#especially in context with his relationship to Q

[yourbuerokrat2]

Okay, but you have really put so much thought into this and I do find this a very interesting subject as well. So.. life reaction:

Yeah, Qs condescension is a bit of a problem in their relationship because honestly? Q does not reall make Picard like Q holds any respect for him or for Humanity as a whole even if Picard at one point is willing to admit that Q may like him. But I also can sort of see why Q would be like this. I mean, he really is a near-omnipotent, robably billion of years old being who lives a couple dimensions and evolutionary steps ahead of Picard. I mean you would have problems taking the life experience and words from a sentient hamster or even ant very serious now would you? Then again, Q does not even bother to hide it most of the time, even or especially with his last TNG appearance as the Judge. But Picard is also so used for Q to 'look down' on him (and Data did not help with that comment) that even though I do think that the way Q smiled at him in that last court scene and the way he said 'I knew you could do it even if the others did not' was completely sincere, even gestures like this would leave a bit of a bitter aftertaste in Picards mouth.

Qs overall chances would improve at least a little bit if he were to openly tell Picard that he did not consider Picard a toy nor a pet and while e does not realy consider Picard his equal he wants them to become just that. I do think that Picard would be a bit more open and more omfortable with Q after that. But that would requite a bit of openness and even vulnerability that Q would not like to show.

Picard would not like for Q to openly voice his frustrations with him about how Picard is not simply letting Q guide his major life decisions like he should.

Yeah, I do think that these are also reasons he sticks with humans and likes to play with humans/the Enterprise crew and even other Starfleet crews in general. He probably expected some cowering, begging, etc. when he first arrived on the scene but he never really got that. Except for that 'I need you' but that was a life-or-death situation Q deliberatly put them in to teach Picard a lesson.

Regarding the human!Q vs. Q!Picarrd I would like to add that even though it is completely unlikely for Picard to ever agree willingly to become anything other than human (except if it's in a situation where him becoming a Q would somehow be the only thing that could save a huge number of people or that was really shown to him would be better for the Greater Good but to him it would always be a huge sacrifice he did for the general public and not even for Q alone) their relationship would be healthier with a Q!Picard on quite some levels.

For once human!Q would be miserable, Q!Picard to a certain extent as well but Picard would still ahve something. I can still see Picard isiting the Enterprise, though he would not be allowed to interfere a lot, he would visit Data and Guinan and maybe even Sarek and other people with long life spans and then there would be Amanda and I can even see him getting along with that other Q from Deja Q considering they don't approve of the way Q treated those they had planned to make First Contact with (and wouldn't that just bother Q a bit? He finally has him and still has to share him with so many others?).

Human!Q has already made it very clear in Deja Q that he did not care to become a team player or really integrate himself with the crew or humanity as a whole but that his first proprity is to make himself indespensable to Picard. Which could lead to a disastrousl unhealthy relationship as you have already made clear with the way Picard is.

There would be a huge conflict about Q, even though Q literally gave up everything for Picard to the point where Picard is the only thing he has left, not being Picards priority. Because Picards priority would always be the Enterprise, the crew, then his missions, then Starfleet, the Federation, his duties etc. It's something any romantic partner of a Starfleet partner would have to deal with but especially so with Picard. Although I can see Picard, before Q makes the decision, saying as much to Q. But Q either thinks tat this will change or that he won't be bothered by that.

Q would be bothered by it.

Because another difference in Q!Picard and human!Q is that Picard would, even though his overall opinion of the Continuum is pretty low I do think that the Qs have actual reasons for the self-assigned jobs they have aside from boredom (call me crazy) and that a lot or at least some of the stuff the Qs do serve 'A Bigger Picture' and Picard is someone who can be a bit amoral in the name of the Prime Directive as I recall that one episode with a colony and Worf human brother. I think Q!Picard would eventually een become a better Q than Q even though Picard would try to help 'lesser beings' perhaps a bit too much in the Continuums eyes.

Q on the other hand does not like labor of any kind, especially since the kind of jobs he would be given due to his lack of actual experience would not be things that he would find satisfying nor challenging. Making the dependence he has on Picard even worse, especially since Picard would want or expect Q to be Q, personality wise, every time he gets back to his quarters and, as you said, there would be a bit of a conflict if Q was becoming less than easy to deal with.

