#as if that really does anything

[catsnuggler]

I've struggled with belonging, all my life. I don't claim to have the worst experience of that. I'm white, able-bodied, a cisgender man, I come from a Christian background (if a bizarre one, what with it being Mormonism), and I pass for straight because I'm mostly into women and haven't really made an effort to be visibly queer. So, I don't have the hardest background, I don't have the worst struggle with belonging.

I do have a struggle, though. As mentioned, I was raised Mormon. Mormons have a burning intensity on uniformity within the church. Uniform, unquestioning obedience to the church leadership, even as you're expected to admit that they are mortal men capable of mistakes and faults (likewise the treatment of the church, itself; capable of fault, imperfect, yet never admitting they actually have faults); to condemn and condone what the church organization, as a conservative settler-colonialist cult, and the church membership, which is largely an openly reactionary settler-colonialist cult, condemns and condone; the anti-Semitic and colonialist Mormon beliefs about Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and Abya Yala; all this, and an emphasis on "The Plan of Salvation/Happiness", a checklist of everything faithful Mormons have to do to achieve eternal life, including baptism, priesthood for men, marriage, raising a nuclear family...

My family questioned the leadership and the church, even disagreed with some things; we disagreed on condoning the church's history of racism, and on condemning gay people; I eventually realized how bigoted those racial beliefs were, and discarded them, as have my siblings (my dad still believes in Mormonism, but... allegorically, rather than literally? I wish he would leave the church, tbh); and now, we arrive at my family.

My mom is dead. She died when I was 7. My dad remarried a year later, to a divorced single mother, and moved us to a different area. That marriage didn't last, by the way. She was cold and uncaring, and I felt no remorse for her when I was told there was going to be a divorce. Anyway, the people here, where we live now and have lived since that move, couldn't relate to us, for all the reasons from the previous paragraph, and because I came from a patchwork family, and my mother had died. They never said "it's your fault your mother died," but they never truly cared to make us feel just as warmly-welcomed as anyone else. We were constantly gossiped about. It wasn't because my mom had died that they didn't care, it was because they couldn't relate to me, because I didn't fit the uniform mold... because my mom was dead... I was never directly blamed, but I felt the indirect blame in their hollow smiles. Perhaps they even believed that her death was a punishment to us, an attempt to get us to reconcile to TBM beliefs, and the fact we hadn't just meant we were foolishly rebelling against God, who would surely punish us again, until we went back in line, and so they had best distance themselves from us? I don't know if they thought this or not, but they do have a general belief that complete obedience to the church is rewarded in this life and the next, while catastrophe results from heterodoxy and disobedience.

So. I wasn't accepted as a Mormon. I also moved from my old home not long after my mother's death. Mormons are generally not accepted in American society, either. I was too "worldly" for the Mormons. I was too "Mormon" for "The World". And then I gravitated to Norse paganism, where I'm still at today, and people wonder if I'm a Nazi, or if I'm a Marvel fanboy, or if I'm just dumb because Christianity superseded paganism a long time ago (as if conversion-by-the-sword; which wasn't always the case, but uh, it still happened a lot; is morally acceptable), so why am I in a religion that was conquered and defeated? Or I'm preached to. Gods. I fucking hate that so much. Or people think I'm arrogant, think that I think I'm better than everyone because I'm a pagan, like I chose it only to be exotic. I'm not in a small town in the deep south, or in the back country of anywhere, so it's not like being pagan alone, even if I keep yo myself, results in death threats, or denied job offers, or any of the oppressions Muslims and Jews know all too well; I'm not suffering hate crimes, but when I am recognized as a pagan when I wear my hammer necklace, I'm looked askance at. Not terribly awful, not inhumane, but still wrong, still alienating. If who I am isn't hurting anybody, I don't want to be treated as if I am inherently hurtful. I want to be treated as a human being - with a baseline of respect one would show to a stranger, unless, through disrespectful actions on my part, I earn disrespect in kind. I don't expect automatic honor, merely the respect of being a fellow, imperfect human being, with some measure of good and potential. I'm saddened when I am othered, and I am shocked, angered, in despair, and appalled at the actual violence faced by groups who have it a lot worse than myself.

And then we arrive at whiteness. Top of the social pyramid of racism, yes... At the cost of our souls. You're not Scottish-American, not English-American, not German-American - oh, by all means, you can call yourself those things! No problem with saying those! But being different? Actually having something outside of whiteness? Nope! It's just Columbus Day, Plymouth Rock, States' Rights, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July - oh, and uh, Martin Luther King had a dream, I guess, so you get a day off from school or a government job, but don't you bother actually really learning who he was, what he really dreamed of, how the US government harassed him and had a hand in his death. And America is always the good guy in every war, and we didn't lose the Vietnam War. But uh. No hosen, no kilts, no haggis, no maypoles, nothing from wherever in Europe your ancestors came from, Europe is... I don't know, too "gay" or something, idek. Sure, you can have some annual Scottish festival or whatever, but then it's back to being white, being like every other white person out there. "Consume, consume, consume, and kill everybody who disagrees. Fuck you, I'll get mine. I was standing my ground when I shot that car of kids that backed into my driveway to try to make a turn." Once you start learning the things your ancestors did to other people, well... how can you feel good, at all, about family history? You never really know the good stuff, whatever good stuff there may have been; it didn't pass down. You just know they were awful people. So you're lost. That is, I'm lost... and my ancestors wanted that. They thought that would be a good thing. For us, I mean. A necessary cost I would surely agree to pay, and be glad they did, for the sake of keeping others down, so we could have more in comparison. Only, I don't agree. I'm horrified they did. As I said, I'm lost.

