#arc thoughts

[puimoo]

Dick's inability to jump in Nightwing.

I’ve loved some of the older Dick Grayson related storylines that I have been reading over the last week, but I am really struggling with the new stuff – I’m just not enjoying the characterizations, the bright art, or the storylines as much in the recent-ish Nightwing comics.  It almost feels like they are water blasting away all the interesting shadows and darkness that have previously existed and creating a much less interesting, bubble gum pop character and world.  Using the ‘Dick can’t jump’ storyline as a bit of an example:

Dick not being able to jump (or, as it really should have been, to fly) had so much potential and it feels that in any other era this would have at least have been explored in a more interesting manner (whether it would have been written WELL is always a bit of a toss-up).  Here it is simply: problem acquired through external means, reason for maintaining issue briefly touched on but not explored in any way, problem fixed.  There are no stakes, no consequences, no fallout, no self-doubt.  You have Dick (potentially) having a panic attack and passing out on a trapeze and it takes all of two or three panels with no follow-up or exploration of what is going on in his mind during that attack.  You have someone who is supposed to be deeply fearful sitting on a cliff edge for – again – all of a couple of panels, before he then describes himself fixed.  No internal monologue, no actually capturing of that escalating fear as it consumes him.  In fact, fear seems to be missing altogether – it comes across far less that he is afraid of jumping and simply that he can’t.

I would have loved to see a more organic build.  Dick makes a mistake that shakes his confidence to the core, or Dick is dealing with vertigo following a head injury.  I’d like the stakes to be raised – being unable to jump has terrifying consequences while out patrolling.  I’d like to see the deepening sense of loss and a greater exploration of what jumping actually is to him (and not because he was a trapeze artist as a child once upon a time because he is so much more than that – this old well gets tiresome).  I’d like him to try to push through because Dick puts everything else before his own wellbeing, absolutely fail and there to be even more terrifying consequences for that.  I’d like to see him spiral downwards towards his lowest point where he starts to question whether he can still do this – and if he can’t, then who is he and where does he fit with others.  I’d like to see the batfamily find out and reflect on what this means for them, and for there to have always been this undercurrent that, while Dick is graceful and powerful and incredible when he leaps, that there has always been that fear of what happens if he doesn’t catch himself in time. I want the metaphor to have actually have been seen through (hell, I would have liked there to have been a metaphor in the first place) – it’s not just the fall that should be the story, it’s who catches him when he does and what happens if he hits the ground?

I wanted the arc to capture the fear, the psychology, Dick spiraling and having to drag himself back up with the help of others.  What we get instead is emotionless, bland, with no stakes and no heart.  Certainly no deepening of the character or lore. 

And! Then!  To rub even more salt into the wounds. What an absolutely terrible waste of what should have been an absolutely iconic moment: Bruce taking on Nightwing’s mantle.  When Dick steps into Batman’s shoes, it’s often because things have become almost broken beyond repair – desperate and dark and with the weight of the world on his shoulders.  Bruce steps into Nightwing’s shoes because he’s off on a mountain somewhere having a bath. This should have been something incredible and defining for both of them. Dick as Batman always has this thick, threatening edge to it.  What impact does the role reversal have on Bruce, as he instead drawn more towards who Dick is? What does Bruce sacrifice - what fears does HE have to face when becoming Nightwing?

As someone who was hoping to get back into fandom, I wouldn’t even know where to start in navigating the stuff I do and don’t like in canon, all spread across different reboots.

Right!  I need a palate cleanser!  Off to reread Operation Friendship Helmet (https://archiveofourown.org/works/56642212/chapters/143977645), which is now officially my comfort fic after spending an entire week consuming way too much Nightwing fan fiction.  This time, I will even try and leave a review that captures why I love it so much vs rambling on about characterizations in canon I’m not enjoying. 

[stingray-art]

Black Whale, 12.5x12"

I tried quilting for the first time! It was super fun and I learned a lot. It's nowhere near perfect but I'm really proud of it!

Originally submitted for a mini event in @greedislandchallenge <3

[malusokay]

Little things that improved my life 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Accepting my sleep schedule. I'm a night owl; I focus at night, I'm calm at night, I'm motivated at night. For a long time, I tried to fight this since everyone always preaches getting up early, but since I started accepting my natural sleep schedule, I've been feeling a lot better and have become way more productive.

"drink more water". TEA. Tea is the secret here. I will be honest, I hate drinking water; it doesn't matter if I have a cute water bottle or a cute glass, I still hate it. TEA.

Replying quickly. I used to be one of those people who get a text message and think, "Oh, I'll reply to that later", and then just forget about it entirely. Now, I text back as soon as I see the message. This has not only improved my texting anxiety (which I cause on my own by now replying and then feeling bad) but also deepened my connection to my friends. <3

Keeping my circle small and being okay with that. Over the past months, I've had this sudden urge to expand my social circle and get to know more and more people, especially after I moved in August. However, this quickly ended in what I like to call my "social burnout". I was tired, annoyed, and overwhelmed. It took a few weeks for it to settle, but I've come to the conclusion that I would much rather have a smaller circle of people who I trust and love deeply than a huge group of friends, and that's totally okay.