But there would be a chain between them with Q as a human that would make Picard getting interested in anyone else or even losing interest in Q because Q is no longer the independent and free challenge that he was before so difficult. A chain made out of the words of 'I gave up everything for you. You can't leave me'.

Their only hope is that maybe during one rather strong argument Picards conceeds at least a little bit and says that they will have to see Deanna (and he does trust Deanna. Deanna was the one he told that he 'saw'/wished he saw that one more light during his torture so I can defiinitly even see him talking with Deanna about his other relationships).

Deanna would be the one to bring up the unhealthiness of their relationship and it would be difficult. For once it would be difficult in any scenario with a darker Jean-Luc Picard (at least when it comes to Q) even with Q being still a Q for both of them to come to the point of Picard being the one in the wrong because both Q and Picard are aware that the more 'moral' and 'good' person between them is Picard. For twice I can not see Q taking even the suggestion of a break-up very well. Not as a Q and especially not now as a human who is about to lose the only person he has left, the person for whom he has given up immortality and omnipotence).

The worst thing that could happen in such a case is them not going to Deanna and Picard simply breaks up with Q in a heat of a moment after one argument too much. Maybe even telling Q that it would be for the best if Q were to leave the Enterprise (where else is Q supposed to go?)

Q then gaining omnipotence and being greeted back into the Continuum with a 'we told you so' would be.. terrible. Because I do think that partly for the drama and partly because the Continuum would think that Picard deserves it, the Continuum would just sit back and tell Q to 'go wild' and do whatever he wants with 'his human' and his little space ship.

And Q, hurt, still not at all recovered from the dependence he had felt towards Picard (having and still deluding himself that the feeling of dependence was just incredibly strong attachment and love after all there are so many human poems and songs about not being able to breath or live without the other person), desperate and very angry (how dare Jean-Luc? After everything Q did for him? How dare Jean-Luc Picard try to throw him away?) would make Picard pay or at least he would try to make Picard 'see reason' and bring the Enterprise in such a situation that Picard ends up begging Q to take him back.

Human!Q v. Q!Picard discussion

Ok, so I finally watched Helluva Boss season 2, and I already had a comparison post about Stolitz/Qcard last year.

After episode 11 and 12 I got some ideas on how Qcard relationship would work between two absolutely different species.

Picard

Picard's main problem is Q’s omnipotence and high stance in the galaxy level, which obviously does not sit right with him in relation to their equality. Q has constantly overruled Picard's decisions due to his "knowledge" and "experience," and if Q does not see it as a problem, Picard cannot be in a relationship where his own opinion and experience are undermined only because he is a human. Also, i feel like he kinda considers Q's involvement as cheating the system.

Q

Q's main problem is Picard's limitation: in his lifespan, in experience, in thinking and open minding. Q simply can not understand why this human is so stubborn and does not let Q guide his Capitan in the right direction since he already knows the proper way.

Obviously, these two are hard to to see on a long-term run despite their other matches such as Picard's desire for an adventure partner who is ready to go anywhere he goes and Q's desire to be with someone who does not see him as a God to obey to and rather a some nuisance instead.

I do think Q is tired of the conatant treatment of being the highest creature, so being treated with some sort of disrespect and ignorance like Picard does to him, makes him feel real and alive as it keeps him entertained enough, and that's why he will never be bored of Jean-Luc, because no matter what, the Capitan will never be soft and obedient toy in his hands, his mind, will to explore and love for life are what keeps Q amused and excited.

Im not even bringing the Q Continuum. Obviously, Q feels rather like a black sheep around them, so it's logical for him to look for a companionship somewhere else.

But taking into consideration what if one of them change? Who is it likely to be?

I think it's Q.

Being mortal is terrifying but does it worth it?

Look, Picard rather die thousands times than become something else than human. And it's not only because he is afraid of spend enternity with Q, but rather, being even not the most religious man, he still wants to end up in places where all humans go. Exploration of the universe means nothing for him without his crew, family and friends.

