ned's fault" that he abused Betty because of the retcon that he was hypnotized, and I have a problem with the MCU making Betty and Ned into a cute summer fling in Spider-Man: Far From Home, because I feel like Ned's clear abuse of Betty either gets excused or entirely glossed over. And I don’t think the initial abuse storyline is bad -- I think there’s some amount of value in portraying Betty as a woman who marries too young, who experiences a terrible marriage, and who then spends years recovering from that marriage, which was the case up until they retconned Ned’s abuse of her as a side effect of him being controlled by the real Hobgoblin. What I’m specifically uncomfortable with is the post-retcon attitude that since Ned didn’t really mean to abuse Betty, it’s perfectly fine to portray the relationship in a positive light when even before Ned’s abuse became physical that wasn’t the case. I think that’s ultimately really irresponsible storytelling.  As a reader, I’m not against soap opera style storylines -- someone getting impregnated by a cone of their ex-husband seems pretty par for the course. But there’s so much additional context here that I still haven’t entirely processed how I feel about this Betty storyline, except that what I feel isn’t positive.

So yes, I would agree with you when I say I think there’s quite a lot of deception involved in Betty’s pregnancy storyline -- the Ned clone didn’t tell her he was a clone, even though he had full knowledge of that fact, just as he had full knowledge of how badly the original Ned treated Betty over the course of their relationship -- that renders their sexual encounter and Betty’s pregnancy uncomfortable for me as a reader, to put it mildly. I don’t think it’s out of character for the Ned clone, given that he acts much like the original Ned: he’s selfish and controlling, withholding information from Betty to suit his own needs. The tragedy of Ned and Betty isn’t that Ned died, as more recent Spider-Man stories like to portray it -- including this one, where Betty doesn’t have the knowledge that a) the Ned she reunited with was a clone and not the original and b) that that clone later died. (ASM #816.) The tragedy is that writers continue to force Betty Brant into Ned Leeds storylines instead of letting her as a character grow past him, and that the only way Spencer thought to include her, one of the longest running Spider-Man characters, back in the story was to have her appear starry-eyed over carrying the child of (the clone of) her abusive ex-husband, and the tragedy is that nobody writing more recent Betty and Ned interactions seems to realize that Ned was a villain not because he was briefly the Hobgoblin but because of how he treated Betty.