#assertive vs asshole

[azeutreciathewicked]

To add:

It can be hard when your internal barometer is fucked up (by abusive or neglectful parents, friends, coworker, bosses), and that's understandable. It takes practice to get better at recognizing when you are being an asshole vs being assertive in a healthy way.

And what makes it even more difficult is if people around you ALSO have a skewed barometer. So you may be perfectly assertive in an appropriate way, but they may overreact, or lash out, or try to punish you for their internalized bad feelings. That's rough.

Finding a couple people who can be trusted to help you confirm "that was okay" or "went a little hard there, ease up next time" is super valuable. And when you have the ability, help others calibrate that social barometer too.

Also, if it was a murky situation, it's usually okay to give someone another chance. Set your exit parameters ahead of time ("if they do X, I'm out") and try again. We all mess up. It's frustrating, maddening even, but we can all get better with practice.

A thing I notice is that at least 60% of the time some of the more caustic and temperamental types of people have this self-victimizing attitude where they see themselves as recovering doormats who have been nice for too long and so have "earned" permission to be mean to people because they confuse rudeness for assertiveness and niceness with submission and they have a binary view of the whole thing.

[witchspeka]

Jyushi is the most misleading hypmic character like I have yet to meet someone who can guess his personality first try lol

[zorosbeau33]

Alpha Laxus Dreyar + Courting Headcanon

❖ Fairy Tail, Laxus x Gender Neutral Reader

❖ Headcanon, Fluff, Comedy

❖ Tw: Mentions of fighting

❖ wc: 1777

❖ @tojiseviltwin @kimnamshiks ❖ Masterlist Natsu~❖

. ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

I was supposed to do a strictly Courting Headcanon but uh I got distracted...SO I shall put a strictly nsfw courting (and maybe some more bonus sfw) headcanon on my to-do list X.X Sorry

. ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

We are going to do Laxus post his first fight for this one~ Because we love character growth in this universe~

Laxus is an alpha, a seemingly calm alpha with a selective and secretive short fuse. 

He has no time anymore for meaningless violence. Laxus is too busy looking towards the future and doing whatever is within his power from behind the scenes to make the lives of his guildmates better

However if you purposely put yourself in his way, by threatening his assumed fairy tail this man will assert himself as the alpha and without letting that sink in he will strike

One blast of lightning is all it takes to fry most, and just to be a disrespectful shit, he will let his scent out so they are stuck smelling like the alpha who kicked their ass so easily and warning any of their buddies there is a Fairy Guardian ready to kick ass if they try to lay a hand on them

Unlike Natsu or Rogue he is not hiding or ignoring his alpha status, he doesn’t necessarily think it makes him better than anyone anymore. However He knows that secondary gender often leads people to be naturally stronger in terms of strength and scent

He is very mindful of how much force he puts into everything, from opening doors to helping someone up who fell. It would bother and upset him if he accidentally caused injury to someone who did not deserve it

Unlike how Natsu just has a generally lower scent unless he’s angry, Laxus’s scent is strong and he has gone through time to learn how to keep it calmer and not overpowering for those around him. In fact it is a rather grounding and calming scent that makes you feel you can rely on this man

He takes pride in his scent but understands not everyone wants to smell him 24/7 so he hardly ever pushes his scent out(except as a power move on assholes), and never scent marks not even the Thunder legion 

Although awkward when it comes to expressing affection, Laxus is a very passionate alpha it comes across in the tiny turns of his lips, the stance he takes to protect others, and the crackling of his lightning (it differs in fights against guildmates vs enemies you can feel his ferocity)

This goes for shows of affection to his guild mates too, he plays with them like a jock big brother would the youngest sibling. He treasures them but also this usually comes through him unintentionally teasing them or pissing them off by how he interacts with them

Alpha Laxus is not looking for power, he is looking for a family. A place to rest and a place he can protect with everything inside him

If he is needed to lead then he will but it will not be from the thought of I am alpha so you will listen, but because he wishes to protect and he will serve the role of protector (not alpha) but protector for those who he has come to accept as family regardless of their secondary genders, primary genders, sexuality, or magical ability

He has learned to protect the strong as well as the weak and he cherishes each one even if he does not know them personally all that well, when family views them as his family thus he will protect them

As for Laxus as an alpha to be with you, well you must be a member of Fairy Tail plain and simple, or someone Fairy Tail sees as family

If you are seen as family but a part of another guild it won’t work for him. He has to be able to protect you and while he does see other guilds as friends he can’t trust them with your safety

Civilian? Oh guess who just got the best gig ever? Working at Fairy Tail! Congratulations~

He is a quiet partner at first, he speaks with his body and actions. You’ll need to learn to notice his glances because they speak volumes about whether he is watching you lovingly, worried for you, or just perplexed by your behavior.

Same for his body positioning, he tends to linger closer to you not like hovering beside you, but same side of the room as you. Sitting just a seat or two away, or positioned so he can be beside you in an instant if anything happened

Laxus is not huge on PDA, he just is a bit awkward because he doesn’t really crave skinship in the way many do

He prefers to gently fix your hair as a way of giving you affection before moving on to the next objective. Or cup your cheek and smile for a moment before he walks away to go get you food or one of his jackets 

He will on occasion stand just a half step behind and to the side so he can rest one of his gargantuan hands on your hip and bask in your presence

Laxus will actually commit murder if he sees you crying. The snarls and way he snaps you up into his arms is terrifying enough to his guild members let alone the stranger who had hurt your soul thusly

He feels helpless but will be there to hold you and offer soft words of encouragement and protection. This is one of the times you would hear him give you verbal affirmations without having to ask for them. He will get revenge for you unless you stop him

If its because of unfortunate events, nature is nature after all Laxus will steal you away to somewhere safe preferably your nest so he can just be a strong shoulder to cry on, and later cook for you. Expect the best cuddles, kisses, and home-cooked food, unintentionally becoming more like husband material by the day

It's much later on in your relationship when he starts to act on certain alpha impulses

One of those is kissing you, he found you too cute before and he was in no rush to claim you. If you wanted him like he did you it would happen in time

When he finally acts on it, it is probably after a heated battle or moment where he feels he had nearly failed to be the man (not alpha) he wanted to be for you and is so desperate and filled with all the love he has been storing up inside for you

It’s a claiming and dominant kiss and later he will apologize if that wasn’t the sort of kiss you wanted your first kiss with him to be

Now he seeks you out sometimes tugging you in gently by your hips or cupping the back of your head while he presses slow claiming steamy kisses to your lips (or if he is feeling needy or worried about you to your throat by your scent glands)