I also think he hopes to see Robert and Rene once again and that's why Q is not in his afterlife plans.

He could see himself spending some time with Q while he still alive, even fantasizing about all the possible adventures they could go into, but death? No no, he wants to reunite with his family and friends and maybe then go for even further parts of the universe.

Also, he isn't a fan of the way Q work, he finds them rather spoiled and ignorant and way too overpowered. Entitled even. There is no way he will ever become one of them, unless it is a sacrifice for the best (then he can pretend that he did not have a choice), as his biggest fear is to become someone else (e.g. borg) but human.

That leaves us with Q, going down to his level.

Yes, Q was terrified in Deja Q of becoming the vulnerable mortal, no powers and no ways to cheat. For a being like him it was as if human became a worm, too hard to comprehend.

But out of all he came to Jean-Luc, person of trust and love. He basically said to his siblings that do with me what you want as long as Picard is near by.

I feel like that if Q would be kept as human for longer, the only reason for him not going crazy and really trying to become a decent human being is Picard's approval.

Here comes my #dark!Jean-Luc arch. Jean-Luc is a man of many qualities but we also see him as pretty selfish partner. He isn't compromising in his love life, his job is always a priority so his partner has to be on the same side. So he is looking for easy and not demanding person ( yeah you think Q is far away from being not demanding but hear me out) to be with.

Q is a temptation, but he only ever goes for him only if Q becomes a human. That's basically it. He wants q as he is, adventurous, mouthy, filthy, cocky spoiled brat but as long as he is on the same level with Picard.

He can make Q his lover or even a partner as long as Q is not a threat, as long as he is made of blood and flesh.

You see, Picard is man of pride, but he cannot overcome his own insecurities when it comes to his decisions.

He needs to know that Q is not going to be always right or give him a cheat code to any issue. He wants it to be real on his own terms.

Q is not comfortable for him as Q. But as human...he will definitely give it a shot.

And there where I see Q giving in. It does not matter how depressed he can be from becoming a mortal, once Jean-Luc shows an interest in HIM he will do anything to keep it going. If that means forget his Q identity, he will as he is too desperate for Jean-Luc's love and affection.

I even can see that if there going to be a choice, between him getting back into Q Continuum but forgetting about Picard and him staying as human and being with Picard he will choose Jean-Luc.

And it would be a sick win win since Jean-Luc would be delusional and he would take it as Q being truly genuine and wanting to be a human like him is a true desire since "obviously" being human is not that bad for a billion years cosmic entity, right?

But for Q it's a way to tell his family to fuck off, you see he loves me, he wants me, I can be without you as I was right, mon Capitan truly desires only me, which is also delusional but in so different manner.

Both of them are getting what they want but being in denial of the truth. They both lie to themselves and to each other but nothing of it probably will even come out as they are too far into this game.

Conclusion

Jean-Luc being a narcissistic manipulative asshole towards Human!Q and Human!Q being a complete mess but with his Capitan.

Continuum would leave these two alone, they wanna see how it ends and when Q will open up his eyes.

Cuz if Jean-Luc ever decides to break up with Q and Q gave up his powers to be with this man... Boy of boy. What can happen. Even being mad at Q for his choice and words, Continuum will return Q his powers just to see how it will play out for Picard and his ignorance.

[purpleheartskies]

About the framing and marketing of the traumas in Robby's story including the SA

TW/SA

This situation with the SA in Robby's story feels like post-s5 all over again. Robby experienced something(s) traumatic, but the audience is not supposed to consider it traumatic for Robby because of the framing and marketing, and many fans go along with it---though in this case, many fans are opposed to ignoring the SA.

Hayden's comment about the SA seems to indicate that the writers don't see the SA for what it is and won't address it in part 3. However, Jon (privately) 1000% agreed with a fan that consent can't be given while drunk, that he was very upset with Hayden's tweet, and that he himself wouldn't have answered that question in that way. Hayden is a known troll, and given how he has always approached answering questions, his comment may have been a tone-deaf statement that pushed the narrative framing. For example, Hayden had also responded to someone in that q&a that Miguel always sees the best in people. This is not true, looking at the context throughout the story. Miguel definitely thinks the worst of Robby and acts on it whenever Miguel feels like it. These and other points I will talk about in this post make me wonder if the SA may still possibly be addressed in some way as SA.

