#but oh boy has this given me some cassie story arc ideas!

[monty-glasses-roxy]

idea: Roxy goes into excited puppy mode when Cassie gets off the school bus and the other kids all yell "HI ROXY" and she is just THRIVING. the BEST part of her day

Yeeeeeesssss

Cassie's first day back at school has Roxy waiting for her to come back all day long and all that pent up energy from the day just explodes the second Cassie is back... Laying on the couch staring sadly at the door, waiting for the moment Eddie comes to get her so they can go pick her up from school or the bus stop or whatever. She hates school with a burning passion because Cassie should be able to do whatever she wants forever! This is such bullshit why can't Cassie stay and fuck around with her all day instead?! That's so unfair!!!

Honestly this is giving me the mental image of the bus passing the Plex and the second it does, Roxy leaps through the broken window and floors it down the street after it. Meteors Roxy (cause she's stuck in my brain) specifically just running full speed on her fours as fast as physically possible to reach the bus stop before Cassie's bus. First few times she does it, she howls a bit so Cassie definitely sees her running on the path beside the road, and now it's a daily thing lmao

Just a bus full of kids either cheering for the bus driver to go faster or cheering Roxy on as she races the bus everyday. Cassie is, of course, on Roxy's side every time, and it's actually remarkable how often she wins. The bus driver has taken to it and plays along sometimes, speeding up when the roads are quiet so the kids start cheering and slowing down to let Roxy catch up if something's caught her up like a group of slow walkers or something. They honk the horn as they go past the Plex and it's become the start sound of another race starting. They hear the beep beep of the bus and the kids swarm the windows to watch Roxy catapult herself out of the Plex window and rocket after them. The driver thought they'd had her one time, but she fucking barrelled around the corner and only just made it before the bus did lmao she got a congratulatory handshake for that one too she really did just rob them of the win dnjdnd

Cassie gets off the bus and is immediately flying tackled by a very out of breath Roxy. She's swept off her feet in a spinning hug, and if Roxy loses the race and is still running when Cassie steps off it? Well she meets her in the middle and they get to tackle eachother! It makes her feel so important and so loved it's unreal, especially because she knows one hundred percent that Roxy really does love her to bits and wouldn't go to this much effort for anyone else. The feeling is mutual, Cassie just can't fucking race a moving vehicle to show it lmao nsjdn. However, they've both been told they need to dial it down a bit because Roxy has bruised both of them a decent number of times with how hard she crashes into her... Cassie doesn't really care though, it just sort of stings after the fun wears off and later on when she pulls it too much. Totally worth it though!

And if there's a kid that doesn't believe that Roxy is Cassie's sister now? There's a whole bus load of kids that witness her racing the fucking bus everyday so she can see her again as soon as physically possible that can back them up lmao. She's a favourite among the kids on that bus, the door opens to kids cheering for her whenever she wins the race and for the bus driver whenever she loses. It's so fucking fun and the highlight of her and Cassie's day! It's something to look forward to for the kids at the end of the school day too, her antics are a little mood boost for some of them it's great! She sometimes wears a silly hat or costume for the added surprise of it lmao. That part was Sunny's idea of course, and Chica and Bonnie help her do it.

Ya know what too? If Bonnie or someone changes in Meteors and also starts doing it on occasion, the kids go wild cause now it's a THREE way race!! And holy shit Roxy is somehow faster than a giant rabbit how is that even possible?! She tells anyone that asks that it's pure skill, but Bonnie always says that she's so excited to Cassie every day that it lets her do the impossible with ease... Roxy doesn't really like that explanation cause it makes her sound soft as fuck but it also makes her sound pretty cool being able to do the impossible so... She's a bit torn lmao

And if Roxy isn't there for whatever reason? Everyone's asking Cassie what's wrong. Roxy got sick for a while and Cassie came back from school one day during that with a bunch of get well soon presents for her, Roxy feels so loved by this group of ten year olds she's never met lmao. Would be extra sweet if Roxy made a point to make something to give them all in return too as a thank you, like she and Cassie made cupcakes for everyone on the bus when she was feeling up to it or something. She's gotta make sure her adoring fans know she appreciates them, right? And Cassie doesn't mind being the middle man here. She finds it pretty satisfying to be able to have large groups of kids listen to her and be excited to see what she's brought them. It's pretty fun honestly! She enjoys it more than she expected to!

Cassie is just so important to Roxy that she'd race a bus to say hi... By sweeping her off her feet and swinging her around with joy because CASSIE'S BAAAACCCKKK!!!! WOOOO!!! BEST PART OF HER DAY, YOU RIGHT ANON!!! ESPECIALLY IF SHE BEAT THE BUS TOO!!! SHE'S WINNING AT EVERYTHING!!!

[atamascolily]

Avengers: Endgame review

TL;DR: This is not a terrible movie, especially given how many characters and story arcs the creators are juggling. That said, its success make its missteps all the more frustrating for me.

I like the opening scene, because it's so mundane. Instead of monsters and aliens and fighting, it's just a family picnic in the American Midwest. Even though it feels like Hollywood only knows one way to shoot family/domestic scenes, I like that Clint is teaching his daughter to shoot a bow instead of one of the boys.

I like how quickly the Snap happens, how silent and quiet it is. One minute, everything is fine, and then... Clint looks around and they are gone. He knows right away something is up. There's no place they could have gone. This scene is so short - less than three minutes out of a three hour movie - but the audience already sees where Clint is going next.

This scene also emphasizes how Rapture-like the Snap is - to the point where people online started calling it the Snapture. The film doesn't focus much on post-Snap life, but I'm sure religions would have a lot to say about this. In some ways, exploring life in this scared new world is more interesting to me than more predictable arc of getting it back...

