#enjoy the rant post

[liixlabrat]

hey gang welcome to: me ranting about the differences in fandom satbk lancelot and lancelot in arthurania (in an observational way) + some other things regarding the differences in satbk compared to legend (mostly my thoughts abt the casting. hint: i don't like it)

disclaimers:

- this will be a long post so it will be under a cut

- this will have a HEAVY lean towards the vulgate cycle in terms of characterization because that is what I'm most knowledgeable about.

- satbk is mostly based on thomas mallory and chrétien de troyes' work. there will be inconsistencies because of this

- i am a believer in dldr in fandom spaces. this isn't a critical rant about characterization. this is more about me talking about something I'm passionate about because i find it interesting

- this will also not be about MY characterization of lancelot bc that needs to be its own post (though my own thoughts will be mentioned)

- fandom's satbk lancelot will be called lance and arthurania lancelot will just be called lancelot for my sake

tws (all arthurania): rape, incest, drugging, kidnapping, death. stay safe, most of these are once mentioned in passing.

i find the differences between lance and lancelot absolutely fascinating simply due to the fact of how different they are. while a lot of lance's characterization can be excused by drawing parallels to shadow, it's still EXTREMELY different

the general consensus on lance (from what i can gather) is that he's a loyal knight who sticks by arthur's side through thick and thin, extremely stoic, and unwilling to say no to arthur (plus some shadow traits like being stubborn, prideful, caring etc etc)

and while that conclusion makes sense considering the information given about lance in satbk, it is incredibly different to actual lancelot.

lancelot is the best knight. he goes actively stir-crazy when forced to stay within arthur's kingdom, and knights don't enjoy times of peace because they are people made to fight. so more times than not, he's not in arthur's kingdom, and it's rare when he is. he's also not stoic in the SLIGHTEST. he openly worries (a lot), gets angry (a lot), cries (a lot), and wears his heart on his sleeve. he is DANGEROUS when he's angry, pretty much to the point of madness. he's also protective of those he cares about. at one point he actively left the round table because arthur fucked up (bad) and to be convinced by several people to return back to arthur's court. hell, he isn't even loyal to arthur! at all! that's his THING!!

lancelot isn't lancelot without guinevere. make it romantic or platonic he's still not lancelot without her. because guinevere is who he's loyal to, guinevere is who gives him his strength, and guinevere is who makes him a knight. (this is likely the reason why lance is such an inaccurate lancelot)

now in terms of satbk, transfer these traits to arthur/sonic and yeah, you can make it work. have your doomed medieval yaoi (even though theres already doomed medieval yaoi in arthurania but i'm getting ahead of myself)

another thing that i notice a lot of differences in is backstory

lance's backstory varies from person to person (commonly attributing parts of shadow's backstory) but i don't know how many people who write these backstories know lancelot's backstory??? or story in general?? like i genuinely have no idea

so bam. here's lancelot's story summarized:

lancelot was born in benoic (france) by king ban and queen elaine. his name was in fact NOT lancelot at the time and instead his name was galahad. when he was a baby benoic was overthrown by king claudas (which. king ban sent out pleas for help to king arthur. guess who left him on read. king arthur.), his father dies soon after bc he fell off a horse, nimue abducts lancelot/galahad, and his mother becomes a nun out of grief.

nimue raises lancelot in a place thats disguised as a lake (its not a lake) with two of lancelot's cousins (lionel and bors). lancelot doesnt have a name anymore at this point and is instead called "the child" "the fair foundling" or in nimue's case "my prince." he doesnt know about his actual origins and believes nimue to be his actual mother. he learns archery, swordfighting, academics, etc etc

he grows up, leaves at either 15 or 18, gets knighted, falls in love with guinevere, so on and so forth

in the case of vulgate cycle (i'm unsure if this carries over to other versions) he goes under several identities (white knight, red knight, black knight) before revealing himself as lancelot. he only learns of his name (and origins) when he conquers dolorous guard and finds his tomb. (which. yes lancelot owns a fortress and he renames it to joyous guard) this all happens relatively early on

everything else varies so i'm not going to tell a specific story bc the only one i'm very familiar with is vulgate.