Although there are definitely flaws in the writing, such as in the pacing, I don't think the skills of the writers can be completely ignored. Their character and relationship writing in particular are quite good (as in consistent and realistic) compared to a lot that I've seen across a variety of stories. I also think that, while many view SA as an egregious trauma that sets it apart from other traumas (hence the more resonant backlash about it), these writers are treating the SA as just another trauma in Robby's story. After all, they've handled Robby's other traumas with a similar writing, execution, framing, and marketing approach. For example, the same day that Netflix posted the ig reel marketing the SA as "Can Tory catch a break?", which matches the narrative framing, Variety put out that interview of Billy glorifying Johnny's relationship with Miguel and claiming that Johnny "needed the boy [Miguel] who needed him", which also matches the narrative framing. As I pointed out in another post, the framing and marketing of both situations treat Robby as inconsequential, although both are extremely traumatic for him. 

The storytelling style in the show is very interesting. There's a lot the consistency and patterns throughout the story, especially when it comes to the characters behaviors. For example, my pre-s6 analyses of Miguel's envy of Robby being Johnny's son, Johnny using Miguel to feel better about himself for screwing up with Robby, and the blended "family" not being written genuinely (especially Robby's inclusion in it) are inline with what was depicted once more in s6e8. In fact, the occurrence of Robby experiencing a trauma (the SA) while Johnny was off tending to the Diazs is in line with the consistency of how the writers approach Johnny and Robby's story: Johnny's relationship with the Diazs is narratively in opposition to Johnny's relationship with Robby. It is an either/or situation; it always has been. 

In this case, Robby was left out of the family situation and was, overall, feeling so unsupported (because he is, despite Johnny's words to Miguel) that his abandonment/rejection trauma and low self-worth were at their peaks, with him believing that Tory had abandoned and replaced him too, so he drank for the first time. In fact, the writers reminded us through Sam that Robby doesn't drink. They wanted us to be clear on the fact that he was drinking for the first time, and the rum and coke doubles he was downing would impair him. Robby telling Sam about his intention to drink seemed to be his counterdependence peaking through: he had wanted her to stop him. (In fairness to Sam, no character has understood Robby's counterdependent tendencies. Though, it would have been good of her, as a friend, to stick around after he told her that he was thinking of drinking. I'm not blaming Sam, though, for Robby's decision to drink. It was Robby's decision to do so. I may do a proper s6 part 2 Robby analysis soon.) It's within the context of Robby getting drunk for the first time and being alone and vulnerable that Zara took advantage of him. This was all juxtaposed with Miguel showing his envy once again about Robby being Johnny's son and Johnny once again committing himself to Miguel in comparison to Robby. In the hospital scenes, Robby's absence was felt including Carmen speaking about the baby having her big "brother" win, as if she has only one brother competing in the tournament.

Looking at how the writers have written scenes throughout the story, the SA is written as what it is: SA.

First off, there's no narrative "show" of Robby consenting or intentionally getting together with Zara. They don't show him noticing her, getting friendly with her, or drinking with her. They're only shown to have two interactions: (1) the conversation outside of her hotel room the next morning, and (2) during the brawl. In both these interactions, Zara acted entitled to Robby, his body and him, while Robby showed no interest in her whatsoever. Wrt to the SA itself, Robby was clearly shown to be getting drunk and losing his faculties (he couldn't focus enough to talk back to Kwon) before Zara even approached him. The next morning, his hungover state and his statement that he can barely remember anything also prove that he hadn't been in any condition to consent. He was barely responsive when she kissed, and he looked disturbed/shell-shocked as he walked away. In turn, she was shown watching and approaching him at the bar with intent. The next morning, her bold response "Well, good thing I do" to him saying that he barely remembers, her indifference about his unwell state, and her stealing a kiss from him as if she's entitled to show that she was sober and didn't care if he could consent or not. She had been interested in him, and she'd taken from him what she'd wanted. 