If someone in the guild is getting too close or handsy expect his jealousy to leak out slightly in a small scent flare and him coming over to kiss your forehead and cheek and suggest you both go “-get a drink” “show him that thing you were talking about” or if they really pushed it “to our Home”

Another impulse he is acting on? Scenting for the first time in years! He wants to leave his scent lingering on you so that you know he is never too far away

It does ward off others as well, being an alpha but it was more because it's his way of claiming his mate as a man who is terrified to lose you and his family again

The times it is as an alpha is if you have to go into battle and either of you are worried about the other's safety. He hopes his alpha scent could deter any harm that might come to you, he knows it can't always but even if it helps a little it's worth using his secondary gender then. Please scent him back, it helps calm his mind that you will be okay while he has to fight. He also fights six times harder with your scent on him subconsciously fighting to defend his mate with all the deadly precision he has learned over the years as an s class wizard

If he knows you are okay with it he will often wrap you up in some of his clothes

It tickles his heart seeing you drowning in his huge things

He’s unaware of it but the others see that alpha light in his eyes when you wear something of his. All the pride and love of an alpha watching their mate but they really want to tease him for this behavior he's unaware of

Alpha status can sometimes be used by him without thinking if it can make your or the guilds lives easier or safer. It is less OOO I’m a big scary alpha and “Oh? Scared of alpha’s huh? Then get the fuck out of here before I show you what an alpha really is, scum.” 

Would not appreciate being referred to by his secondary gender, it brings up bad memories and discredits his actual prowess and growth. Use his name, or his position as a s class Fairy Tail wizard not “Alpha”.

Is re-assured if you like his secondary gender but it's something he wouldn’t realize he finds relieving until it happens and you tell him as such. Although he would still prefer if it was not one of your favorite things about him

Not the greatest at understanding what the other positions need, but he is trying to learn every single day. Has gone to the library to try and find books that aren't archaic so he can be sure to provide the family or you with whatever you require at any time. He still gets surprised by things, like why your little clicks and prrts can grab his attention from across a battlefield. Doesn’t realize that is his mate's way of calling to him and him alone and he is responding to it the right way, he may ask you to be more careful about when you make those noises after he accidentally gets distracted by it while you were cheering him on and Natsu socked him in the jaw

I’ll do a more courting one but I think this is more than I had meant to do for just him as an alpha lol XD Heres a few little more but I’d be willing to do a courting headcanon, or nsfw mate headcanon if people are curious

[lazysublimeengineer]

Isagi and his Football Theories of Personality

I knew at some point in this manga we will have an intervention of personality types attached to players based on how they play lol.

Sometimes I really think that the author himself has read numerous books about psychology such as Theories of Personality by Feist. How did I have a random thought like this? Just looked at Isagi's inner monologue about World Type Ego and Self-Type Ego.

That is the closest thing you can compare it to the MBTI of people.

At first it's amusing to read to have Isagi categorized the players according to what motivates them to play soccer. But it's also creative because the author is injecting another angle and subject other than playstyle and strategies out there in the field.

An explanation of World Type Ego vs. Self Ego Type is also helping the reader to get a glimpse of the character's motivation and reasons for playing that sport.

In this chapter, it is revealed that Kaiser has a World Type Ego just like with Isagi since in the previous chapters he couldn't ascertain which type he is alongside with Rin, Ness and the others. To get a gist of it, a World Type Ego is motivated by the external factors of their surroundings or environment such as prestige, fame, money and other tangible elements that can be calculated and explained in a pragmatic sense. From the start, reputation is an important thing to Kaiser. He doesn't hesitate to immediately assert his top and special position in BM when the Blue Lock players such as Isagi and the others joined their team in NEL. In the recent chapter, Kaiser had shown to abandon everything and go back to "zero" because his playstyle with Ness doesn't work anymore. His position and offer bid is being now threatened by Isagi's presence and skills so now he decided to do what is best even if he doesn't do it usually: teamwork with the other Blue Lock players such as with Raichi and now with Kunigami (or as the orange haired guy as he aptly calls him lol).

Well, in this part you can actually ask then what the hell is all of this and how does it connect with everything?

It's connected because this can also explain why his partnership with Ness is now in shambles and getting worse in each new chapter. Clearly Ness and Kiyora's type is not revealed yet. But well, as a reader we can prolly surmise what Ness and Kiyora is which brings me to the other type of ego according to Isagi: Self Type Ego.

According to what is being explained in the franchise, their motivation is determined by internal or intrinsic factors such as their beliefs, morally right or wrong actions and other personal factors that are important to them rather than the external and pragmatic factors. From the moment we were shown of Ness' character, his interpretation of events and surroundings around him is according to his personal values and beliefs. He makes decisions based on what he feels at that moment and that's a clashing thing to his family who greatly values logic and sound reasoning above everything else.

He decides to follow Kaiser because he sees a potential in him that no one else has and showed him the "miracle" of soccer. His interpretation of his character is independent from the other people's remarks about him being a diva and an asshole. His personal belief about Kaiser is so great as the statue of Liberty that it extended to great lengths of serving him until the end.

Which is quite ironic because in reality they really don't understand each other and their judgment of each other is distorted. For all Kaiser yapping that he molded Ness into being his servant and such, he doesn't really understand him in the end which explains his bafflement in the last chapter of the manga when Ness still declared his loyalty to him despite discarding him out there in the field. One can be the said to the other as well because his reassurance to Kaiser is the last thing that Kaiser wants to hear or see from him and fails to see the bigger picture which is now they're in this mess in the field because they're motivations are clashing: World Type Ego vs. Self Type Ego.

I remember someone asking me, but what about Reo? He's the same with Ness right?

Not really.

Isagi has put Reo in the World Type Ego because first and foremost his original motivation is to win the World Cup which is an external motivation alongside with prestige and money. Reo is shown to be a logical and strategic person well, except for Nagi when he met him. But he is different from Ness. Their situation is different.

That's why when Nagi is losing motivation to play soccer again after beating Isagi and offering the millions of bid that he can gain to motivate him, it doesn't move Nagi as much because he doesn't need it. Nagi is motivated by intrinsic factors in playing soccer and that's why he was clashing with Reo at times. This is quite evident during the second selection.

Well, I can already guess what Kiyora's type of ego is but I'll reserve my judgment on that after we get more from his character in the future chapters.