I like Tony and Nebula playing paper football. How intense Nebula is, how into it she gets, how Tony lets her win. Wiki says those scenes were improvised and I approve. The message he leaves for Pepper with his helmet is pure Tony Stark--glib, audacious and yet charming all at once. I can’t decide whether I want to punch him or hug him for it. Maybe both.

I like that Captain Marvel's arrival is so angelic. She's glowing. It's a miracle. Was she sent to find him, or did she just stumble across the ship by chance?  We never find out.

I like how the Avengers are able to locate Thanos, only to discover he's destroyed the stones. I like how using the stones has consequences: Thanos is able to use them, but at great personal and physical cost; it's nice foreshadowing for the end.

Thanos is so chill about dying; it makes me suspect he's got something up his sleeve, but apparently, he's okay with dying now that his Crazy Apocalyptic Death Cult has achieved its goal. He manages to break Nebula's heart even more before Thor murders him. It's hard to say who's more surprised in that moment: Thor or Nebula.

Time skip. There's only one real plot reason for a five-year gap, and that's so Tony Stark can have a kid and an excuse to be selfish that doesn't render him completely unsympathetic to the audience. Morgan is cute, and all, but I'm not a fan of what she represents, nor of the stock Hollywood way of portraying children. Tony lives in a log cabin in what is obviously Georgia, and doesn't use his wealth to fix the world or anything. Granted, he's got extreme PTSD, but he's chosen to become a hermit. I guess we should be glad he's not drinking, doing drugs, or screwing journalists, like he did in the first Iron Man movie.

Steve running the support group is poignant, especially since that was always Sam's gig. I wonder if it's his way of honoring Sam. Sob. Marvel claims the gay man in the support group is historic, but I can't help but note it's something that can be easily edited for release in China.

I have not seen the Ant-Man movies, but I like Scott Lang. He is an optimist who soldiers on despite the fact that he is the Butt Monkey of all the jokes. I like how he extricates himself from the storage locker--though the fact that the van is still in storage five years out speaks VOLUMES to how messed up the world is five years later.

I think Scott walks past his house first--then goes to the wall, then to his house and knocks on the door? Or is that just a random house in the background when he first asks the kid on the bike what's wrong? I don't know why the kid doesn't answer him, except to add an aura of mystery to the whole thing.

The stones on Crissy Field are intense. Scott running around in a panic is spot-on--and his confusion when his name is on there, and his relief that Cassie's isn't. He knocks on the door of his house and a now-teenaged daughter greets her father. Again, I'm not sure I buy how Hollywood portrays these kinds of reunions, but it's very moving.

I love Nat and her peanut butter sandwiches, her rapport with Steve. I love these two as friends and I also ship them, and nothing in this scene proves me wrong. I love that Nat is basically in charge of the world now, and that she's the one keeping everything running smoothly --even when, as Okoye puts it, some things like undersea earthquakes don't require any action on her part. I also like her hair - I wasn't a huge fan of her Infinity War look, so I'm glad she's gone back to long/red-dish hair again.  

There's also the first stirrings of what Clint is up to, and while I don't like this subplot, I have to say it's set up very well. I can admire skillful plot devices even when I dislike their contents.

Scott showing up is priceless. I love his babbling to the security camera and Steve and Nat's reactions. Also, he drove the van all the way from California to wherever-the-hell-the-Avengers-Institute is located--I think it's supposed to be New York, but the filming location is a car headquarters in Georgia, so I think of it as Georgia.

I like that Bruce and the Hulk have come to an understanding. I wonder what Nat thinks about this. This movie makes it pretty clear Bruce is still into her, even though Nat isn't into him (and most of us are pretending that little subplot in Age of Ultron never happened).  

Same with Thor. It hurts to see him so clearly stuck, but Korg is amazing, as always, even if he is an enabler. I don't know why Valkyrie hasn't kicked Thor's ass yet. Maybe she's too busy running things. I wonder if Valkyrie and Nat are talking. I bet they are. I bet they respect each other.

I also like how fanon says that noobmaster69 is really Loki trolling Thor via videogames. Otherwise, the idea of the God of Thunder threatening a teenager is terrible, not funny. It's much better for everyone if it's Loki.

I'm not sure how they get from quantum stuff to time travel, except Plot. I think it would have been less confusing if they'd called it traveling to parallel universes from the get-go, instead of time travel that happens to create parallel universes, because it doesn't act like the standard time travel narrative. There's some meta about this in the film, but I don't think that's enough to compensate. Anyway, timey-wimey-magic-science-plot ball.

Cut to Clint Barton murdering yakuza in Tokyo. I do not like anything about this scene, or Clint. Vigilante justice is not a healthy coping mechanism. Clint pulling back his mask in the rain while Natasha is behind him with an umbrella is beautiful, and I love it. I appreciate the callbacks to Clint reaching out to Natasha when she was brainwashed by the Russians, even though I don't like where this story arc is going.

I love that everyone finally puts their heads together and realizes that the Infinity Stones have all spent an improbably large amount of time on Earth in recent years.

You can hear the smile in Nat's voice when she says "Be right back," and my heart breaks because Oh, Irony.

Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One is a treat, even though I'm mad they whitewashed the character because China complained about making the character a Tibetan (as in the comics). I like how easily she is able to separate Bruce from the Hulk, and how Bruce just sighs and tries to negotiate. Strange giving up the Time Stone is one of the weirdest parts of the last movie, and I'm glad everyone else thinks so too.

(Also, Dr. Strange is in the middle of surgery while the Chitauri are attacking New York? WOW.)