The framing and marketing that we should feel sorry for Tory wrt this doesn't match the nuance of what is shown, only the framing of it. Tory seeing them is written as a coincidence. The framing that Robby had cheated and made a "mistake" is set up by Robby's words: "Tory broke up with me. She hooked up with Kwon. I got drunk and I did something stupid". Some fans claim that Robby "cheated" to get revenge, but there is no narrative proof of this. Robby didn't try to throw it in Tory's face and was shocked that she'd found out. Then, his defensive argument with Tory---that she was upset that he'd gotten with someone even though she'd gotten with Kwon---added to the framing. However, Robby is already established as a character with exaggerated self-blame, who blames himself for his traumas when he isn't at fault at all or isn't 100% at fault. In this case, he can barely remember what happened. He knows that he got drunk because he was upset, thinking that Tory had hooked up with Kwon. But, he essentially doesn't know the details of the "mistake" that he is blaming himself for. He was also already blaming himself when he and Tory got into their argument about it, so he was defensive about it.

Overall, the whole situation had contexts of Robby's underlying traumas. He drank for the first time to deal with his abandonment/rejection trauma and low self-worth. He took this step, despite his goal not to become like Johnny. This is also likely a type of situation that his mother may have experienced in the past, given what had been shown about her in earlier seasons. He blamed himself for it, although he essentially doesn't even know details about what he's blaming himself for. He just believes it's his fault. Robby being SA'd the first time he drank and got drunk seems to be a dark irony in light of all this.

Another thing that stuck out is that Tory cut Robby off when he tried to explain what had happened with Zara. This was after Cobra Kai had lost, and Robby had approached Tory in the hotel lobby. Robby not being able to tell his side of the story or details of his side of the story being obscured is pretty consistent with his story so far. When it comes to the school fight, for example, Miguel's wrongdoings against Robby have been obscured, and only Robby's wrongdoing in it have been explored and addressed. In s3e2, Robby clearly told Daniel that he had kicked Miguel (which is a true statement), while he also told Daniel that it was a mistake trying to help him because he can't change (which is his exaggerated self-blame; it had been an accident and there is so much context to consider for that fight). This is similar to "I got drunk" (true statement) and "I did something stupid" (exaggerated self-blame; he couldn't consent and barely even knows what happened).

In s3e2, Robby wasn't able to say more to Daniel because the cops had shown up. Robby stopped trusting Daniel, was put into juvie, and their relationship dissolved. Robby also stopped talking about his side of the story. Even when Kreese (s3e5) and Tory (s3e8) showed him empathy about it, Robby didn't respond. He finally talked about it in s4e4 when he tried to defend himself to Johnny, but Johnny dismissed what he said. Then, in s5e5, after the abusive apartment fight, he explained to Miguel what had happened at the end of the school fight, in response to Miguel gaslighting him about the school fight. Miguel's question implied that Robby had had no reason to not hold back that day in school, which shows how entitled and lacking in empathy and self-awareness Miguel is as the person who had attacked Robby brutally that day. (Robby having a "fight" response at the end of the fight was quite natural, given the circumstances.)

Robby has been scapegoated for their school fight and is still being scapegoated for it, as depicted in the college essay scene in s6e2. The SA being written how it was---as SA---and Robby being scapegoated for it is in line with how he has been scapegoated narratively before. Again, I think people view SA on a different level than these other traumas and situations, but it is a type of trauma and it is being treated as his other traumas have been treated. The SA was also perpetrated by a new character, who isn't endeared to fans in general, so she is being more rightfully called out and given less of a benefit of a doubt. Those who defend her or make gross comments about the SA mainly do so because she's a young, hot female.

Wrt the SA, a question remains about how and if Zara would have flaunted it in Tory's face had Tory not seen them. Zara also later taunted Tory about it on Zara's livestream because Tory was standing nearby. (Maybe Zara saw Tory alone and purposely went and stood close by. We don't know.) By this point, Zara is depicted as an opportunist. She had taken advantage of Robby while he was drunk, alone and vulnerable, and she was taking shots at Tory whenever the opportunity arose. Zara SA'd Robby because she'd wanted him. Tory coincidentally finding out had been a bonus for Zara, which she used to piss off Tory more.