Guess this is where this ends and my shower thoughts. If you've reached this part then congratulations for wasting your precious time to read this ramblings of mine.

[twig-tea]

Only Friends Ep 6 Scene By Scene

This is the episode we've all been waiting for. It's the first episode where everyone is objectively a bit of an asshole; it's the first episode where truths are finally talked about, it's the episode that starts to answer two of my most burning questions (what is Boston's home life like, and where is April?), and interestingly it's the first episode we get without any obvious narrative framing or character perspective.

It was so interesting, as the clear pivot point of the story, that there was no obvious framework this ep, but this entire episode was parallels and callbacks and hypocrisy/relying on viewer knowledge to understand all of the subcurrents. I have so many thoughts that I'm talking about each scene so this post is LONG.

First scene: Top and Mew by the pool. Not enough people are giving Force and Book credit for keeping the awkward tension between these two even though they are having textbook cute moments, because these characters still don't trust one another and this scene establishes that before the rest of the episode blows them up: Mew says he's not sure they'll be together in 3 months, explicitly calling out the fragility of their relationship; and Top gets defensive at Mew insinuating he doesn't need a relationship and doesn't trust that they'll stay together, and straight-up lies that he's stopped doing drugs and having casual sex [though I do wonder how much he believes it's a lie because he's clearly cut back from his usual, and when someone does something all the time changing to doing it rarely does feel like not a big deal in comparison] and asks what else about himself he needs to change for Mew [all, by the way, while Mew is preparing to undergo permanent surgery to his eyes for Top]. We also get this called back later in the ep when Mew tells Ray to quit drugs and Ray says sure, and I have to wonder how many times that exchange has happened and if it's partly why Mew is suspicious of Top's "easy" change. Also interesting that Mew seems to be one of the only people in this friend group who has two parents (his moms) that care about him and who also have a good relationship with each other. Mew's point that he doesn't need fulfillment from a relationship because he gets it from his friends and family is interesting; especially given his friends. [Sidenote: This is basically how I feel about my own life so I am curious how other people read this assertion.] The ephemeral change of sleeping around and doing drugs vs the physical and permanent change of Lasik is really standing out to me this scene as significant.

Second scene: the meeting with the professor. It's interesting that even though they're presenting, they're the ones sitting down. Cheum says they can keep personal and professional lives separate and Ray turns to stare directly at Boston. I love that this is even before anyone else knew that the Boston/Top hookup was at the soft launch party for the hostel. Also noting Cheum's catty comment about even Boston helping; this girl is so much messier than people give her credit for [just saw @lurkingshan 's breakdown of this episode as I continue to update this post and yessssss call her out!!]

Third scene: noodles. This is I think the same place they planned the soft launch party. I'm seeing parallels with everyone pressuring Boston to date Nick to everyone pressuring Mew to sleep with Top in the first ep. Also, interesting that Cheum promises to behave this time [and then definitely doesn't]. We've all (or at least I have) been wondering where April is and now we get some explanation. I do wish they'd established this as more of a pattern for Cheum to complain like this, but I'll take it as setup now. The way Ray and his seething is invisible in this scene has been covered beautifully here [by @poetry-protest-pornography and @respectthepetty ].

Fourth scene: Ton and Nick wakeboarding. The parallels here to Top/Mew are twofold: we get the similar sitting by the water parallel from earlier this episode, in which there is a clear undercurrent of hypocrisy between what the characters are saying and what the audience knows about them (that conversation with/about Gap was so good, with the tension in Nick knowing he still has that audio clip and still hasn't deleted it as Boston berates Gap for the same thing), and then there is the contrasting parallel to when Mew took Top wakeboarding for the first time with the rest of his friend group. In contrast, Ton took Nick here alone, clearly still trying to play this game of not dating Nick but doing things with him that they would do if they were dating, that send extremely mixed signals. This scene again underscores the fragility of the relationship Boston and Nick have and how easily it can be broken.

Fifth scene: The hospital. Sand and his mom, in which we see how used he is to taking care of someone who is a bit of a mess [affectionate], and how he can still only be somewhat honest with his mom about his relationship with Ray (more than we'd expect between a 20something and their mom, but less than we the audience know is the truth--they're just having fun but it's not what he wants). And then the confrontation between Top and Sand. Top characterizes his relationship with Mew as "I get what I want" and I have to wonder how much of that is posturing to annoy Sand and how much of it is honesty. I did also think that maybe he meant it when he said "I hope you get what you want soon" because he wants Ray's attention away from Mew.

Sixth scene [start of part 2]: Sand intentionally drops and stomps on his phone to have an excuse to borrow Nick's so he can steal the sex audio. This is the first time that Sand consciously does something shitty to one of his friends, and I am living for it--let good characters make bad decisions! The parallel here is of course to Boston getting his phone fixed by Nick and having Nick steal his photo and adding one of his own from the beginning of the series; also a small one of Sand using his mom as an excuse to lie to his friend, the way Top used his dad as an excuse to lie to Mew the night he slept with Boston [not a comparison Sand would like, which is why I enjoy it]. I love that we see Nick get worried at the end of this scene because he's a phone tech and of course would know to check what Sand did with his phone.

Seventh scene: Top taking care of Mew after Lasik; this is maybe the least tense scene between Mew and Top, and the fact that Mew can barely see and is drugged for it is on point. I do also like that Top isn't great at caretaking but he is trying. This scene reminds me of Mew taking care of Ray and vice versa, especially the latter when Ray kisses Mew while he's sleeping and how that's contrasted with Top (Mew's boyfriend) only kissing Mew's forehead when he realizes he's asleep. The sketches that Top does are also really interesting, and how they hit Mew later is even more fascinating. The conversation they have in which Mew establishes that this is all happening right after they've had penetrative sex for the first time (so not long after ep 5) and makes clear he's still nervous about his performance and then credits Boston for their relationship, setting everything up for later, is just so good, it underscores the importance Mew has been putting on his virginity and sets the betrayal up to hit harder. I love how Top pushes back on giving Ton credit for their relationship here because it makes him so uncomfortable.

Eighth scene: Sand calls Ray out to play the stolen clip for him. This feels like a parallel to Boston calling Top out to play the video of Mew and Ray kissing. Other folks [ @xceanlynx and @respectthepetty linked here] have pointed out that in this scene Sand is choosing his hatred of Top over his potential relationship with Ray here, which I don't disagree with, but also what occurred to me here because of this parallel is the similarity in that both Sand and Boston seem to be motivated by their jealousy of Mew in these scenes too. I also just can't stop thinking about how wild it is that everyone recognizes Top and Ton by their sex noises alone.