however: something that i've seen several times is morgan (arthur's sister) kidnapping and drugging lancelot. the motivations vary (from wanting lancelot herself or from hating guinevere) and the actions themselves vary but it's a consistent event. i've personally read both him being thrown into a dungeon and him being actively manipulated

anyway after more varying events: the court finds out about guinevere and lancelot's affair, a civil war breaks out and camelot falls

OKAY. so theres a distinct lack of galahad in said backstory and it's like that for a reason. because galahad is an entire thing in of itself

a common thing that i see is lance raising galahad. this in fact didn't happen with lancelot, and while i do think lance WOULD raise galahad, it would also be miserable for lance specifically. (and galahad too probably)

see, while the time of when galahad was born varies from source to source, the time i see most often is when he was freshly a knight or just entering camelot (not in vulgate). the fact that galahad was a result of elaine of corbinec drugging and raping him because he saved her from morgan boiling her (which made her fall in love. but she also knew that she was not lancelot's true love so instead she tricked him) makes the situation much worse. the reason why lancelot spared her was because she was pregnant with his child. events happen again three years later (minus the child and the boiling water) except this time guinevere found out and banished him for a year. during all of this galahad was raised by a convent

(during a fit of madness, elaine showed him the holy grail which cured him. they got married and i am in a pit of despair.)

galahad gets knighted at 15 by lancelot because it was the one time he ever lost a fight, then he dies between the ages of 15 to early 20s because of the holy grail quest. (tldr: he ascended)

so. thats arthurania. time for me to complain about segas casting because HOLY FUCK ITS ASS

the ones i'm not commenting on are lancelot, gawain, galahad and lamorak as shadow, knuckles, silver and jet respectively all of them are bc i think they're fairly accurate with the exception of lamorak because i know fuck all about jet or lamorak

however the largest atrocity is sonic as king arthur. BECAUSE KING ARTHUR FUCKING SUCKS DUDE. benoic fell because king arthur didnt respond, nobody likes him, he's had several affairs, a massive hypocrite (look at the previous point), a shitty ruler, camelot is still running because of lancelot (whos literally only there because of guinevere), and he hates his own kid WHOS MOTHER IS HIS OWN SISTER. I CANNOT THINK OF A LESS SONIC CHARACTER THAN KING ARTHUR. i know in my heart and soul sonic would fucking HATEE him. i'm convinced the only reason why sonic is king arthur is because of being a main character. (but even then the stories are NEVER about king arthur! they're always about his knights!!)

if it were me, he'd be galehaut. a strong, well liked ruler who despite taking over 29 kingdoms their people adore him. hes ambitious, charismatic and absolutely SMITTEN for lancelot. ("i will die if you are not here with me" is something said many times. hes also very serious about this sentiment)

idek who king arthur would be

the next one is amy as nimue. while it's not AS bad as sonic as king arthur, she doesn't fit as nimue. in my heart of hearts she would not be a teasing fae who abducted a kid to be raised as her own. however someone who sounds like they would do that is one (1) rouge the bat. (plus shadow and rouge family parallels!!)

amy would probably be guinevere. it just. makes sense. sweet to her people, generous with her words, a good leader. checks out

blaze as percival is not something i have an issue with but its more like i think her being queen blaye of malehaut would fit her more. (tbf blaye is a vulgate exclusive i believe). blaye took care of lancelot when he was injured from dolorous guard, accidentally fell in love, never confessed, and was planning to get married to galehaut. (however, if i'm being so fucking real guinevere, blaye, galehaut, and lancelot are all in a polyamorous relationship. this also opens the door for blazamy & sonadow so there's a win there!!)

if i had to assign percival to anyone it'd probably be espio. he's close with silver and while i dont know a lot about either of their characters it Just Makes Sense with the minimal research i did.

anyway. this was mostly an excuse for me to yell about arthurania lancelot i'll be real. love that guy. there's absolutely shit that i forgot to mention so if i remember i'll probably tack it on at some point.