The Captain America vs. Captain America fight is great fun, if painful to watch. Also, that callback to the Elevator scene in The Winter Soldier is great, as is watching all the secret!Hydra agents file in, and Scott says what we're all thinking: "How could you give the stone to them? They LOOK evil!"

Loki getting away with the Space Stone is a wild card, and I don't know what they're going to do with it. Going to Camp Lehigh in the '70s is great on a plot level: Tony gets a chance to chat with his father, and Steve gets more magic particles to further the rest of the plot. And they get the stone, too. Right.  

Thor having one last conversation with his mother, oh my heart. Also, he stole his hammer from his past/other self... isn't that going to cause plot problems? Who cares, when we can have TWO flying hammer things in the final battle?

Peter Quill's internal monologue never looks as good from the outside. The directors seem to loath him as much as I do, meaning he is the other Butt Monkey of the party along with Scott. Rhody is genre-savvy and I approve; Nebula is an android and indifferent to personal danger.

The android bit makes things complicated when 2014!Nebula starts spilling bits of 2019!Nebula's memories. 2014!Thanos correctly identifies this as time-travelers from the future/parallel universes trying to prevent him from success. He gets to see the whole thing from 2019!Nebula's POV. I like that even though Thanos is dead in the main timeline/original universe, a different version of him rises up to take his place.

God, Clint and Natasha go to Vormir and it's terrible. Red Skull is appropriately creepy, but the whole premise pisses me off so much. Natasha and Clint fight about who gets to jump; Natasha "wins," causing Clint and everyone else much angst. I hated this in Infinity War, and I hate it even more now. I hate that the movie goes out of its way multiple times to explain there's no way to bring her back, even as it violates causality to replace Gamora. I hate that the only way to get the Soul Stone is to play the stupid game. There ought to be a way to beat it without sacrificing someone, and even if there isn't, why is it always the female characters who get sacrificed for manpain? I knew this was coming, so it wasn't as bad as it would have been otherwise, but I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

Anyway, so they all come back, and mourn Nat. Continuous emphasis on how she's gone forever. Fuck you all, writers.

Bruce snaps to bring everybody back. He can tolerate gamma radiation. I love the line "It's like I was made for this". Bruce, honey, you're a rock star.

Tony is so freakin' specific about "bring everybody back but don't erase the last five years" because he loves his baby girl so much and cant bear that he have to lose someone himself. All kinds of logistical problems are going to happen as a result, but does he care? No! It would have been just as easy--probably easier--to snap Thanos out of existence right before the Snapture, or to allow Thor to slice off Thanos's head in time. That would also create continuity issues, but I think it would be a Stable Time Loop--and honestly, there are already so many continuity issues, I'm not sure why that would stop the writers. Anyway, I think we can all agree it would have been better if there HADN'T BEEN A FIVE YEAR TIME SKIP and maybe like six months or something, that would have been more manageable for everyone.

(and also if just Thanos is dusted and not the stones, the stones would still exist, although maybe it's for the best that they've been destroyed??)

But evil!Nebula has infiltrated the group, and opens the time machine to bring 2014!Thanos forward right after Bruce's snap brings all the dusted back. How she does this, I'm not sure exactly; is it even explained? Whatever. Plot demands it, so she does. They get Pym particles from somewhere. I don't know.

Anyway, so the Georgia car headquarters is blown to smithereens by an alien spaceship. The lake starts falling into the crater. Clint has the gauntlet with all the stones and is chased by space wolves. Thank goodness he still has exploding arrows.

Good!Nebula manages to convince new!Gamora to betray Thanos (it doesn't take much, tbh), but has to kill her evil!self. Ow. Poor Nebula gets traumatized AGAIN.

Steve wielding Mjolnir is not only a continuation of a brick joke from several movies ago, but also a Crowning Moment of Awesome. So is Dr. Strange opening the portals for everyone to show up and fight. Huge CGI battle ensures. There's no blood and everything's a mess and it's hard to keep track of everything, but man, those Chitauri bone-whale spaceships are cool. Carol Danvers knows how to make an entrance. Peter Parker is awkward and endearing, as per usual. Instant Kill Mode gets a workout.

Wanda attacking Thanos is heartbreaking. "I don't know you." "You took everything from me." HEY TONY, UNDOING THE SNAP THE WAY YOU INSISTED THEY DO IT MEANS VISION IS NEVER COMING BACK! Poor Wanda. I liked Vision. I'm sorry he's gone.

Thanos’s remark that next time he’ll make it so nobody remembers the horror of the Snap and they’ll be grateful to him and stop fighting it is truly horrifying. The Thanos in the first part seemed really resigned to dying, and it’s such a contrast. Thanos is right, of course--he would have gotten away with it “if it weren’t for those meddling kids” and the best way to prevent that is to re-write the universe to Make It So. 

Thanos is such a smug, priveleged dudebro. Have I mentioned I hate him? I fucking hate him. He’s like the epitome of Smug Male Privilege crossed with Galactic Warlord. In some ways he’s the galactic foil to Tony Stark, which makes it all the more fitting that Stark is the one to take him down. Thanos is willing to sacrifice his loved ones for his vision of reality, and Tony fights to preserve them, even when it would be “better” not to. (I put “better” in quotes because I freely admit it’s a moral grey area with the whole “five year time skip” thing.) Stark starts off alone, and then dies surrounded by friends and loved ones; Thanos starts off with an army and a family and dies defeated and alone, twice over.

Stephen Strange holding back the waterfall--and gesturing to Tony across the battlefield--both great. "If I tell you, it won't happen." Anti-self-fullfilling prophecy, which amuses me. When all hope is lost, Tony reveals he has the stones and delivers the ultimate one-line--"I am Iron Man" before he snaps. Tony could have snapped for <i>anything</i>, he had ultimate power in that moment, but all he does is turn Thanos and his army into dust. Of course, Thanos is the last one to go, because it's more Dramatic that way.