Ninth scene: Boston and Nick with Boston's dad. We finally get some background for Boston and he clarifies he's always been planning to bail on Thailand to go to New York. It's interesting that it's made explicit that if Boston fails he's more likely to go to New York sooner, especially after the warning their teacher gave about the hostel project and how we know it's Boston's drama that is threatening to blow that project up. Boston's conversation with his dad is a contrast with Sand and his mom earlier; while Sand sleeping around was not judged by his mom, she did warn him about his feelings, while Boston's dad seemed to celebrate his callousness. The way Boston continues to ask Nick to not be dramatic while stirring up constant drama in his own friend group, and his insistence that his relationship with Nick is special but not a relationship is really something. Also that this convo takes place in Boston's dark room, which gets called out later as one of his regular hookup locations, and where Nick first got suspicious about Boston and Top, is interesting, especially in the context of permanent physical photos vs digital recordings that you can't necessarily erase vs how gossamer thin their relationship security is, and how tied up in voyeurism all of these things are.

Tenth scene [start of part 3]: Ray confronts Boston at the hostel (blatantly running contrast to "we can keep personal and professional lives separate"). We see Boston nervous here when first being confronted before he decides what approach to take with Ray to keep his mouth shut (not for the first time; we saw him nervous in the showers when he first tried to get Top to have sex). Also, I just have to say, respect to Ray for going to Boston first to confirm it's true before deciding what to do with the clip.

Eleventh scene: the birthday party at Yo's bar. It's poetic that the start and end of the Mew/Top relationship is because of conversations at Yolo. Once again, the spectre of failing school [because of the project] comes up in Mew's birthday wish. Cheum immediately breaks her promise to be "good" and teases Boston about Nick. She also says "everyone is dating someone now", apparently forgetting entirely about Ray. This entire conversation was so passive aggressive and @lurkingshan 's post (linked above) breaks it down really well. I am fascinated by Mew's reaction to Top's gift; I hope we get more insight into that because he seemed legitimately shaken, and it didn't seem to be positive. Also highlighting that once again Boston is credited for their relationship (this time by Cheum), and both Boston and Top seem deeply uncomfortable with it but Top doesn't argue it this time.

Twelfth scene: Ray and Mew in the bathroom. I already mentioned Ray's promise to quit and how it parallels Top "quitting for Mew" at the start of the ep; Mew is expressing care for Ray here but in a way that is distant and frankly a bit callous (to say "you'll be dead by thirty" to a guy who was/is suicidal is not the smartest approach even if it isn't intentionally referencing that). He insists that Ray not drive home but doesn't take his keys or stay with him to make sure he does actually get a ride, which is admittedly a big ask on your own birthday but just indicates the intentional boundaries Mew tries to set with Ray about not caring too much, I think. I don't think this makes him a terrible person, but it makes him not a great friend. This is in contrast to Sand, who stayed with Ray and made sure he would not drive before he even knew him, and followed him at the end of this ep to make sure he would not hurt himself or someone else even after Ray pushed him away.

Cursed thirteenth scene: Ray blows everything up [ shoutout to @liyazaki for this perfect post]. First, the same song is playing as the silent disco, calling back how Top's fate was sealed before Mew and Top had even gotten very far. And then once again, Sand's band is interrupted so that someone can take the mic, just as Top did when he asked out Mew for the first time. Mew calls out Cheum and April for their less than perfect relationship despite what it seems on the surface and more specifically calls out Cheum for being a bit of an asshole actually, mentions that Boston is a gossip about his hookups (which is not actually something we've seen evidence of, and I'm interested in how true it is), tells Nick he's not special, tries to explain to Mew that he (Ray) is not who Boston thinks he is and didn't share the clip with Mew to get him for himself [only knowable on rewatch of course]. Cheum finally admits that she fully knew Ray was in love with Mew this whole time and has just been ignoring it/pretending not to [vindication!!] and accuses Mew of exactly what he was trying to deny. Top finally acts his nastiest self in front of Mew, putting his arm around Mew's shoulder and claiming ownership for the second time this party in Ray's face (first time was when Yo joked that she wanted to go out with Mew now that the glasses were gone). Sand can't get Ray to stop, and Ray tries to shame Sand needing money by implying he should have sex with Ray for money. Ray goes after Boston, and Mew can't get Ray to shut up either so he hits him (even knowing why Ray is acting like this; and that's my favourite part of this entire episode, that Mew has decided he wants his moment to confront Top his way, once again using sex to control his feelings--this time to make him humiliated rather than fall in love--and he's willing to punch his friend to get his moment, and I am obsessed).

Fourteen: Only Sand goes after Ray, once again the only one actively trying to stop him from killing himself or someone else on the road. Sand snaps and yells at Ray to pay attention to him, Ray's "what are we to each other?" comes off as desperate rather than accusing, which I love--the question of what they are to one another has come up so many times and neither is willing to admit they want to be more first. Ray again calls Sand a whore this time explicitly, and drives off. Sand follows Ray. This is a beautiful parallel to the first time Sand took Ray home. Like every other couple scene this episode, the tenuousness of their connection is highlighted and even threatened in this scene, but Sand doubles down.

Fifteen: April and Cheum finally have a scene. They reconcile, but (like all of the couples) it feels tenuous. April asks that Cheum not lie to her just to avoid conflict, and Cheum promises to do that--but I am fully expecting this to not last. Since we know Cheum knew Ray was in love with Mew this whole time, it's confirmed that her lying or just glossing over reality to keep things easy is her personality not just something she does with her girlfriend's films.

Sixteen: the scene that we've all been waiting for. This was such a good fake-out, and it's the start of Mew's unhinged era he promised us all at the start of Top's pursuit of Mew. The way he set the stage, prepared a script, and as best I can figure out, TIMED A REMIX OF THE SEX AUDIO TO HIS SEDUCTION is absolutely sending me. Being more sexually confident, initiating sex and holding Top down, and making sure he could see Top's face when he realized what was happening, whew boy what a set-up. I am thinking about how much of that was him wanting Top to feel tricked and violated the way he felt tricked and violated. I also love Mew jumping to the conclusion that Boston and Top planned this and were laughing at him because that's a) indicative of something Mew would do, clearly; b) totally something people think when they're embarrassed, they assume everyone else knows and is laughing at them; c) not totally wrong because Boston did make fun of Mew's lack of experience to Top (shoutout to the YouTube comments for the reminder).