[pavo--ocellus]

i still can't get over the poem venti wrote for kaeya during his hangout...........

to any random person it's just a cute little poem about a boat surviving a storm and finding it's way to safety... but the entire poem is filled with little nods to kaeya, his past, present and future.

he's part of a plan much bigger and much older than himself, and it's not something he can escape from, "bereft of control". it's a threat constantly looming over his head, but until it springs into action, he's "directionless".

he pushes through every hardship thrown at him. even better, he has a life that he's at least content with despite it all; a stable job, friends and family, people who depend on him and who love him.

but loneliness clings to him. he may have friends that he loves with all he has, but there are still parts of him they could never truly understand, parts that he could never share with them. ultimately he has to deal with the worst of his troubles all on his own. "none but the ocean to hear as i sing", none but himself to witness his internal struggles.

"The stars in my eyes" the double meaning <333 one being so literal it's hilarious.

despite the future looking grim, he still hopes for a happy ending. that one day his destiny, his fated choice will stop hanging over him like a guillotine waiting to drop and he'll get to live a truly peaceful life. all he wants is to let go of the heavy burden he's been carrying since he was just a kid...

all of this is such a gentle, loving acknowledgement from another... and that being none other than venti himself must mean so much. the gods have never been kind to kaeya's people, and who knows what stories his father had told him before bringing kaeya to mondstadt. he never felt fully accepted, fully like he belonged in mondstadt. and here he had the anemo archon himself reassuring him.

"it's okay. you belong. i see you and it's okay. you don't have to believe me, but i will keep you safe."

[too0bsessedformyowngood]

Okay so I’ve been reading a lot of reverse robin AUs recently and I have a hot take. Duke Thomas should be the Dick Grayson parallel instead of Damian.

Hear me out. So bare bones Duke was the last to join in cannon, so he should be the first to join for reverse robins. But to get deeper into it Duke lost both of his parents at the same time setting him down a path of becoming a vigilante. He becomes Bruce’s ward instead of being adopted because he already was raised with two good parents and doesn’t want them to be replaced. He also created his own mantle that was the opposite to Batman, the light to Batman’s dark, inspiring hope against Batman’s fear. He’s friendly and works well and inspires others, but also extremely sharp and smart which people often forget.

Damian would work well as a batgirl parallel more. He would join after Duke but be a few years older, got there already trained and immediately jumping into crime fighting. Covering the areas that Bruce and Duke don’t fill. While Duke takes up his own name Damian would use a name more inspired by Batman himself.

I just think this dynamic of Bruce and Duke being the first dynamic duo would fit so well (also get to spotlight Duke who so often gets overlooked).

[wickjump]

i hope everyone who preaches about how the only way to enjoy fandom spaces (especially in this fandom) is by strictly abiding by canon interpretations and thinks everyone else is ruining fandom spaces remembers that uwu baby cutesy dream is not in fact fanon but very much so how dream is canonically portrayed so if you want to stick strictly to canon and villainize fanon you’re gonna have to make that guy fucking insufferable and infantilized to hell and back sorry. it’s canon and if you do anything else you don’t actually deserve to be in the fandom that’s just how it works i guess

[legolambi]

shoutout to this gross sofa

[hauntingofhouses]

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.

[waverlyyhaught]

Favorite Marta and Fina Moments - Part 105 Sueños de Libertad, Ep. 203

[bennetsbonnet]

It's surprising and, perhaps, a little depressing for a book so ostensibly beloved and held up as one of the finest in English literature, that Pride and Prejudice is so widely misquoted and misunderstood. It seems to be primarily viewed as a romance in the public's imagination, rather than the comedy of manners it truly is.