Wearing what I like. Even though I live in a big city, I'd still say that my style can sometimes be a bit more extravagant than what most people wear, another point is that I'm very uncomfortable with pants so I only wear skirts, which is also considered a bit odd where I live. But over the past years, I've come to accept that and have become so sure of myself and found such comfort in my style that I now just wear whatever I like, and it makes every day a little bit nicer.

Reading and writing for pleasure. Reading books outside of my studies and spending time researching topics that simply interest me is such a great way to calm your mind. Same for writing, I always like to say that to write is to think; putting your thoughts on paper in cohesive and well-crafted sentences that you can then reread and think over again is such a liberating thing to do.

Reaching out more. fuck the whole "double texting" and "no contact" thing. If you want to speak to someone because they mean something to you, then just do it. Unless they specifically asked for space, you shouldn't feel bad about wanting to be in touch with them. Many even really appreciate it when you show that you truly care. Let's stop the nonchalant act, and instead, let's face deep emotions and true vulnerability. <3

As always, please feel free to share your own little insights and things that helped you improve comments! <3

my insta: @ malusokay

love ya ･:*₊‧✩

[dykealloy]

what do you mean jennifer saunder's shrek 2 cover of Holding Out for a Hero didn't play over the entirety of dressrosa arc

[josephsaturn]

POV ur Commandant Sobeck watching the citadel's camera feed

[egophiliac]

queen of diamonds, upright + reversed 💎

I've redone this like eighty times, I have to just be done with it now and stop staring at all my mistakes oh no 🫠

[mumblesplash]

after the first few times you'll forget it’s even happening

[epickiya722]

Y'all gonna hate me but when I saw this...

I thought of this...

[bluegiragi]

mutt. (small explanation under the cut)

early access + nsfw on patreon

so. a couple of lore things here.

Roba only took one of the blood vials before he went out to fight Price. But during Ghost's final interaction with Vernon, he smashes all of the remaining ones over the floor. When he finally killed Vernon, the impact of the blow splashed blood onto his hands, which he then used to a) slash Roba across the face and b) literally grab his tongue. So you can kind of assume that Roba's gotten a much much higher dose than he's supposed to safely take.

Also, his symptoms look pretty similar to the transformed state of Konig, no? Rabid, mindless, inability to talk, and most importantly, he's huge. I think my thought behind this is that the way the world used to be, monsters were way WAY larger than they are now. Roba was underselling it when he said that the vial "unlocks what is dormant" - probably a better description is that it strips away any hybrid's evolutionary 'safety cap' so to speak, in exchange for the original being's mind.

[ink-the-artist]

house tour :)

bonus art, lossy versions of the first 2 gifs

[hajimedics]

I'M NOT YOUR DOLL AND I'LL THINK FOR MYSELF AND I'LL LIVE FOR MYSELF

[emeryleewho]

There's a huge difference between redemption and humanization. I feel like a lot of "redemption arcs" aren't actually redemption at all, they're just attempts to humanize the villain so that they seem multi-faceted, but people read them as "redemption arcs" and think that that is meant to justify all the evil they've done before and negate whatever made them a villain in the first place. I think true "redemption arcs" are actually kind of rare because true redemption would take making the villain acknowledge their crimes, reevaluate their actions, actively choose to do better, and then proceed to make amends and become a better person, and that would this take more time than most stories are allowed to give their characters.

I've also seen people argue that a character has to be poised for redemption from the jump for it to work because once a character does something "too bad", they can't be redeemed. I completely disagree because redemption isn't justification or forgiveness, so no matter how horrible a character's actions, they could choose to become better, but because a lot of people (including writers) think redemption means "erasing the character's flaws and making it so they did nothing wrong ever", a lot of attempted "redemption arcs" just end up erasing a character's entire history or justifying every evil thing they've ever done. And yeah, in these cases, the only way to make a character go from a villain to a perfect cinnamon roll with no flaws *is* to have been planning it from the beginning and make sure they never do anything that can't be explained away later.

TLDR: real redemption arcs require a lot of self-awareness, patience, and growth, which are things that are rarely actually allocated to villains, and that's why real redemption arcs almost never get executed. The reason people think redemption arcs are overdone is because there are so many attempts to either humanize a villain that get misconstrued as redemption or attempts to blatantly erase who a character was in the name of "redemption", which is really just poor character development.

[lionbearfox]

highly underrated sumeru moment imo

[inquisitor-apologist]

The first time we see Yoda, leader of the Council, in tcw, he’s explicitly affirming the individuality and importance of the clones. He then teaches them how to connect to the Force, the most sacred tenet of the religion he’s dedicated his life to.

The first time we see Plo Koon, a Jedi Master, in tcw, he clearly tells his clone troopers that they are not expendable to him, and then proceeds to do his absolute best to save as many clones as possible.

The first time we see Anakin in tcw he has his clones fly an unnecessary suicide mission because he wants the glory of killing Grievous. He doesn’t even stop when he hears them all dying—his Padawan, a 14-year-old, has to yell at him that no one else will survive what he’s doing before he changes his plan.

And people STILL say that Anakin is the Jedi who cared about the clones the most. Seriously?

[paponela]

how long do you think he took to figure it out

[dandelion-de-deus]

Now I get it. Anne Shirley was right; sometimes pretending you’re an exiled princess fallen from her state or a wealthy criminal who’s decided to take a minimum wage job to evade detection IS the only way to get through the work day