And that last sentence of the episode deserves its own paragraph because it just so perfectly encapsulates exactly where Mew went wrong in his thinking from the start: "I wasn't good enough for you to love only me"... As though other people's behaviour is controlled by your goodness and earned through your own behaviour. As though love and sex are value judgments. As though the world is fair. As though goodness is an objective judgment that allows you to control the people around you. This thinking is so harmful and so pervasive. It's really a sign of Mew's desperate need to be in control (in this version of events, even Top having sex with Boston is actually Mew's doing, which means in theory Mew could prevent it from happening again if he betters himself). And it confirms what we all suspected Mew's been trying to do this whole time: Manipulate Top into changing into a "better person" [read: monogamous and drug-free] through his own behaviour.

I also noticed that almost every camera shot in this entire episode was close faces and there was a lot of hand-held camera work. Intimacy, instability, lack of clarity, all of these things were coming through the way it was shot.

Ahdhsh tumblr keeps eating parts of this so I'm going to stop. But whew this episode just gave and gave!!

@ranchthoughts @slayerkitty @wen-kexing-apologist @neuroticbookworm @waitmyturtles @lurkingshan @distant-screaming @chickenstrangers @clara-maybe-ontheroad

Tagging the ephemerality squad because if any of you pick up on any of these threads and parallels and tie them into your meta I want to know about it! Tumblr is showing me only like half of what people are posting these days and unfollowing people without my consent so pls tag me

[raayllum]

Been thinking about this in the context of the similarities between this scene and conflict in 2x06 vs the conflict of likewise leaving a wounded dragon in 2x07, and in regards to potential mirroring with the main trio, but specifically looping in Amaya, Sarai, and Harrow's responses with Viren being like a narrative vessel for the 'Logical' side of things, so just put a pin there.

Now, while I think there are some aspects of this scene in regards to 2x07 that can be read in parallel — Harrow and Rayla both refusing to leave the wounded, Rayla being mirrored with Sarai leaving to save Viren and said dragon, Callum and Sarai going to save Viren and Rayla, Callum and Sarai collapsing/being injured because of it (varying degree of metaphorical death for Callum as well because of dark magic) — I want to draw a different sort of parallel line here.

This scene, I think, is the strongest piece of characterization we have for Harrow, as it lines up with just about every other decision he makes. He is a servant king, he doesn't set himself above others (Viren being the sole, angered exception), and he is unbendable to this principle. What's most noteworthy about his 'stubbornness' here, however, is that every other person he'd reasonably seek counsel from agrees with each other, and Harrow still doesn't bend.

We don't get the sense from 2x05 that Viren and Sarai agree on much, but here, even Amaya and Viren are in agreement. With that in mind, I'd argue that for the modern day trio:

Rayla is lining up the most here with Amaya (as even though she wants to save the dragon in 2x07, she is more than content to risk only herself do so alone, and 3x01 / 5x04 reaffirms this independent streak, even if it grew worse after Sarai died)

Ezran lines up with Sarai ("We have to get back to Zym" and similar sentiments of togetherness, like his brother, but still a bit more measured. We see this even with when he's encouraging Callum and Rayla to return Zym without him while he goes back to Katolis to be king; sometimes splitting up the group is for the necessary good of the mission)

And Callum lines up with Harrow. Like Harrow, once Callum gets stuck on something, he will not bend or waver, even when everyone else around him is telling him, too.

This is often times a good thing, as his determination helps him be there for people who are less keen to open up ("He persisted, as he always did" with Rayla) and serves as the backbone to his success as a mage, as without his persistence he never would've become a primal mage.

However, like most positive character traits - for Harrow or for Callum - it also sometimes be more negative / circumstantial. We see this unyielding nature get Harrow into trouble in more than a couple of instances, and we also see it happen to Callum, perhaps most notably in 5x04 as he refuses to leave the library even though Amaya, again, and Rayla are both telling him that they have to. And like Harrow, this is coming from a good place: Harrow wanted to help protect the wounded, and Callum wants to help Rayla free her parents.

The biggest difference is, I think, also where Viren is more of an asshole, in that he asserts "You wouldn't do this if it wasn't your wife's sister". This speaks, of course, both to how Viren views the world as well as aspects of his dynamic with Harrow: he wants to be special and important to Harrow, to be above other people to him, but if Harrow would do the same thing for any of them, that noted specialness doesn't well, feel special.

And while I think Callum would be working to free the elves Viren trapped regardless of who they were, because it's the right thing to do, I think the fact that they are Rayla's family is what makes him a little crazy about it, too.

[olderthannetfic]

I have a lot respect for you but it's frustrating to the discussion on fandom and racism boiled down to a few fic interpretation arguments and then thoroughly dismissed.

--

That's inevitable when the campaign gave off vibes that were so strongly at odds with its assertion that it wasn't about which fic is bad.

I think the other problem is that none of us have any actual answers other than better blocking features or more ways to customize search for a given user.

How do you solve racism?

I don't think callouts are that useful most of the time, though I will signal boost when fairly credible posts about situations like that TOG one come around. I think privately giving friends support is useful, but that's not something you do at scale or that you mandate for other people. I don't think that shadowbanning fic by removing it from basic AO3 searches is desirable. I don't think increasing one ship vs. another's content is meaningful. I do think posts about gross media tropes can be useful if they're well-researched.

I was watching a speech by Beverly Daniel Tatum the other day, and she was talking about strategies that work offline. A lot of it boiled down to raising kids in multicultural neighborhoods and sending them to diverse schools. She had some examples where it had worked, but getting people to stop being NIMBY assholes so that housing and schools can actually be fixed is extremely difficult.

I think a lot of problems in fandom are symptoms that show up far downstream of the actual causes, and it's not that easy to solve anything here. It's not that we shouldn't oppose racism, but most of the suggestions I've seen just don't address what's actually going on (like canon screwing over a character and making them less popular as a consequence). A lot of fandom activism strikes me as rats in a barrel. People cling to the illusion that they can fix things here because it's less daunting than the reality that they're going to have to fight Hollywood or that they're not going to see that much success in their lifetime even if they do their activism well.

A nonwhite friend said something to me the other day about just wanting to stop hearing about anti-racist activism in fandom, full stop. They don't come here for that, and they're tired. I think it's a common sentiment and is part of why more of the informed people don't weigh in.

I post the majority of asks I get. If people have stories about fandom racism, I'll post them. It's just that the ones I've gotten are all like "I was harassed for writing my own identity wrong" with a plea to chill the fuck out and stop assuming things.