Belonging. I wish for it.

[makenna-made-this]

Okkkkkk so where is Chicken Miku?

Anon the way i dropped everything when i saw this

HATSUNE BEAK-U

(based on the Onagadori chicken breed)

[eydilily]

would you bite the hand that feeds you?

[saltymarshmall0w]

Danny is "in denial" about the Waynes being vigilantes

Danny is really grateful for the Waynes taking him in and all but it’s just… it’s really obvious they’re vigilantes. Do they WANT him to find out? Why?? To join their battalion?

Hell nah. He’s already got enough going on trying to keep in check the many shades in the city.

Danny simply pretends to be oblivious about the Waynes being vigilantes. That's a future Danny problem.

It turns into Kyle levels of denial, where he ends up pretending he thinks the vigilantes are actors hired by the city to cover up all the ghosts haunting Gotham.

And obviously, the city bases them on the infamously growing Wayne family. It's so sweet of the Waynes to volunteer to dress up as their character for public appearances.

Meanwhile, Bruce has banned outright telling Danny even though it's been nearly a year of him living with them. So what if Danny glows sometimes and has full conversations with invisible people in dark alleyways, everyone has their quirks! so, the Batkids have resolved to just "accidentally" leave their mask on after patrol or make tactical plans loudly about taking down Penguin's latest scheme with Danny a room over.

-

“Is Dick coming to the Gala?” Danny asked as his head swiveled between his phone and the mirror as he attempted to tie his own tie. How did his mom always make it look so easy?

“No, he is going out as Batman tonight, since Father is unable to.” Damian responded. He may as well be blasé about their identities, seeing as Fenton was obviously both completely aware of their identities and completely in denial.

“Oh, man. Does that mean one of the “rouges” are going to attack the gala?” Danny asked, “It’s probably going to be that Two-face guy, huh? He hasn’t made an appearance in a while and his character arc with “Brucie” hasn’t made any progress in a while.”

“Nonsense, there is no predicting the mindset of a criminal like Two-face.” Damian ignored Danny’s disbelieving scoff as he maneuvered his newest brother to face him so he could take over the task for him, else they would be standing there all night. “Besides, Drake is in charge of security for the gala and will do an adequate job securing the venue. If you are afraid remain by my side where I can protect you.”

Damian tightened the tie around Danny's neck and stepped back to let Fenton pull his own collar down.

"That's very sweet of you, Dami." Danny reached up a hand and mussed up Damian's newly-gelled hair, garnering a growl and a shove from the boy. "But you should do normal kid things during the gala, like accidentally saying rude things to old ladies, or complaining about how bored you are, and don't forget to prank all the evil billionaires."

...

The “I told you so.” Danny brazenly mouthed to Damian later in the evening from where Two-face held a gun to his head was as infuriating as it was distressing.

—

(Kyle Weston is the fanon brother of Wes Weston (also a fanon character) who’s whole thing is that he believes in conspiracy theories like Wes, but doesn’t believe in ghosts at all to Wes’s frustration.)

[xitsensunmoon]

He's a bit too excited to see you clock in

[egophiliac]

2025 is the year of the DRAGON SLIPPERS

[umblrspectrum]

"smaller mass" you say

[aroaceleovaldez]

the dynamic of demigods thinking which other demigod is the most powerful is always amusing to me because. like, we know the big 3 kids are all the most powerful. That's just a fact of their universe. And then we know nearly every character views Percy as the strongest demigod, and most people are very rightfully intimidated by him.

and you look at the powers of the Big 3 kids and there's Percy, but then you realize Nico is just kind of objectively more powerful than him but simply chooses to hang out in Percy's shadow like he's Percy's scary dog privileges. Like, the two of them are pretty equally capable of causing multiple different apocalypses. Nico just also has like four different instakill powers and it's not like he doesn't use them. He very much uses them! Not infrequently, even! And they don't seem to take a significant amount of energy from him! And other demigods are pretty intimidated by both of them! But Nico makes a conscious point to keep his cards close to his chest and not let on exactly how dangerous and scary he can be if he wants to. People are already scared enough of him without knowing anything about him and he doesn't like that. Percy doesn't think about that nearly as much, and so usually just goes in guns blazing and that's part of why he's considered a wildcard. And then Nico himself puts Percy on a pedestal, so those who do know more about Nico's abilities then presume Nico knows something they don't about Percy that implies Percy is even stronger than him.

And even on a meta level Nico's narrative role requires him to be functionally more powerful than Percy, because he very often serves the purpose of getting Percy out of situations he can't handle on his own. That's just part of his function as a character! But also narratively he can't overshadow Percy so he just takes a backseat of his own accord and that's very amusing to me.