In fact, Zara isn't depicted to have any positive personality traits at all. She started a rivalry with Tory because she saw Robby and immediately became interested in him, but noticed that Robby and Tory have something and didn't like that. She got in Tory's face after she noticed people talking about Tory, instead of her, as a badass fighter. Then, she threw having been with Robby in Tory's face because Tory coincidentally saw her kissing Robby. Then, just to piss Tory off, she purposely commented on her livestream that she plays hard all night. Tory snatched her phone and told Zara's followers that Zara doesn't care about her karate sisters and steals their boyfriends. She started losing sponsors so that pissed her off at Tory more. During the brawl, when Tory tried to get to Robby, Zara stopped Tory, said that she's hers, and started beating on her. After Robby threw her off of Tory, she was shocked that he'd choose Tory over her. She then attacked Robby. (This Zara-Tory rivalry is pretty one-sided and doesn't parallel the Tory-Sam rivalry which was already two-sided before Miguel became an issue between them.) 

Zara is depicted as vain, egocentric, envious, entitled, lacking in accountability, violent, and opportunistic. She preys on and assaults guys without a care and flaunts having been with them, and she actually thought that that one night and whatever she did to Robby would make him choose her over Tory, who she knows Robby has a history with. She didn't treat Robby as a person at all, but as something that she is entitled to.

As I mentioned, this isn't the first time that Robby has been subjected to an abuse/assault/trauma that has been obscured with framing and marketing. Robby's story is actually quite dark if the framing and marketing around it is removed. I actually feel that the writers were trying to top the abuses from s5 with the SA, as in what other trauma could they give Robby. As the series has gone on, Robby has experienced the most traumas out of all the kids, almost all of which are not his fault at all or not completely his fault, and are still unaddressed. (Out of all the kids, Robby is also the only one to have gone to juvie, although some of the others should have gone too.) Just like I mentioned above, Robby blames himself for almost all of these traumas, regardless of how much fault he bears... as many trauma victims would. Wrt the SA, Robby is 1000% not at fault for what Zara did to him.

Looking back to s5, consider the Mexico trip in s5e1/2. Johnny subjected Robby to emotional and psychological abuse while Johnny did what he could to find Miguel and told Carmen to stay safely at home. Robby ended up staying to help Johnny after Johnny tried to abandon him again. Now, one could claim that Robby wanted to stay. After all, Robby told Johnny, after saving him, that Johnny's trying to fix things and Robby wants to help. But, as I pointed out after s5, this is a people-pleasing statement. Robby was putting Johnny's needs above his own. Johnny had tried to abandon Robby again after kidnapping him to Mexico under the guise of a father-son trip. Johnny had also psychologically and emotionally manipulated Robby with gaslighting and guilting. Robby also repeated what Johnny had said earlier, that they could make stories together, another emotional manipulation. Robby changed himself to stay with Johnny. Robby even did a chili eating contest to fix one of Johnny's screw ups. And of course that whole trip ended with a big heartfelt "father-son" hug between Johnny and Miguel as Robby watched from the background, a blatant callback to the s1e5 scene that was a trauma trigger for Robby. This time Robby had to swallow his trauma given the situation he was in. The trauma and abuse Robby suffered on this trip was framed and marketed as Johnny needing to find the boy who needed him (Miguel), Robby wanting to stay and help Johnny, and the two of them making stories together. This trauma and abuse are still unaddressed.

There is a follow up though, that shows that Robby wasn't okay with the trip. His conversation with Tory in s5e4 showed that he didn't enjoy the trip and he clearly stated that he and Johnny still have some issues that are too big to solve (Robby looked at Miguel when Robby said this). Those issues have not been solved, but have been tucked away because of the news that came later. In s5e3, Johnny told the opposite to Carmen that he and Robby are good now. s5e4 is the last time that Robby spoke about his issues with Johnny. There have also been NO proper one-on-one scenes or interactions between Johnny and Robby since the Mexico trip. Although many love Johnny and Robby's "father-son bonding" on the trip, the context of that trip shouldn't be ignored (but it is by many). The Mexico trip was never used to establish a foundation for them to start (re)building a relationship. In fact, the trip added to the continued narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experienced more trauma. The trip also set up Robby completely adopting people-pleasing after he would later hear the baby news.