A large part of these misconceptions are admittedly, due to its various adaptations. I think a lot of people are surprised when they read the novel for the first time and discover that Mr Collins does not possess an affinity for boiled potatoes; that the proposal scene does not take place in the rain; that the second proposal is not made by Mr Darcy stumbling over his words at dawn and, ultimately, that he does not emerge from a lake in a wet white shirt. Nor is he really a brooding romantic hero.

The adaptations have had such a huge impact on the popular perception of Pride and Prejudice, that all of these products can be found on only the first two pages of an Etsy search of the title. All very nice products, I am sure. However, none of them contain quotes found in the original novel:

(quite why you'd want to be seen in a 'barely tolerable' hoodie I don't know but... each to their own... )

I question how widely-liked the actual novel is, if those who are keen to walk around in merch or decorate their homes inspired by Pride and Prejudice, are doing so with references that are nowhere to be found in the book's pages. Adaptations are part of many of our paths to falling in love with the novel; they were part of mine. But there are so many hilarious quotes contained within the first few chapters alone, you soon realise that nothing can live up to Austen's quick, witty dialogue or her observational comedy.

Yet, even when the novel is correctly quoted, it is not always done in an apt manner. Jane Austen was deemed important enough by the Bank of England to warrant her own banknote. Released in 2017, it looks like this:

I remember the controversy about the portrait, and how little it actually looks like the only (incomplete) drawing we have of Jane (which was said by those who knew her to not even resemble her all that well), but that's another matter. I'm most interested in the quote from Pride and Prejudice beneath it:

Let's put the quote in context. It is taken from chapter 11, and spoken by Caroline Bingley who is trying, unsuccessfully, to capture the attention of Mr Darcy.

Why did she pick up a book? Because Mr Darcy did:

'Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same'

How much enjoyment did she derive from the book? Not a great deal, apparently:

'Miss Bingley’s attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy’s progress through his book, as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question, and read on.'

And now comes the actual passage from which the quote is taken, which tells us why Caroline chose that particular book:

'At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said, “How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."'

On the surface, such a quote—especially taken in isolation—would invariably lead you to believe that said character was an avid reader. However, the context demonstrates that Miss Bingley is far from a bookworm.

If you were left in any doubt, however, her next action surely confirms it:

'No one made any reply. She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest for some amusement'

As soon as Caroline realises that her quest to capture Mr Darcy's affection is futile, she throws her book away entirely; perhaps there are more enjoyable pursuits than reading, after all.

So, a quote deemed to have such importance as to be immortalised forever alongside Jane Austen on the currency of an entire nation (the design of which will likely be used for several decades) is so important in the context of the novel that it is... uh... *checks notes* ignored entirely. Right.

I mean, I don't necessarily understand why the quote had to be about reading but if it was, I could argue that a quote from Mr Darcy in chapter eight, about how extensive reading improves the mind could be far more sincere. Or why not one of the numerous lovely quotes from the novel? Obviously, an agenda was set and a quote needed to be found to match it.

Still, it is quite ironic indeed that reading actually opens your eyes to how ridiculous a choice of quote was made.

Anyway, what is my overarching point? Well, I think, largely due to its various adaptations, a majority of people believe they know the story of Pride and Prejudice. But shockingly few, despite it being consistently ranked as one of the most popular books, actually understand it on the level which it deserves to be.

This post was not intended to bash adaptations, it is absolutely fine to like them! But they are, by their very nature, going to differ from the book. That is inevitable. Yet, I think it's quite sad when people watch a film or series and believe they can possibly understand the story on the same level. Spoiler alert: you cannot. I know books are a luxury and reading is time-consuming, but Pride and Prejudice is out of copyright now. PDFs are abundant, as are audiobooks if you cannot sit and read!