Tony dies. Pepper gently but firmly pushes Peter out of the way. Peter Quill meets Gamora and Gamora kicks him in the nuts, unimpressed. I know she and Quill will probably get back together in later movies and it will annoy me then just as much as it did before, because he's so much cooler than he is. I had to stop watching the first GotG film because of all the ass shots of Gamora; ugh.  

Everyone is appropriately sad and Tony's funeral at the Georgia lakehouse is very well attended in neatly thematic groupings. Nick Fury watches from the porch.

Have I mentioned how much I hate the "posthumous letter from emotionally constipated father figure that makes the audience and his loved ones cry, but which absolves him from any actual emotional development or growth" trope? It happens in the Stranger Things S3 finale and it happens here. Thanks, I hate it. Morgan Stark is cute and sad. God, Happy annoys me so much. I've hated him ever since he was so fucking condescending to "Natalie Rushman"--Natasha's alter ego in Iron Man 2. GOD. There is no justice here.

Steve volunteers to fulfill Bruce's promise to the Ancient One by returning all the stones. (It’s sweet how earnest Bruce is about this. I mean, Bruce has always cared about preserving the universe, even ones he doesn’t necessarily live in, but still. I find it endearing.) The movie doesn't say, but judging from the looks that Bucky and Steve give each other before Steve leaves, Bucky already knows what Steve is planning - to go the long way home and to give the shield to Sam. Bucky also knows where to look for Steve - on the bench by the lake. Still in Georgia; they got lots of tax credits for filming in Georgia, I will never be able to see this place as anywhere but Georgia.

Sam taking the shield breaks my heart, but in a good way. Nice set up for Falcon and Winter Soldier, I see what you did there, Disney.

The movie did an okay job of reminding people that Peggy existed by having Steve gaze longingly at her portrait in the locket and by staring at her through the window when he was at Camp Lehigh in the 1970s. Still, I don't blame fans for forgetting about her, given that she hasn't been a major character since The First Avenger, and died in Civil War. Both Bucky/Steve and Steve/Nat interactions are fresher in audience's minds - even Steve/Agent 13, although I guess that was just a side plot that didn't go anywhere.

Steve staying on through time the long way would make a LOT more sense if the time travel in this film worked like other time travel movies, but it's not, so it's just kind of weird. Literally, if it weren't for this ONE THING, I think the writers could have gotten away with "parallel universes" instead of time travel--especially since there's a 2014!version of Gamora around! How did Thanos do the snap the first time if his 2014!self jumped forward to 2019 and got killed there "before" he did the snap? It makes NO SENSE unless you assume the Quantum Realm takes you to identical-but-parallel universes instead of the past of the original universe.

(Yes, I KNOW Bruce says time travel doesn't work like you think it does--but I'm not sure it works the way this MOVIE thinks it does, either. Like I said, parallel universes all the way, except for the Steve 'n' Peggy bit.)

Also, I know Peggy gets married, but we never learn her husband’s name/see his face as far as I know, so it’s entirely possible Steve DID create a stable time loop by traveling back to the 1940s after his ship went down in the ice, and married Peggy and stayed out of the historical record to avoid Breaking Time any further.

So, while I can't say Steve's decision to go back for that dance wasn't foreshadowed enough, or is inconsistent with one version of his character arc, it pains me from a shipping perspective. I like Steve/Peggy, but I really love Steve/Nat, and there's no reason Steve couldn't have gone back in time and gotten together with Nat in the same way it's implied he got together with Peggy. The fact that he doesn't mention her name just makes it easier for my shipper heart to believe. (Because if he says Nat, Sam's going to make fun of him.)

Also: Steve meets Red Skull on Vormir. Please. I know there are fics about this, but still. I know the movie is three hours long, but this seems like a terrible omission, even so. Just saying. Maybe a special extra bonus scene??

AND WHY CAN'T STEVE BRING NAT BACK IF HE RETURNS THE SOUL STONE?? Over and over again, they say "A soul for a soul"-- so if Steve returns the Soul Stone he should get a soul back, am I right, am I right? COULD YOU FUCKING BE CONSISTENT, WRITERS?

(Can you tell I'm bitter? No? No? Let me shout some more then.) 

I’m also not sure how the super-soldier serum works with aging, but I’m willing to buy that it doesn’t make Steve immune to normal aging - or at least gave him a lifespan twice that of most people, unless you want to chalk the first fifty years or so up to the ice or whatever. But that’s a minor world-building quibble at best.

Okay, so that was Avengers: Endgame. Glad I didn't see this in theaters -- I would have gotten too angry and too long for me to watch in one sitting without having to get up to pee. I think I would describe it as "adequate" --covered all the major beats, followed the standard scriptwriter format, some fun character moments. Very Obviously Written By Men based on its portrayal of family life and treatment of female characters, and the time travel makes no sense if you look closely at it.

But let's face it, it made bajillions of dollars, so as far as Disney's concerned, it was a home run.

So would I watch more Marvel films? The answer is, yes, maybe, but I feel so "meh" about the MCU now that Nat is dead. I'll make decisions on a case by case basis about what movies I watch on DVD after their release, but I'm not getting my hopes up I'll feel excited. There's always fic and fandom; I just don't know if canon has anything to say that interests me anymore. (Kinda how I feel about new Star Wars to be honest.)

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (21)

Anonymous said: Hi! Do you still like Tim Drake?

More than I can describe!