[idiotsonlyevent]

it is completely understandable to be uncomfortable with the sexual assault in dandadan. it's important to discuss how it's framed, whether it's handled poorly, or if it could be been portrayed better. but the number of people - even fans - stating that it is only fanservice, irrelevant, or could be removed is frankly bizarre to for SO many reasons, starting with the fact that this parallel exists.

the anime made it even more obvious by interpolating cuts from the first scene into the second one.

i thought this scene showed that momo gaining her powers by believing in her relationship with her grandmother gives her the strength to fight back against what is basically a horrific, much more aggressive and abstract (maybe even absurd?) representation of her shitty gross ex - who was demanding she 'put out' and pay for the love hotel in very first scene.

while the escalation from one scene to the next is surprising, it's not something that comes out of nowhere. this first scene is meant to be a set-up to what will happen later. it sets the tone, though significantly more lighthearted at this point. it tells you that sex, sexuality, etc. is something dandadan will touch on - though you don't know what the scope and depth will be until later in the chapter.

i cannot recommend this video enough, as it discusses some interesting interpretations of what the serpoians and turbo granny represent in their respective assault scenes, as well as how right now the treatment of both scenes is unfortunately uneven.

more notes about plot and thematic relevance below the cut. spoilers for anime-onlies (up to chapter 8, will probably be covered in episodes 4/5).

momo was assaulted, and almost cut up by the serpoians, much like the other victims turbo granny appeared around. this is an intentional parallel. turbo granny goes to momo because that is what she does. again, SUPER unclear how that factors into turbo granny's assault of ken, but if we keep the video's interpretation of cynicism in mind, it could be related to that; maybe turbo granny has a cynicism toward men - similar to momo in chapter/episode 1 - and this is why she chose to attack ken. unfortunately, it's still too early to really understand and explain a lot of her motivations.

again, completely understandable to not like how the sexual assault was handled or portrayed, and it's important to keep discussing it. but this is what dandadan does for many different types of trauma and difficult life experiences. this is a huge part of dandadan's identity. if you don't like it, that is fine, but calling the sexual assault 'just fan service' is blatantly untrue.

[justaz]

arthur notices merlin and lancelot’s chemistry in s1 and then merlin and gwaine’s chemistry in s3 and comes to the conclusion that merlin likes men with long hair. in completely unrelated news, arthur thinks he might look good with long hair and decides to grow it out

[ciderjacks]

despite Laios low self esteem making him think that if he’d been eaten, Chilchuck and Marcille wouldn’t have helped Falin,

theres a small part of me that thinks the reason Chilchuck stayed with the party and went back in the dungeon in the first place was because he didn’t want to leave Laios alone. That Laios was moreso the reason he stayed.

[electrikorg]

always have many thoughts about pre-gorillaz stuart, the most average british lad there is. (2D with eyes jumpscare)

[chloesimaginationthings]

Okay, but Elizabeth being an absolute savage girlboss isn't something that's talked about enough.

Love how you're spitting facts for our girly pop. 💪💪💪

TBH I go off the personality baby has, and gotta assume some of that sass is definitely Elizabeth

[the-barefoot-hatter]

pediatricians are hard to find.

you aren't broken and other important things a triangle needs to hear

[beansnpeets]

Thinking about human behaviour compared to animal behaviour again.

It's funny to hear people (the older gens) complaining that "kids these days are lazy, they don't wanna work, etc." What do we get for busting our asses? There is no reward. Many will never own homes. Many are unemployed, trying to find work, and nobody will hire them because they don't have a million years experience and a masters degree OR they want people to work for minimum wage??? People are giving up because there is no reward. Why would we do all this for nothing?

Same as a dog that won't recall when you haven't reinforced it with a reward. Your dog isn't going to do what you tell it to if there is no incentive. No, your dog SHOULDN'T listen just because you're boss and it should respect you. That isn't how it works. They don't think that way. And honestly neither do people.

When we went hiking Sprocket wasn't always taking treats gently from me when I recalled her or she checked in and I rewarded and my one friend told me to stop giving her treats. I told him I won't work for free so why should she. And he said "I do things for free all the time because I want to do them," and I didn't say it then, but I wish I had, but if you like doing it, that's the incentive. It's a self-rewarding behaviour. Just like anything else a dog does, like chasing a squirrel or sniffing things or getting into the trash. Heeling instead of going off to sniff stuff or recalling off of something they want to chase is something you have to reinforce. You have to give them something better so they make the choice you want them to make. They won't make it just because they *respect* you. They won't willingly recall off of exciting prey out of RESPECT. You need to give them a tangible reward for that. You cannot possibly expect your dog to listen just because and then punish them for disobeying you.

Yeah, Sprocket bit my fingers a couple times. The one time pretty hard. But she was excited. She knows how to take gently and I reminded her and she tried very hard to be gentle most of the time. I wasn't going to stop rewarding her for checking in with me and recalling while we were off leash hiking in the woods. I want her to know that coming back to me is good and in the event of an emergency I would like her to not blow me off.

[thek0dy]

and they just look at me before flying away 😭