#do we wanna remember him

[black-and-yellow]

[shepscapades]

@cringe-control I wish you could see the look on my face right now

[killjoy-prince]

A kiss from Death

[welcometogrouchland]

Batman #149 by chip zdarsky is mostly unremarkable, but I'm really fascinated by how it makes a great case for 'good' endings not saving 'bad' stories*. Because there's a lot of interesting concepts in this issue (bruce having to deal with his rapidly aging and decaying clone making him think about his own life, re-establishing a 'nest' so to speak for his family after pushing them away, etc) but bc of the OOC slog that came before it, almost every moment w/ the batfamily comes off as unearned and disingenuous imo.

Like, everything with Damian is the perfect example in this. Because in isolation it's...fine. admittedly it's a missed opportunity to not go deeper into how Damian would feel about a clone of his dad who tried to kill considering Damian's relationships with clones of himself (the heretic rejects and respawn) or with former enemies who wanted him dead but who were manipulated and/or brainwashed (like suren and maya).

Zdarsky doesn't go into any of this but you could maybe excuse it as the issue not being about Damian. However, coupled with the previous bizarre characterizations of Damian in 147 and 148, it ends up not being fine- instead it starts to feel...icky how Damian (who, despite often being drawn and written as white, will never have his connection to the non-white al ghuls forgotten and will always be effected by racism even when not portrayed as a poc) is constantly written as overly violent, uncaring and narrow minded in this run. Coupled w/ trying to recanonize the morrison origin for Damian it's like. OH this is badly written and laden with subtle bigotry, sick**

That's me going into detail on it with Damian but it's applicable to other things in this issue- the way Cass, Steph and Duke have all been ignored or turned into jobbers makes their inclusion in the 'family' here feel hollow instead of satisfying. Bruce proclaiming that Zur was still a part of him and he needs to accept responsibility for his actions (when it means taking in clone son) wrings hollow when just last issue zdarsky was bending over backwards to separate Bruce and Zur bc otherwise the Jason thing would get really awkward. Ends are achieved through means that feel hollow or strange. I'm at my destination but damn why'd the bus have to do all that???

I only really have opinions on this latest arc of zdarskys Batman bc it's the one I've read the closest (bc I'm a hater, masochist and avid follower of even the bad damian storylines) but it's not saying great things.

Bc zdarsky can do one thing good in this book, and it's write Bruce and Tim. And yet this entire story, whether of his own volition or editorial mandate, includes other characters who aren't Bruce and Tim, the fabric starts to unravel in very telling ways.

(p.s, I think pennyworth manor is an interesting idea but I feel like in execution it's just gonna be 'bruce living in a house haunted by the memory of the people he couldn't save' but with a different dead guy this time. Illusion of change and whatnot)

*whether or not the ending is good is up to you ofc, as is your opinion on the proceeding arc! I saw some ppl complain that the ending was too "WFA" for them, which I get even if I dont think it'll literally be the same premise. If anything it's probably a lead into the new tec run. Likewise many ppl who aren't in the weeds of Damian and Jason characterization liked the previous arc! But I have my opinions and rest my case before the bench

**disclaimer, I'm white and portrayals of bigotry in comics are complicated and subjective, but I am basing my point here off what other poc comic fans on socmed have been saying about 149. Also the "sick" is sarcasm incase that wasn't obvious

[kiisuuumii]

it's always such an odd feeling remembering the people you loved so long ago

[xxplastic-cubexx]

if we're talking about weird ways the prequel movies handled raven and erik, i still can't really get over how they

- made a huge plot point of first class physical mutations

- erased erik's physical mutation (his white hair)

- made raven's opinion on her physical mutation that she doesn't wanna hide it

- then proceed to have her shapeshifted and hide it almost constantly

- then gave quicksilver and polaris their unnatural hair colors that they should have inherited from erik

it's just hilarious to me. i wanna see the talks that lead to these decisions.

i think At Most i can justify raven hiding her true form as a way to protect herself and/or because she's insecure: evidently a lot of people dont act kindly to blue scaled women (tho i did wish she showed her true form more while at the cia base with the other mutants) and it's fair to assume that even if she wants to be out and proud she has some apprehension about it because of Aforementioned safety/confidence issues

everything else tho yeah LOL whats all this then. wasnt in the budget i support- tho i stilllll so badly wish that they at least let erik's hair go white in apocalypse ..... that woulda been cool at least .....

[what-even-is-sleep]

thinking about Bodkin again bc I mean,,, ALL THE SYMBOLISM OHHHHHGH. i NEED some tumblr film analysis hobbyists to watch this show and tell me all the themes n such

[copypastus]

A bit of a rant under cut coz ACOFAS broke into my house, tore my heart from my chest and smashed my feelings with a sledgehammer.