Anonymous said: Please tell me those law school quotes are all from one professor

They are not, but MOST of them are from the civ pro professor. His name is Counseller, and he’s great. He got a standing ovation after his speech at my friend’s graduation yesterday. I once went to dinner at his house and a movie afterwards. He had us all hide his candy in our bags so he didn’t have to pay concession stand prices. 

@whambamthanksbatfam​ said: Do you know canonical nicknames for the Batboys?

Hold up lemme see what I have on file

Off the top of my head I can also think of times that Tim referred to himself as “Timmy” (usually while pretty young), and of course Dick has “boy wonder”

Anonymous said: What do you think will happen to nightwing comics? Writer changes in April, will they be able to reverse the amnesia arc? Do you think maybe the damage to the character is irreversible? I don't understand why they'd allow it especially after what happened when they tried to kill him off. It's also 35th anniversary of his first appearance in a few months. Looking at teen titans, jon kent's age, young justice "coming back" I feel concerned for dc comics' future ):

I’m basically taking my usual approach, which is (as far as comics are concerned)... everything will return to its most profitable form. Comics have a set form. With a few key exceptions-- changes in superhero persona, for example-- things generally make their way back to the “classic” form. Therefore I expect Dick to go back to being Nightwing, in a form we would recognize as typically Nightwing. 

Anonymous said: wait..... waitwaitwaitwait..... wait. did u just swear in that hashtag? i have followed you for like 2 years and the closest i've seen to swearing is "sweet texas on high" which ended up becoming a bad habit of mine to say irl and then have to explain where the hell i heard that, and then i said it enough that one friend started saying it as well, then it just spread like a virus in my friend group (this isn't a complaint this is just surprise and amusement. love ur blog!)

Glad to see my nonsense swears are spreading! To be honest, I (really) swear a lot. Don’t tell my mom

Anonymous said: Hey! I have to choose a quote for my yearbook and i want to do a batman/superhero quote but i cant think of one and was wondering if you could help me out? Im looking to go for kinda funny but also has a bit of meaning, ya know? Anyway thank you!

Oooooh boy lemme see

I like Alfred’s quote in these panels. I would also maybe suggest:

"Whenever someone's asked what power they wish they had, flying is always at the top of the list. But I have to admit. I've learned to love falling too." (Nightwing #142, 2008)

I don’t know how helpful I can be on this one, honestly, but there’s my two cents.

night-mom said: Hi, I have a bat-centric side blog called Bat-Losers-Inc. I just discovered some of your writing on tumblr and have been slowly going through it when I have the time. I really love how you write each character of the Batfam and how each of them feels very distinct from each other but also different from their common representations in the Batman fandom. So anyway, I was wondering if you had a favorite Bat family member to write from in terms of point of view/personality?

Hmmmm a couple of years ago, I would have said Jason. For whatever reason, I’ve always given him a talking/fighting style that’s the most similar to my own, but lately I find myself drawn to Tim and Damian. My guess? Their points of view allow me to explore some things I’ve been going through-- specifically a nasty bout of depression, anxiety, and a psychotic breakdown. I would also say that Dick is the hardest for me to write, followed by Bruce, Duke, and Cass. Stephanie is pretty easy. 

Anonymous said: For some reason, I have this huge need of some angst... Could u please do a prompt of suicide Tim? But he manages to success?? Please???

Listen. I’m definitely not going to do that, and I don’t think I need to explain why. 

Anonymous said: I reread some old B&R comics. Bruce came back from his weird time adventures and one of the first things he said to Damian was, that it was his job as Robin to make sure that Batman gets home safe. Like yeah, I guess it is? But also you're talking to your 10 year old son, I'm waiting for that mentality to bite you in the ass at some point. I mean it kind of did when Damian died to save Dick in Batman Inc. Bruce's parenting is really dangerous sometimes o_o

I agree. I’ve always had a problem anytime the Batman/Robin relationship is framed around what Bruce needs. For the benefit of the child? Sure, I’ll suspend belief for that one. Because an adult needs it? No thanks. That’s why Tim’s origin story bothers me a whooooole lot.

@therusticate said: I just read the fanfic you put out around Christmas with the files on Dick and Damien and I MELTED. There were TEARS! I’m hoping to find some more of your work on your blog; I love your writing style and how everything flows. Thank you so much for creating content! You did a fantastic job and I love it.

Oh, thank you so much! I’m particularly fond of that fic

Anonymous said: how's outlining going?

Anonymous said: what is it that you are outlining??

Anonymous said: I hope your outline turns out good and you do well ❤ you can do it!!

@couldnt-pick-a-name said: Have you finished your outlining yet?

Anonymous said: Good luck on your exams!! I hope they go well and you take care of yourself and don't get too stressed

I appreciate you all for keeping me on topic <3

Exams went... probably pretty well? We’ll find out when grades come back. I was outlining for immigration law, federal administrative law, and constitutional law-- and I did get all of them done. Hallelujah. 

Anonymous said: Young Justice 2019 just got published and I realized I haven't consumed enough YJ material!! Do you have any comic recommends??

Oooooh I guess that depends on which Young Justice you’re talking about? Original v. based on TV show? Either way, my recommendation is to look up the associated series. Original YJ (Tim, Bart, Cassie, Conner, etc.) is the 2000 version by Peter David. That team just got a reboot, and I’m reasonably sure that’s what you’re asking about. Then there’s the YJ comic based on the tv show (2011, I believe).

Either way, I like pretty much the entire series. Sounds simple, but that’s my rec. 