Put some time and effort into understanding the novel. I promise not a single second of it will be wasted; you will gain a deeper admiration for Jane Austen's talent as an author, and you will fall in love anew with the many wonderful characters she so beautifully brought to life.

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[saltynsassy31]

*drags myself through the floor and slams this down*

I present to you

FULLMETAL BARTENDERS AVIAN AU

Divine Nugget Au

(Rant as to why I chose the White-throated Needletail as Blurr's bird and some minor AU lore under the cut)

And that's not all! It comes with a FULL FLEDGED COMIC!!!!!

I spent a whole fucking week on this

I haven't done a comic in 4 years now, I can't believe this is my come-back XD. Though, on that note, know that I probably won't be pumping out any more comics - not any time soon, at least. But I do got more stuff planned for this au! If you ask about it, I'll 100% rant about it LOL

Tw// ⚠️mild gore in the 3rd panel⚠️

While exploring the woods with his team, Swerve had an unfortunate encounter with a crazed hunter. In an attempt to escape, he got injured, but it seems he wasn't the only one caught in the crossfire...

.

.

Okay

So when you look up what the fastest bird in the world is, Google with show the Peregrin Falcom

But there's a catch

The Peregrine is only fast when diving

When it dives to catch its prey, it can go up to 389km/h

Which yeah, pretty fast

But when casually flying, it only goes up to 120 iirc

The Needle Tail?

It can go up to 170km/h

Some have even recorded going over 300! (Close to the Falcon's dive, I believe)

Additionally, these birds only fly. Their habitat is literally listed as "the air," and some even believe they sleep while flying! They only ever land to brood and mate, and then they're off again. Their legs are so short that, if they ground, they can't fly again because it doesn't give enough room to flap their wings.

It fits Blurr perfectly!

It also has a blue-ish colour pattern I can work with lol (it's green, but it looks blue, lol)

Though, also, he isn't 100% like the Needle Tail, just based off of it. I still want avians to be sorta their own species and doesn't have to be exactly like their bird counterparts cuz they aren't them, they're their own thing.

That said, Blurr is one of the shortest from Avians population, still.

They're pretty big.

Another trivial detail of the design!

I was stuck between having his arms be his wings or have them be separate

Until I saw a drawing where they had both, and I realised, "Wait, why isn't that done more often! That's so cool!"

So that's sorta what I did

It's mainly to catch small prey when grounded and to stay better perched up on trees since they're much bigger and having extra fingers helps a lot. Or when they're climbing against a tree to pick up fruits, it gives them an extra boost and can better hang from it

But they're pretty much useless besides that lol

Just neat lil design choice

Other lore stuff. The time in which the au takes place is vaguely modern? But with fantasy aspects? I still haven't decided lol

Technology exists, but not in the way we have it sort of deal, idk, this au is pretty bare bones right now, so go wild with it XD I don't mind it, I love brainstorming it with people. I know this au isn't as big or complex as some others out there, but it's fun, and I hope yall like it too fjsjajaj

[noxious-fennec]

Hands are too shaky these days

[casscainmainly]

What do you think of how WFA is currently using Duke so far? On the one hand bringing in We are Robin is good but on the other hand I feel like it they still are sidelining him. He's still benched and sure they brought in We are Robin but it felt like they were more used for Damian and his story, and they had Duke set up this support system but we've seen others like Steph doing more with it and really interacting with it. I feel like them say introducing We Are Robin but like making interact more with Damian and be there for his story is like "see we read Duke, now here's the other characters we really want to focus"

I've fallen behind on WFA for a few weeks so I just caught up! And. Yeah. I have thoughts. (Also again disclaimer I don't have FastPass so this is based on the free eps as of now).

In August last year I did an analysis of Duke Thomas in WFA, where I outlined my gripes. Then, in December, I praised the We Are Robin-centric episode. Right after, I wrote about how the next episode was making me a little wary but I was still optimistic.