If people have practical suggestions, I'll post those too. I just think few of us have any really useful ideas.

[copperbadge]

I've been talking about what does/doesn't make someone an artist (or something art) with different people in my life and as a long-time follower of yours from back in the LJ days, I'm interested in your take and that of your followers: When does a creative pursuit become art, or is that just an arbitrary line made by gatekeepers? Is there a difference between art vs craft? Can anybody who creates be considered an artist?

And because I've seen you have to grapple with other anon queries in the past, I'll add that if you prefer not to dive into this or let somebody query your readership this way cause you aren't interested and/or don't want to start a weird precedent, totally understood and no worries. This is just curiosity, and I can easily take a non-response as a response.

I think...well, for me, at least, the question is...a bit broad. It's something you could argue forever, and also...I'm not sure what purpose it serves as a question, other than to get people to talk a lot about art. Which is a great purpose, don't get me wrong, but I come back to, Why are we asking? Are we asking in order to challenge the art establishment, or in order to legislate arts funding, or in order to determine how we support artists, or....? Because if you're asking "What is art" in order to determine what goes in a museum that's very different from asking "What is art" in order to determine whether someone is eligible for an arts grant. And both of these are different from, say, asking "What is art" in the context of an art piece currently causing controversy, or telling someone what they've made "isn't art" because you want to keep it from greater exposure.

And also are we talking about art strictly in a visual sense? When asking this specific question, are we including film, music, writing, performance? If someone sculpts The Thinker, and some guy dresses up as The Thinker and busks in Central Park, is the latter art? Performance art? Merely busking? After all, it takes intentionality and work to achieve, and he's asking for compensation in return.

I know all that is kind of a non-answer, but this is something that people spend their lives on in academia, and the distinction between "art" and "not art" is something that can also be used to hurt people, to denigrate artists or uplift people who might be artist but are, also, assholes. I do generally approach the idea from the point of view of "Why would you say this isn't art" and almost always the answer is either "because I don't like it" or "because I don't like who made it", but that's a conversation, not a definition. And of course there's also a distinction between "why wouldn't this be art" and "why is/isn't this in a gallery" and "why was this created".

IDK, I just feel like I'm not qualified to answer, though in the past when I was younger I probably would have had some confident assertions to make.

Readers, feel free to comment, although please remember to be civil and to respond in comments or reblogs, as I don't post asks sent in response to other asks.

[chevelleneech]

This comment (and many others on their videos tbh) really prove that as fans, we don’t know shit, lol.

I am not a fan of MewTul nor know anything about their lives prior to them coming out and confirming their suspected relationship to be true, but lately I’ve been watching older videos of them just to see where speculation stemmed from and how people who knew of them reacted, and it’s a pretty large consensus of people who disliked them in favor of believing Mew was with another Thai actor.

I’d heard of that other ship name before, plenty of times, but I didn’t know things ran as serious for their shippers as they did. To the point where them no longer interacting in public was taken so hard. People spewing hatred and claiming they’re lying and are still secretly a couple.

It of course reminded me of Jikook and Tkk, and while I am not even slightly comparing these ships, the above comment really stood out to me, because of how certain the commenter was. Which says so much on both sides of the Jikook vs Tkk “debate”.

In 2023, this person believed without a doubt that Mew was a liar and desperate for attention. They asserted their believed fact that Tul would never be anything other than open and honest about being queer and in a relationship, and that the other man Mew was heavily shipped with was a better person and actor all around.

Fast forward to 2024, and Mew and Tul have announced their relationship, and it’s been stated that Tul was the more hesitant one about making their relationship public.

This comment stood out to me, because on both sides of this J v T debate, so-called fans swear up and down that their opinion is the correct one, based on “I know my fave best!” logic, which is crazy. We don’t know them and certainly have no clue what it is they’re truly feeling.

Again, this has nothing to do with whether or not Jimin and Jungkook ever officially come out. I’m not expecting them to, with or without each other as partners. I just think that comment highlights how stubborn people can be about ships they both love and dislike. Even if it’s staring you in the face, because just from the videos I’ve seen, they were pretty obvious. Which, in my opinion, falls heavily into the box where-in it’s necessary to remember that people not being out ≠ them being closeted.

Mew and Tul clearly posted themselves traveling together and so on, despite the posts being on different days. Mew also spoke about his “lover” in ways that (again, based on what I’ve seen so far) pointed pretty solidly toward Tul. A fact that fans who loved them and hated them, but kept check on them, would easily be able to see. So I think people were just in denial due to how BL is consumed as a genre anyway. They like the relationships on camera, and like the idea of the queer male characters existing in our versions of reality, but not to the point where they have autonomy. They don’t like the actors going “off script” with an outside partner or even a partner they dislike, even though they really just living their daily life.

(Editor’s note: I fell asleep in the middle of writing this, and sort of slept-wrote the last two paragraphs, lol! But surprisingly there weren’t many typos to fix.)

Anyway, hopefully my point comes across. As much as we think we know what we know, there is still room to be wrong, and buckling down and spewing hatred is unnecessary. Plenty of people believe themselves correct, and like MewG’s situation, that belief may not pan out. The MT shippers who were around prior to their confirmation are surely happy though, but so far from what I’ve seen, they weren’t on Twitter and on youtube calling people names for not believing. Which is what all shippers should do. Ship what you ship, but don’t be an asshole about it if people disagree with certain aspects. Unless they’re an asshole first, at least.

Also, I do have to be honest and say it sort of surprised me how similar MewG fans are to Tkkrs. They @ Mew (or whoever runs the account with his name on it) all types of rude shit, they belittle his friendship with Tul, and claim it’s all fan service. They call Tul ugly and some even turned on Mew for being desperate for attention. That doesn’t mean Jikook will follow MewTul’s path, but I just found it kind of crazy how the more hateful sides of a person stuck in the middle, basically match up.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

3. things.