Warning: Strong Feelings about a Fairy Book Xmas Special

Why is this book so fucking mean to Tamlin? Dude messed up at the beggining (with good intentions) but after a certain point he's doing everything right to make up. He drags Beron to help in battle. He save's Feyre from Hybern. He passes on the INCREDIBLE opportunity to be a petty bitch and revives Rhys with a 'Be happy Feyre' and then fucks off to be sad by himself. What more redemption do you want? What more can the dude possibly do?? Clearly nothing. As multiple characters just randomly think to themselves he's just the worst and no matter how much good he does it'll never make up for *checks notes* locking Feyre in a house that one time. Like I'm going crazy here. Dude's not doing anything anymore. Not like he's coming back with a vengance he's just highkey depressed in his sad house. And here's Morrigan thinking how much she'd like to kill him one day. Here's Rhys poping in to berrate him. God forbid he fixes things with Lucien. Stay miserable you sad fuck. Ok maybe he feels a little bad after but everyone assures him it's fine acctually. It's always moraly ok to bully Tamlin. You're the bigger male most times. ugh Then you think ok maybe he'll fix it, maybe there was a point to it all. Sure enough here comes Rhys again. His approach is a little better! 'Eat, Tamlin'. Wow did he get some godamn empathy for Solstice? But no he just can't help himself. 'You can waste and die when it's convenient for me. What you thought I'd actually had sympathy for you??'

I just??? it's so MEAN. so petty. If it was the villain Rhysand arc I'd be cheering. But I'm supposed to be rooting for this dude?? I thought it was a low stakes filler book where they exchange gifts and have a delightful little snowball fight. what is this???

[lovelyrotter]

can ppl in this fandom like... stop... implying that transmasculinity in hcs or (especially) canon is shallow or misogynistic or even transmisogynistic on princible, like literally just by being prescent in someones mind or in the text. like that doesnt fuckin feel good. thats kind of really nasty to imply. if its not okay to say about other trans experiences, maybe dont say it about this one either. why is there a weird little exception here. yall KNOW how much that sucks to hear all day every day. what the fuck

[cern1cal0]

>> I'M THINKING MIKU MIKU OO-EE-OO <?>

[francy-sketches]

hotd twitter is turning me into a reddit atheist istg

[street-corner-felines]

Zero Day (2002)

[bonefall]

just saw a post by goobiestar where tigerclaw has been put on babysitting duty and they doodled him surrounded by tiny babies thinking "i cant believe bluestar is making me babysit a bunch of drooling pathetic whiny pieces of--" and with bonefall tigerstar being a genuinely good dad (at least when his babies were tiny) i have this image in my head of firepaw imagining this is what's happening and then it cuts to tigerclaw calmly playing teeterstrike with the babies

I'm telling a super different story from the other guys in my orbit LMAO, I've noticed that also. A lot of my.... fellow satellites? Companion Comets. Peripheral Planets. Lean into the comedy angle of Tigerclaw being a nasty little boy

I especially love that one comic (I think it's Blimbo?) Where he sees his younger sibs and just starts kitty-smacking them like a real cat lmao. Top tier. If the punchline is "KITTY SMACK" you'll kill me every time.

But yah BB!Tigerclaw is really important to understand as like... a guy. Just a shitty guy, has some good things about him, but ultimately the darkness within him is run-of-the-mill. He isn't special. Firestar comes to understand that any one of the dozens of assholes in his life could have become Tigerstar-- and that's TERRIFYING.

Evil is mundane and common. Goodness is complicated and unique.

So your image is spot on lmao. Young Fireheart watching him from across camp like, "ill PROVE his evil to bluestar. Look at him now. What is he doing with swiftkit. Something horrible im sure. He probably hates kittens"

And Tigerclaw is pressing his mouth to Swiftkit's baby belly and going PTHHHBBBBB.

[laplacesdevil]

seeing septuple?

[Version without Fraud BF, Guy, and Yourself under cut]

[llitchilitchi]

I get hating certain political systems and trying to abolish totalitarian regimes but at the same time many of them are so interwoven with our history and society they have become tropes and when I consume media with a setting where the monarchy is absolute and revered then I am playing my part and sucking that princeling off

[lesbiansanemi]

For the first time since I can remember I did not hate every second around my family and… not only that actually…. Kinda enjoyed myself? Idk, just got home and I’m real tired but I think that’s just cuz I was up early and busy and then had the drive home. Christmas stuff and all that. My mom did…? Get me a pair of shoes that were lesbian colors…. I can’t tell if that was some insane coincidence and she didn’t know or her trying to say/do something all things considered. Apparently my siblings kept telling her I wouldn’t like them when she picked them out (which is fair I wear almost exclusively all black and mostly boots over tennis shoes) but she insisted so…. Mmm…. On the one hand I wish she would just like… say something? But if it was some weird way of being supportive I guess it was kinda sweet? Idk. I might be reading into it and it was just a coincidence

They also all insisted on helping me move in February which kinda has me like ???? Because I’ve moved four times since I’ve moved out and they have never once done a THING to help even when I lived much closer but I’ll take it cuz that means I won’t have to rent a truck cuz they’ll bring theirs and I won’t have to hire ppl to move the big furniture so that’s a lot of money I’ll be saving

They're also giving me one of the beds and mattresses from my great grandma's house since they've been clearing it out after she died a few months ago because when they asked what all I would I have to move and didn't say a bed and then explained my bed is a 20+yo mattress laid directly on the floor they were like :/ which obvi I know wasn't ideal I just couldn't afford to get a new one but now I won't have to. Obviously it's used but it's still only a year or so old they said, and I don't think I've EVER had a mattress that wasn't at least 15 years old so that'll be nice. I hope it helps some of my back issues...

Anyways, idk what fucking happened to these people in the span of a couple months but it kinda feels unreal