Just outlining this to demonstrate that my feelings on WFA bounce back and forth a lot, but I do think it can do better and it has done better. So I'm gonna read on (because it's the only consistent place for Duke content, and because I like the Batgirls in it enough), but long story short: I'm pissed.

(Putting a rant under the cut; if you're enjoying S3 of WFA, I'm genuinely happy for you! I'm going to take a more negative stance than usual though so don't read if you don't want to hear that stuff).

Okay first of all the benching. All the way back in August I complained about Duke being benched, in a season that started with his kidnapping and revolves around the Joker. At the time I was hopeful he'd be unbenched, but it's been 34 eps and he's STILL BENCHED!! Even if he's unbenched in the FastPass eps I don't have, it's still ridiculous that he was out of the field for that long.

What happened when canon Duke got injured I wonder??

Oh yeah, in the Cursed Wheel he SNUCK OUT!!! Because he has agency!!!! What's frustrating about benching Duke for the entirety of S3 so far is that Duke, at his core, is a character of action. From his very first appearance in Zero Year, he's defined by an absurd amount of agency, wanting to fight the Riddler (then finding his parents, then joining WAR, then becoming Signal). A Duke that sits by for THIRTY FOUR EPISODES is NOT DUKE THOMAS!!!

But he's broken his arm, right? It makes sense for him to be benched?? Well first of all it was WFA's CHOICE to break his arm, a choice I do not think added anything to Duke's character or to Bruce's paranoia (which was clearly the entire point of Duke's kidnapping in the first place). Secondly, another character was injured in a fight with the Joker and benched. Another character who REJOINED THE FIELD IN 16 EPISODES!!!!

Dick gets injured in #130 and goes back out in #146. That is under half of how many episodes Duke's been benched for, AND Dick got injured in a fight against Joker. Duke didn't even get to fight!!! He didn't get to do anything!!! Dick's injury was also stupid, but the way WFA handled his benching versus Duke's is worlds apart, and shows to me how much less they respect Duke than the others.

Also can I just say how gross it was to use Duke's kidnapping merely to kickstart the plot? An astonishing 14 episodes pass before we get any mention of how Duke feels (in #132, he says he has nightmares). Then another 11 eps pass before we get to him talking to Lucius + calling WAR. That nightmares thing is never followed up on either! In #124 and #132, Duke's dialogue functions to further the plot or other characters - in #124, Duke justifies the others going out, and in #132, he helps Bruce through his feelings. Even when the episodes are about him, they are not about him!!! I genuinely think only 2 eps out of this entire season haven't used Duke as a prop for someone else.

I'm going to briefly detour to discuss #132 because I loathe that episode. In Homebound, Bruce visits Duke and they play Battleship (it was cute. fine. whatever). And then Bruce offers to hear Duke out on how he feels. Smash cut to:

ARE YOU SERIOUS??? We spent more than 3 episodes on Jason's PTSD, but we couldn't even spend a single panel on Duke talking about his own trauma???? Whether or not you liked the Jason bits this season, he had a moment. Babs also has her moment, and a whole ep is spent with just her and her dad. Duke, of the 3 Bats that have the biggest associations with the Joker, never gets to fully express how he feels. This off-panel cop-out is honestly kind of insulting.

Another detour: the kidnapping ep. We finally get Duke's full backstory after TWO WHOLE SEASONS (besides a brief mention in #76), and it was just not good. Besides the fact that Duke's kidnapping is, as I've mentioned, just a way to get the plot moving, I don't like the way WFA handles his parents:

What on EARTH are you talking about. This feels like a justification for Duke having never mentioned his parents before, but it's completely untrue to Duke's canon character. Sure, he thinks about his parents more than he talks about them, but WFA Duke never thinks about them either!! This narration box just riles me up whenever I think about it.