@dontstopkiwibea said: I've been thinking about your fic with Damien and Tim having a conversation about Tim's depression and the time when Bruce was missing. I think about all that missing time a lot and how so much /could/ have happened to Tim but didn't. And then I think about Damien being sad when Tim was dead. And then I think about Dick hearing about Tim's mental state during that time, how bad it really got, and maybe Bruce learns too. Ahhhh I don't know about you but I want more fics about Tim and getting help

Honestly? Same. I feel like there’s a lot of emotion that’s never officially explored, and that’s a problem I personally enjoy fixing. 

Anonymous said: You asked for headcanons, so: Damian likes to give Tim a hard time, and one day Damian scoffs at the idea of Tim getting a pet, saying he’d probably kill it through neglect. Tim doesn’t appreciate that and ends up with a goldfish out of spite. He learns everything there is to know, and his fish is gonna thrive, dammit. And it does. Tim comes to genuinely care for this little creature (and secretly Damian is really pleased Tim is showing such interest in something that isn’t casework or WE).

Love it! Give Tim A Fish 2019

Anonymous said: What are you most looking forward to this year?

Hmmmmm... this is maybe a lil over optimistic, but I’m really looking forward to getting better this year. I’m trying harder and I have better resources than I ever had before. 

@xylophonicsynapse said: Which of the bat-kids makes music playlists?

I’d say that all of them DO it sometimes, but the one who really gets into it is Damian. He likes his music organized, thank you very much.

Anonymous said: Hey Amy! Saw the ask about the line "The sun is UP and so is JESUS we are partying today." and I thought it was hilarious I MUST know where its from! Plz and thank you <3

Lmaoooo that was from a post on Easter

[clockworkopera]

(Moving this to your ask, as that post is getting way too long!) I think the idea of twins is very interesting. I'm really glad that Céline is getting a story in GoTSM because Jace has so much narrative space to consider his paternal connections, but barely ever considers the significance of his MOTHER (both birth mother and sort of-foster mother; he is, however, replete with father figures). The idea that she could possibly have some bearing in Kit's mystery is also very intriguing.

Ask cont: However, I'm skeptical about Kit being Jace's(non-identical? They are talked about as looking similar) twin because, asthorndale pointed out, there are too many things, I think, that snag -- whydidn't Valentine /notice/ there was another fetus? I would find it difficult toimagine how anyone would fail to notice something like that. More to the point,it would effectively rewind Jace's character arc, in him discovering he had abrother; he's supposed to have done with his identity crisis.I also find it hard to imagine Céline wouldn'thave been aware she was carrying twins? I mean, possibly the silent brothersdidn't realise and thus didn't tell her, but to our knowledge she never /told/anyone she was pregnant with twins (what reason would she have not to? Why nother husband? Stephen wrote letters to his unborn son -- singular). The othersnag is the fact that Jace is v explicitly characterised as an /extraordinary/Shadowhunter bc of his angel blood; Kit isn't? Yet if he and Jace hadgestated at the same time in the same womb, they would surely have an equalshare of angel blood in them -- Kit, essentially, would have be imbued withsome higher power in the same way that Jace and Clary currently are. However,all indications so far appear to be that Kit is a fairly normal Shadowhunter?

(This is a continuation of the discussion toKit’s parentage that were started, here and here)

I think Cassie is brilliant in that she has somany of us working on this, and none of us have been able to find a workinganswer to satisfy all thecontradictions. It’s a good point that Celine probably would know if she werehaving twins, especially given Stephen’s letter to his son—so Shadowhunters maynot have ultrasounds, but it’s a reasonable assumption that if the SilentBrothers could tell she was having a boy, they would know if she carried twochildren. I wasn’t thinking so much of Jace’s character arc, but of Kit’s andthe bittersweet part of Ty losing a twin, only for Kit to gain one. As for Kithaving extra angel blood he really hasn’t come into the maturity of hischaracter yet, so we don’t know what talents he’ll grow into. The same thingwould be true if it turned out he had faerie blood in him too—he’s nevertrained, hasn’t had marks, and only been in limited fights having lived all hislife as a mundane.

On the Herondale resemblance, I have thesequotes:

Magnus on seeing James for the first time in The MidnightHeir, TBC(155) This boy’s face was a faceto recall the past. This was a face from the past, one of the most beautifulfaces Magnus could ever recall seeing…The years drew Magnus back again, the fogand gaslight of a London more than twenty years lost rising to claim Magnus. Hefound his lips shaping a name: Will. Will Herondale.

Tessa reveals when she saw Jacefor the first time, in After the Bridge:  When Magnus had pointed out Jace Herondale to her, and she had lookedat a boy who had Will’s beautiful face and eyes like her son James.

Shade in the Shadow Market LoS(384)- 

“I’m not aShadowhunter,” said Kit.

“Oh, you are,” said Shade. “You’re the new Herondale, to beexact.”

Livvy’s voice was sharp. “How do you know that? Tell usnow.”

“Because of your face,” he said to Kit. “You’re pretty,pretty face. You’re not the first Herondale I’ve met, not even the first withthose eyes, like distilled twilight.”

It is obvious there is a genetic stamp to their looksthroughout the generations. I’m curious to know when TEC comes out and we seemore from Magnus POV, if he’d figured out who Jace was from the beginning.

But all of this lead me to believe that the Riders may haverecognized Kit because they’d seen a Herondale in the Unseelie Court before.And the new thread to how that may have happened in an alternate theory ishere.

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Swan Song

Masterpost

4x09: Swan Song

Only Glee would write an episode in the middle of one of its middle seasons an episode called Swan Song.  Oh Glee...

For those of you who may not know, the definition I found of Swan Song is this: a person's final public performance or professional activity before retirement. (Though I’ve always thought before death as a connotation, too)  And supposedly, Kurt has his ‘Swan Song’ in this one only to find that it’s not one at all -- but the beginning of a new chapter of his life. 