1. I forgot to tell you Alistair is simple trauma Bait. Sure let's romance a normal person.. I see you! 🥲

2. I hope you are doing well and have a great week ahead. Thanks for always answering my asks. I appreciate you! 😇

3. Okay so ROs reaction to MC being asked out in front of them..? (crushing stage vs. relationship stage) looking to see Mal and T's reactions especially because I like torturing myself 😭😅

Hi hello you, again! I don't know, should we count the same person asking question again? I lost the track a bunch of times, anyways. Number #5? #6? Whatever! Life's too short to worry about numbers on an Excel sheet with data next to it! Here's your carefully crafted answer using the best of our technologies (a keyboard that lights up)

"1. whaaaaat? I have no idea what you could mean by that…

2. Aww, I appreciate this a lot! 3 .This is a fun thought! Alistair, crushing: Oh damn. kay. Guess I didn't put myself out there enough. Suppose that's how it goes sometimes. Alistair: relationship: Uh. This got awkward. Like rando knows there's a thing, right? Kinda weird gonna be real. CG, crushing: What. you cannot be serious. since freaking when has Dime had game. CG, relationship: SEETHING how dare you, rando. You can't possibly understand Dime like I do. Get the fuck out of here. Mal, crushing: is laughing - wow, good on rando for beating me to the punch and shooting their shot. Never thought I'd see the day where I'm too slow. Mal, relationship: I mean, kinda disrespect not to bring me in on this conversation. whatever, it's up to MC what they want to do I guess, I'm not their boss. Teddie, crushing: …whatever. Didn't care anyway. [absolutely cares.] Teddie, relationship: what the fuck do you think you're doing asshole. Kay, crushing: Oh… alright. That's, fine. [it is not fine] Kay, relationship: visibly uncomfortable and caught between trying to assert herself and just pure embarrassment Wil, I'm actually a little stuck on! There are some under the surface things that I can't get into just yet due to spoilers which makes this tricky to answer. However, somebody asking first while they're crushing wil probably falls more on the side of faintly amused than really mad."

Hope you enjoyed this answer that has been made by the finest of our workers!

[bizarre-blorbo-bracket]

Round 1 poll 26: Dehumidifiers from the submitter's work vs Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment

Propaganda under the cut:

Dehumidifiers

i have imprinted upon the dehumidifiers from my work. i cannot help it i just feel like they are my little pals. they are smooth and white and pill shaped. they have feelings and they eat water. they do a great job. they produce heat (warm blooded). they breathe. when i arrive at work the humidity in our stupid staffroom which is basically a subterranean cavern is at like 80%. i put on the dehumidifiers and they just quietly help and they are so cute and at the end of the day i empty their tanks and its like PINTS of water in there and i am so in awe. its like magic. i dont know how they work. im not sure i want to know. theyre little magical creatures.

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Before reading this book, I was so expecting him to be an unlikable protagonist you're not supposed to root for but boy was I wrong. Let me preface this by saying I do not condone murder (wild that I feel the need to say this but anyway). This novel just absolutely pulled out the rug from under my feet because yes, this guy is a murderer and an asshole who thinks he's better than everyone (or at the very least tries desperately prove he is) but. You keep reading and getting slapped in the face at just how utterly human he is???? Like, the way he genuinely tries to help out Sonya and her family even though his own financial position objectively sucks. The way he refuses to let his sister sacrifice herself by getting married to an asshole to get their family out of poverty. The way he keeps asserting in his narration that he doesn't feel guilty for what he did and yet he gets really ill as a result of his emotional turmoil after the fact. The way he has people in his life that love him and see the good in him, despite everything. I don't know I'm just insane about this guy. He's a poor little meow meow, if you will. Or something

[antiterf]

Interaction effects showed a significant decrease in the dimension Neuroticism (p < 0.01) - with the most relevant decline in its facet Depression - conversely, Extraversion (p < 0.001) increased, in particular, within its facets of Assertiveness (p < 0.01) and Warmth (p < 0.01).

For those who don't know the big five

Neuroticism is basically how emotional you are and how well you feel like you can control your emotions vs your emotions controlling you. As you can see from the depression example. Neuroticism also includes aggression.

Extraversion is what it sounds like. Something not mentioned in the abstract but in the article is that agreeableness also went up. Agreeableness is basically the measure of how easily someone gets along with others. People with higher scores in the trait are altruistic, trusting, modest, straightforward, and compliant.

Mainly posting this because of the stereotype that trans men become agreessive assholes after starting T. Like, personality study that says trans men get less irritable and friendlier on T.

(Link to sci hub version of article to jump the paywall - also p< x is the probability of the result being by chance is less than x. P<.01 is a less than 1% chance that the results are simply coincidence.)

[totallyboatless]

I'm stressed out, resenting my job, I haven't eaten, and I just popped an edible, so let's go

Red, White & Royal Blue, Alex has landed in London, Henry pulls his James Bond entrance shit, they go to stage the handshake.

Shaan: You must stand to the right of His Royal Highness Alex: Is that protocol or just his good side? Henry: Both.

An established rule about Henry: He prefers when people are on his right. A small thing, sure, and it seems like a silly power play to annoy Alex. But I don't think it is--it might seem like an asshole move, but given everything we learn about Henry, it rings to me as something Henry insists because it's one of the very few choices that he's been allowed to assert.

And, sure, the first handshake Alex mocks him for it. But when they exit the children's hospital and say goodbye, Alex doesn't even wait for Henry to make his request when the cameras start clicking. "Yeah, I know, I know, stand to your right," Alex says, and Henry smiles.

So if you play with me in this space, Alex positioning himself to the right of Henry becomes a representation of Henry feeling comfortable. And c'mon, just play in the space, the edible is going to hit any minute.

Let's apply this to whenever they're in bed together, and use this as a means to show us "these two are on the same page" vs. "something is off"

Bed scenes where Alex lies to Henry's right, thus things are good:

Turkey talk scene

Waking up in bed after the DNC

Waking up in bed after the Big Dramatic Love Confession and Dance Spectacular

Bed scenes where Alex lies to Henry's left:

Henry walks out scene

Lying next to each other after their first time doing ~*~*~*penetration*~*~*

"But, Pip!" you say (my name's Pip, btw). "Pip! That was right after one of the most beautiful and tender sex scenes any of us has ever seen!"

Correct! But that's why it's important to enforce the distinction--lol oh the weed friend has landed, I've been staring at that word for 30 seconds and couldn't decide if it was a word I made up, let's wrap this up.

Anyway, Alex and Henry are more confused than ever about who they are to each other. They still have a while to go before they stabilize their relationship and reach the comfort they have by the end.

So I dunno, having the visual of Henry laying on the "wrong" side of the bed while Alex talks about his experience as the bi-racial child of a Mexican immigrant and then says in that heartbreaking way "you can't know what that means" -- like it just magnifies that these two characters still aren't fully in their element together, even after their deep intimacy.