I was a bit nicer to this part in my first analysis, but no this part just straight up sucks. First off, I don't believe canon!Duke fears being turned into "something like [his parents]". In Cursed Wheel, he more or less comes to terms with how his parents are: "every horrible thing coming out of [my parents'] mouths? They're actually telling me how much they love me. [...] Let them stay." WFA always picking the weirdest things (becoming like his parents, his powers) for Duke to be scared about!

Secondly, this part juxtaposes the 'horror' of becoming like his parents ("something like them") and the wonderful, beautiful vision of "home": Bruce Wayne. Not only is this in direct defiance of Duke's canon character, it just strikes me as an odd and mean-spirited comparison. It essentially erases Duke's parents from his vision of 'home', just to fit him into the Wayne nuclear family.

But to get to the actual topic of the ask: We Are Robin. I still think the We Are Robin ep (#144) is the best Duke in the entirety of WFA, but did things improve afterwards? Did we focus on the WAR kids, their relationship to Duke, or their overall relationship to Robin? Nope. Turns out WAR, like Duke, was a prop for Damian!!

Damian is too harsh in training the Robins, so Duke intervenes. Damian stomps off and has a heart-to-heart with Jon, during which he admits he was trying to prove himself as Robin by training WAR. I actually like this premise!!! Duke and Damian have always had a contentious relationship to each other's Robins, and it makes TOTAL sense for Damian to be dismissive of WAR and think of it as a way to 'prove' himself. The problem is we did this already. TOM KING did it, in Robin War!!!

This is literally a microwaved TK story with worse writing and less nuance. In Robin War, we explored the way Damian dismisses Duke + WAR, both Duke and Damian's feelings of inadequacy around being Robin, and both of them eventually finding common ground and accepting each other. This arc is that except we cut out Duke's perspective. Now, it's all about Damian's feelings about Robin, and nothing about Duke or WAR's relationship to the mantle!

I cannot stress enough that this is a worse version of Robin War, and Robin War isn't even that good!!!

By centering We Are Robin's appearance on Damian, we lose about 99% of WAR's relationships to each other (and especially to Duke). The only specific relationship we see is Duke and Izzy blushing around each other. No acknowledgement of the Dre-Duke beef, the Riko-Duke crush, Dax-Dre friendship, these are a bunch of extras in a movie about Damian Wayne I guess.

You get absolutely no sense of who Izzy, Riko, Dre, or Dax are. The only thing you learn about them is that they're incompetent!

It's been a couple of episodes and they've been beaten TWICE. I get that they're not the main characters, but compared to the Outlaws or other affiliated teams, WAR is portrayed as ineffectual. And both times it's for Damian's sake. This is so frustrating because Damian + WAR is a really interesting relationship, but because WFA never focuses on WAR's feelings or reactions, it doesn't feel like an equal conflict. It feels like Damian vs. some cardboard cutouts.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??? Why aren't they even a tiny bit mad at Damian for either Robin War (WHICH DID HAPPEN BECAUSE WE ARE ROBIN IS CANON HERE) or what he did to them literally a few eps ago?? You know what, why aren't they mad at DUKE for ghosting and abandoning them?? They mention very briefly at the start that it's 'all good', but why??? Is it because WFA is not invested in their feelings??? Is it because we don't have space to explore even a modicum of Duke's story??????

Having a We Are Robin plot not focused on Duke Thomas or even We Are Robin is so upsetting, especially because the WAR ep was genuinely grounded in canon. Like you said in the ask, it does feel like they put that in there just to prove they've read WAR. What is clear to me now is that, though they've read the run, they didn't understand it. They did it for a perfunctory 'here's some Duke stuff' and never bothered to be interested in any of these characters' stories.

Because we should have gotten Duke's side of things. Damian gets an entire ep to talk to Jon and another to prove himself by fighting Joker, and Duke gets a few panels where he's like 'Damian don't usurp my training I forgive you though'. Season 3 has come the closest to giving WFA!Duke some depth, and because it comes the closest, it also fails the hardest. I still have hope that Duke will get some moments in this season, but I'm losing hope that it will make up for his treatment at all.