Exposition

The image coupled with Chris’s name is making me giggle. 

Anyway -- Kurt’s moving away from all black! Yay! And, ngl, Shallow me is back to say that I love this outfit on Kurt.  Also - I think the disheveled-ness is because it’s supposed to be post-Thanksgiving clean up time.  Is it the next day? Idk - I doubt it’s the same night. 

Anyway - Kurt just gets off the phone with Blaine to tell Rachel that McKinley was eliminated from Sectionals.  

Kurt: I just feel bad for Blaine.  If he was still with the Warblers he’d be on his way to Regionals right now. 

Normally, I don’t nitpick individual lines, but this one has always rubbed me the wrong way.  While I get what they’re going for - delivering exposition while Kurt shows some concern for Blaine’s well being - it comes off as a little too flippant and superficial - and slightly undermines the emotional weight of their phone call in the previous episode. 

However, this does mean that Kurt and Blaine are back on speaking terms - which is more the point than one questionable line of dialogue.  

Moving on, Kurt mentions that ND’s loss at sectionals (or his Vogue internship and reconnecting with Blaine, because the original reason is stupid) has woken him up to taking changes on opportunities that he gets. And that he’s putting everything on the line for his NYADA audition.  And while Rachel says you can always reply again, Kurt says he’s done chasing that idea if it doesn’t work out. 

 And I do like what Kurt has to say here.  That he’s wise enough to know that if this doesn’t work out, that maybe it’s not meant to be and he should move on to other things.  This is a much healthier attitude than Rachel’s - I’ll stalk you until you let me in - attitude.  Now, why wasn’t he applying for other schools in the mean time? Idk... But, I’m glad Kurt doesn’t see NYADA as the be all and end all of moving his career forward. 

Let’s take a second and appreciate the fact that Kurt is on the NYADA chat boards, researching everything he can so he can better his chance of getting in.  I mean, Kurt does the work. Go Kurt! 

Meanwhile, I’m epically rolling my eyes at this little sequence to show how amazing it is if Carmen Tibideaux invites you to her exclusive Winter Showcase performance. I thought we were trying to move away from Season 3 Rachel-issues, Glee.  The proudest moment of these people’s successful lives is when Carmen hands them an envelope? I adore the hell outta Whoopie Goldberg, but c’mon show.... Whatever, I should stop before I go on another massive Rachel-rant.

Carmen Tibideaux is the Worst

Kurt comes in to talk to Carmen Tibideaux about his application and possible audition.  I’m not so sure what he was planning to hear from this meeting but it definitely wasn’t this...  

Look - I’ll be frank with this.  Carmen doesn’t make any sense to me.  She lets in to NYADA Adam, Brody, those sycophants, and Rachel after she stalks her, who are all, imo, surface level people, but doesn’t let in Elliott, Jesse St. James, or Kurt, and axes Blaine without thought (along with that other girl at in Rachel’s class).  Hires Cassie July as a teacher.  And again will give Rachel a third chance after she claims here she barely gives first chances.  I really wish Goldberg was given a better character, because I want to like her, I do.  But the inconsistant writing stops me from doing that. 

But also - what she tells Kurt here is frustrating.  Really frustrating.  

So - Carmen breaks it down that Kurt is talented, but his Not the Boy Next Door performance seemed to lack vulnerability and soul.  Which - I call bullshit on, because I’m not so sure how much more vulnerable Kurt could have gotten wearing those gold lame pants.  But, more so, we, as an audience, know that that was Kurt putting it all on the line.  That was Kurt showing off who he was and everything that encompasses that.  

Now - the issue here I see as two things.  One - Carmen (wrongly) equates lack of props and glitter and showiness as automatic soulful.  There’s more than one way to show what’s inside you.  Plus, stripped down to just the music does not always mean more emotional . For the love of everything - Rachel sings an emoting balad every other episode, and I can count on one hand the number of times there’s emotional depth to it.  Two - the auditions themselves are flawed.  You want to have a good audition going into a performing arts school? Here’s my advice - have a two or three numbers ready for you, each showing off how you are a multifaceted performer with the ability to do many things, even if there is one thing that’s your strength. 

Glee’s commentary that only one kind of art is worth anything pisses me off -- but that’s after years of academia behind me, and the elitist ‘high art’ concept often found in academia annoys the hell out of me.  But that’s a story for another day. 

The thing I often wonder - was Carmen always planning on putting Kurt on the spot -- or did she come with that in the moment.  Based on her conversation here, I really don’t know.  

And Kurt leaves the auditorium feeling broken and defeated.  Poor kiddo just can’t catch a break it seems.  But - I will argue that all the struggle Kurt has to go through makes him a far more interesting character than Rachel, who is always handed the glittery envelope.  

Winter Showcase

I’m not gonna go too much into Rachel’s story -- because the more I watch, the more I want to throw things at it.  I’m also rolling my eyes at how the Winter Showcase is a competition -- because you can’t really compare a ballet performance with a vocal performance with a -- whatever else they have going.  Evaluating art doesn’t work that way.  Gah.  Whatever. 

Kurt’s line about appreciating this part in the rom-com but let’s get a move on is pretty cute though. 

Kurt watching Rachel during her performances.  I don’t begrudge this section - Rachel actually hasn’t had a solo since episode 2 (gasp) and these songs play to Lea Michele’s strengths.  I am rolling my eyes at Rachel winning this whole thing though.  (Man, I’m rolling my eyes a lot at this episode.  Who wrote it...Tina?) 

There’s a point during Rachel’s performance that Carmen looks over to Kurt.  So, maybe it was a spur of the moment decision to ask Kurt to sing -- or maybe grasping the opportunity to see what this kid can really do when put under pressure. 