Henry is on the wrong side of the bed, and he's looking at Alex while Alex is looking at the ceiling, and nothing makes sense because something happened that made everything make sense, but it's a sense they have to ignore to preserve an infinitesimal (that took my 9 tries) shred of self-preservation

Anyway thank you for playing "The curtains are just [royal] blue" I'm going to get a burrito

[sapphire-weapon]

I watched the whole eagleones vs aeons shitshow and I'm disappointed by how eagleones reacted. They've been dragging this for months and indulging them instead of just blocking and moving on. I think they just want to assert their place as a fandom and 'fight back' but that will never ever work so why waste your energy this way? You could write fics and write art and more nswf and make them more mad idk take it from a very tired cleon lmao indifference kills and creating more content too!!

that's what really gets me about this whole thing, along with the really toxic idea of "it's okay when we do it because we do it the right way -- but they're not allowed."

this group of people who are trying to "raise awareness" about others say they try to do it so that more people block and report the person, but that's not now humans work at all. people see that shit and go "oh i gotta see this." YOU ARE FUNNELING MORE EYEBALLS TO SASHA'S WAY BY DOING THAT. YOU ARE ACTIVELY MAKING IT WORSE.

you wanna defend her victims? do it by not giving the harassment any breathing room. report sasha, and then block/ignore her while you wait for twitter to take action -- until one day, months later, when you've forgotten about this shit because you blocked her, you suddenly have the thought "hey whatever happened to that crazy bitch" and then you check and she's gone because you reported her months ago. and you go "glad i don't have to worry about that anymore."

you don't fucking "win" by giving harassers an audience you dumb fucks. you're not helping the victim by pointing more people towards viewing the toxic shit that sasha's doing to them. what you're doing is putting their abuse on display like a fucking sideshow act. you are being a self-serving, self-indulgent mean-spirited asshole who cares more about getting away with being a vindictive cunt (because it's for the "right reasons") than actually DOING SOMETHING GOOD TO HELP THE SITUATION DISSOLVE.

they all came off like bullies and shitheads. all of them.

[vizthedatum]

I was watching a late diagnosed autistic talk about themselves on Instagram the other day, and I talked to my other autistic friend about it (well let’s be honest, most of my friends are autistic or neurodivergent in some way).

I really loved how he asserted that he didn’t want to worry about what constitutes a “good person” vs. “bad person” when unmasking.

I’ve seen unacceptable behavior from “good people” and loving behaviors from “bad people” my whole life - my concepts of good and bad have evolved and been so entrenched with each other.

I think it’s harmful to start categorizing people like that - it strips them of their humanity!!

And masking stripped me of mine.

People are often more complex. Categories can be helpful when talking about specific contexts, but not when you’re trying so hard to people-please and control how you’re seen (to what end? To survive? To fit in? To be burned out and surrounded by people who don’t even know you?)

I just want to be me. Even if it means I’m an asshole or gullible or silly… let me be and let me be accountable, when I need to be.

[slickbackdani]

So, with the end of the current hiatus nowhere in sight, the creators of Epic Rap Battles of History have been releasing short videos in which they respond to people's matchup ideas and talk about whether or not they'd do them. What follows are my thoughts on each suggestion.

Dog the Bounty Hunter vs Chris Hansen: Terrible; Dog stopped being relevant years ago and Hansen has no real valid matchups

Jack Sparrow vs Bilbo Baggins: They might be able to pull it off, but the connection is tenuous at best

Malcolm X vs Nelson Mandela: Perfect. Do it immediately

Dexter vs Punisher: Could work, though I prefer Punisher vs Peacemaker

The Wiggles v-NO

Marco Polo vs Zheng Yi Sao: Awesome; the show's always great at spotlighting obscure historical figures, so this would be fun

Sheldon Cooper vs Rick Sanchez: I don't really get their reasoning for passing this one up. "I don't wanna use Rick because his creator is problematic," they say seconds before suggesting Roseanne instead and three years after using Harry Potter

HP Lovecraft vs Mary Shelley: Could work, but Lovecraft might be better suited for a more prolific author

Captain America vs Mussolini: Could work, but I prefer Cap vs Batman

Black Panther vs Catwoman: Unique idea; would be cool to see which versions of the characters they use

Ethan Hunt vs Angus MacGyver: Meh

John Wilkes Booth vs Lee Harvey Oswald: I'm glad they turned this one down; it just sounds very insubstantial. The fact that they each killed Presidents is the only thing either of them are known for

Robin Hood vs Ned Kelly: Sounds awesome; I can’t fathom what Lloyd was talking about when he said Robin Hood can't be made "cool." Has he never heard of any of the non-Disney movies he was in?

Steve Harvey vs Dr. Phil: Meh

The Three Stooges vs The Three Musketeers: IT'S ALL I WANT AND I'VE WAITED FOR SO LONG

Patrick Bateman vs Andrew Tate: Bateman is worthy of a rap battle, but there is no fucking way a disgusting sack of shit like Andrew Fucking Tate deserves to be immortalized in this or any series. Not only is he a monstrous asshole, but since I'd never heard of him before he got arrested, he just comes off as too second-string and his image too fleeting to be remembered after the battle's release anyway. It's like how Sarah Palin and Napoleon Dynamite appeared in season 1; what's the point? Bateman would be better off facing another fictional character like Tyler Durden or Tommy Shelby or Rorschach or Homelander or any other member of the "you're missing the point by idolizing them" club

Miles Morales vs Dick Grayson: A great idea for a battle, but it irks me how they seem to only think of Dick Grayson as Robin, and even then only how he was portrayed in the 60s TV show. Since Dick Grayson's graduation to the solo hero Nightwing and his leadership of the Titans have been the status quo in the comics for decades, and even his TV and movie appearances as Robin clearly show him to be more than the hyperactive goofball that Lloyd portrayed him as in season 2, their lack of research here is jarring — especially considering how diligent they are with their other characters (remember, Peter read every issue of the Dragon Ball manga and watched every episode of Breaking Bad in preparation for the later half of season 3).

Garfield and Jon vs Calvin and Hobbes: Eh, I don't see it. No disrespect to their creators or fans, but they just ain't rap battle material

Metallica and AC/DC vs Slayer and Guns n Roses: I agree with them that a team battle between unrelated heavy metal acts would be unwieldy, but any combination of those four could totally be awesome in a straight 1v1 battle

Richard Nixon vs King John: Could work, but I'd rather have Nixon in a Presidential royale

Barbie vs He-Man: Another "meh" idea, but I'm not fond of Peter's assertion that He-Man is only known for the bad '90s movie when he's appeared in multiple media before and since that have all gained a far more positive reception and a strong fanbase