Apparently an upcoming Cass ep isn't great so they're really attacking me personally at this point. Idk what gets me is that for some people, this is their first exposure to Duke and WAR. For some people this is and will continue to be their only exposure. And it's this watered-down, uninteresting, bland, prop version of him that just is not the Duke Thomas I know and love.

[rookflower]

i don't think I'm as much of a hater as scrolling through this blog since I started making more textposts makes me out to be, but frankly it's just way easier to make new posts that are complaining about shit than it is being happy. "I love dovewing" ok water is wet I'm sure at least 80% of wc tumblr holds this sentiment in some way. I hope anyways

[tblsomedoodles]

Meeting Clara (but happy and cannon)

i had full intentions of coloring this. but that would take forever and i reached my limit as far as this comic goes a while ago. i have no idea what it was, but this comic fought me every step of the way. It didn't matter if i was having a good art day or not, as soon as i opened this document, i'd struggle.

But it's done now. so there's that

[sharrrrt]

The grumpy cynical awful evil man and the little girl he totally definitely doesn't care about <3

Skarra and Dee headcanons below 🥺 and also a fic idea cuz I got carried away with ranting 💀

Dee definitely does bad stuff just because it's fun and that's why she went along with Skarra's scheming. But she also looks up to him in some way, otherwise why would she copy his look☝️ she would never admit that tho cuz it's cringe

Dee is a bully at school. Skarra tries to tell her off but he can't help laughing at some of the stuff she does 💀

Dee's parents travel a lot for their work so she's usually left with a hired caretaker

One time tho, Skarra was free to look after her and ever since then they usually leave her to stay at his place (Dee really liked hanging out with him and annoyed her parents to death about it)

Skarra hates how Dee's parents are and once he realized how often she's basically left alone he makes the most of their time together yayyyy healing his inner child

Skarra loves Dee's personality but he also doesn't want her to end up like him :(

They practice soccer together sometimes. Dee isn't seriously into it but she has fun learning tricks

Skarra would make fun of her fails and then pick her back up the very next second

God forbid Skarra leaves anyone in IU to look after Dee 💀💀 he caught her talking to Dooma once and the man was about to list his entire criminal record 😭

So Skarra definitely spoils her right. Like yea the pink buggy wasn't her style but that must have cost some pennies, and most importantly her custom jersey awwwwwww 🥺💕✨️ srsly if Skarra didn't care he wouldn't have spent a dime for her✋️

Next few are a continuation of this post which I MIGHT turn into a fic no promises:

Shakes helped a lost Dee find Skarra and once they found each other she kicked Shakes in the shins and they both laughed at him 🫶🥺

This happens on the same day as a game against IU so Shakes honestly thought it was a ploy to get him to miss it

Dee kept running around and being generally annoying so Shakes at his boiling point said "fuck it" and left Dee to wait by herself (remember this is the same guy that didn't give a damn about that kid in japan 💀☝️)

On his way to the stadium tho, he spots Skarra!!! Asking people around, looking for Dee!! He's missing the game to find his neice...who Shakes just abandoned...for the game...

He leads Skarra to Dee.

They have a nice reunion :) and figured at this point they can't make it to the game. No second-half surprise entrances this time!

This fic idea is basically my answer to what !should be! Shakes' biggest flaw and that is his unwillingness to compromise soccer for anything. Like in "beautiful gaming" as mentioned it gets to a point where it goes from admirably fighting for his dream to an unhealthy obsession that's a coverup for some deep-seated trauma and self-worth issues

The guy needs to get a life🙏

[moraent-keys]

Seeing other aroace people who ship Radioapple is the best

It’s like, no matter which way you ship it, you get it. Like some deeper sense of understanding we all have?? Does that make sense?