Whatever the case -- Kurt’s in shock when she calls him up to sing. 

Kurt is - of course - freaking out in the lobby area.  He feels as though he can’t go on without his props, his scaffolding, his gold lame pants.  But Rachel has a very good point (yay! when Hummelberry gets to be evened out a little) -- he’s at his best when the songs come from within himself.  Now, lucky for us, 99.9% of all Kurt songs are emotionally valuable to the story being told.  Rachel brings up I Want to Hold Your Hand, but I could make a case for just about any of them done on the show.  It’s bizarre, really, to claim that Kurt’s solos are a superficiality, but clearly the Glee world sees more (?) or something that we do not. 

Anyway - Being Alive is a song he picks, and Rachel (like the rest of us) jump on that choice.  Who cares if it’s something Carmen claimed she hated -- giving it real depth and meaning is something that’s going to impress her.  

Kurt mentions the fact that I Want to Hold Your Hand was so special was because he was going through a difficult time, it was his way of focusing in on his dad and dealing with that when he was sick.  Kurt’s not sure what to focus in this time - but Rachel says -- yourself.  And this song, man.  It’s the culmination and release of everything that has happened in Kurt’s story, more specifically the season 4 arc, but I could argue a case for the entire series so far. 

Which is why I find this song so special....

Kurt: Hi, I’m Kurt Hummel and I’ll be auditioning for the role of NYADA student. 

This is one of my favorite Kurt solos ever.  Chris just nails it.  It’s a male song, which allows Kurt to be in his lower register -- which he’s fairly comfortable in.  It’s funny, at the time, I had wished that it had had just a little more edge to it.  But listening to it now, in the wake of doing all this season 4 meta, I’ve gotten chills going back to it.  Maybe the context just makes the song for me.  But regardless -- still one of my favorites.  

(Also - oh how nervous Kurt is.  I’m always fascinated the way Kurt plays with his hands when he gets super nervous.) 

For those of you who may not know, Being Alive is from the musical Company -- and about a guy who decides that his bachelor life of never going out and doing anything isn’t doing it for him anymore.  That he’s ready to take risks and get hurt in the process because at the end of the day, what is life if you’re not pushing yourself to, well, be alive.  And it kind of works fantastically for Kurt’s story here. 

Some might say that since the Break Up, Kurt has been a shell of himself.  I might argue that since Goodbye -- and having his original dreams of going to New York and NYADA and starting a career have been dashed, Kurt has been inward and wandering and without focus.  The Break Up just exemplified that even further -- and he’s been hiding in his own little bubble, easily letting Rachel guide his life, existing as he works through some dark times in his life.  And this song, and this moment is about him breaking out of his own self-imposed shell and going out there and, well, being alive again.  

He says he didn’t know what the song was about until just then - but that’s because he now has been through some of the tougher things in life and come out on the other side.  And knows that even though life really sucks at times, it’s caused him to be a stronger person.  

This song is also about Blaine -- in the way that Blaine sung My Dark Side about Kurt.  It’s not just about the other person, but there’s a lot of them in there.  I sometimes think of this as being a response to that song - in addition to everything else. 

But before I talk about Blaine.... 

Somebody, hold me too close Somebody, hurt me too deep Somebody, sit in my chair And ruin my sleep And make me aware Of being alive Being alive

Somebody, need me too much Somebody, know me too well Somebody, pull me up short And put me through hell And give me support For being alive Make me alive

Somebody, crowd me with love Somebody, force me to care Somebody, let me come through I'll always be there As frightened as you To help us survive Being alive

I wanted to put (some of) the lyrics here because they’re really quite fantastic.  And really speak well to Kurt -- almost asking someone to come and help him feel real things, help him live a life worth living whether that’s bad or good it’s better than not doing anything at all.  

And -- I saw this fantastic fan video once (I wish I could find it, alas I cannot) where it illustrates that those people are not just Blaine -- but his dad, Rachel, Karofsky, the other glee club kids, a lot of people are in Kurt’s life who pull him out and make him feel things and make life real. 

But of course -- Blaine’s all up in the subtext of this song -- especially post Break Up.  No one can really quite make Kurt come alive like Blaine.  No one can really quite break Kurt like Blaine.  

Kurt spent most of his life, especially after his mom died, shielded up and protective of himself.  And Blaine came along - and experienced the most vulnerable things with Kurt.  And then broke his heart.  And of course Kurt retreated.  But this song is about moving forward again after that.  And not shutting himself off to living life.  

And hence, the second half of season 4 -- as limited a POV as we get -- is about doing just that.  

The thing about this performance -- Kurt’s open and emotional and vulnerable, but it’s not the first time.  I think of some of Kurt’s past solos -- A House is Not a Home, Rose’s Turn, I Want to Hold Your Hand, As If We Never Said Goodbye, and I Have Nothing -- and this thing they all have in common, despite all being vastly about different things -- is that they let other people see what he usually guards very close to his heart.  And thus why this performance, to me, is so powerful. 

And Kurt -- at the end is fascinating.  He kind of draws back into himself, because the response, positive as it is, is somewhat shocking.  Kurt when he sings goes to another place, and now that he’s back in reality, it’s slightly overwhelming -- especially for an introvert who just exposed a piece of his soul for everyone to see.  

Don’t Dream It’s Over

The last song of the episode, the group singing about continuing on even if it feels hopeless -- well, that makes a lot of sense in connection to Kurt’s story as well.  Because Kurt gets his NYADA acceptance letter (finally) and the whole episode is a lot about not giving up on yourself or your dreams, even when everything seems to be over.  You never know...