Now, take the apartment fight and baby news in s5e5. Robby had made his boundaries clear to Johnny. Robby didn't want to be Miguel's friend. Robby was also willing to be okay with Johnny's relationship with Miguel. But, Johnny cornered Robby with Miguel and with the psychologically and physically abusive, "Johnny classic"/Cobra Kai solution to "fight it out". Robby noticeably didn't want to fight and hesitated before and after saying yes to the fight, which he only said yes to to posture after Miguel said yes to the fight. Robby, especially, started out fighting hesitantly. Johnny egged them on, and it was after Miguel drew blood that Robby stopped hesitating.

As they fought, the boys ended up on the second floor balcony. Miguel gained the upper hand, and Robby stopped fighting back. Robby looked on in fear but Miguel suddenly stopped fighting, which is stated in the script as "showing mercy"---a callback to how their school fight had ended. The end moments of this fight were juxtaposed with flashbacks of Miguel's side of the school fight, a "tell" that framed Robby as the bad guy/aggressor in that fight. Robby then asked Miguel why he held back, and Miguel gaslit him about not learning karate to hurt people but to be badass and learn balance. This is not completely true. Miguel had just said yes to this fight so that he could hurt Robby with his karate, as Miguel has done a few times before. Also, Cobra Kai, which Miguel had learned first, doesn't teach finding balance. After this statement, Miguel asked Robby why he didn't hold back in school. As I described earlier, this is another gaslighting statement. As Robby explained his actions at the end of the school fight, Robby acknowledged that that was the worst moment of both of their lives. Both of them had also just relived the trauma of the school fight with this apartment fight. Johnny asked if they were good now, and Robby hesitated but then nodded yes. For both fights, Miguel got resolutions completely in his favor and is no longer dealing with repercussions from the fights, while Robby got no resolutions on his side and is still dealing with repercussions. This apartment fight was marketed as a "therapy session" for both boys and the video for it showcased the younger cast minus Tanner (who was filming a movie at the time) watching the middle to end of the fight, the latter of which frames the narrative in Miguel's favor using flashbacks as "tell". Again, Robby's side of the school and apartment fights and his lack of resolutions were obscured in the framing and the marketing.

This abusive and traumatic experience for Robby also ended with tonal shifts, like the SA scene does. Johnny let slip about the baby news. As Johnny and Miguel became excited over it, Robby is visibly shown to be processing the news and only acted overly excited after Johnny pointed to Miguel and said to act that excited. Suddenly, Robby exclaimed that that is awesome, and they all hugged and all was good between them, with a guitar riff score playing. The SA scene also ended with tonal shifts. As the elevator opened, the ominous music that had been playing intensified, shifting the focus of the scene from Robby to Tory. The scene visually focused on Robby as he walked away. Then, Zara spotted Tory, the music shifted once more. This time from ominous to upbeat/playful, and Zara blew Tory a kiss. In both cases, the scenes became about the other characters' feelings and dynamic, while Robby's traumatic experience in both these situations was visually shown, it was dismissed and later framed as him being in the wrong. In s5e8, Robby talked to Kenny about the rivalry as if Robby's hate had been the problem, and once he let that go, all was good. This of course is not true, as Miguel clearly is the one who had started and maintains the rivalry with Robby as Miguel feels entitled to. This is shown again in part 2, with Miguel acting like a jealous ass to Robby until Johnny promised to give Miguel preferential treatment again, compared to Robby. Miguel later gave Robby the pep talk to help them win. In s6e9, Robby took the same approach of putting the blame of what Zara did to him onto himself, despite barely remembering what had happened and Zara clearly remembering. Zara however is the one who is clearly at fault for whatever she did to him. She acted entitled to him and took advantage of him. Her expectation that he choose her over Tory after that night also shows her entitlement.

In s5e5, at dinner after the apartment fight, Robby was now miraculously happy with both Johnny and Miguel. After Carmen came home, Robby kindly asked if he could stay for dinner. After she paused and said yes, Robby cautiously watched her as she walked away. Robby's place in the family is clearly unstable, and this is still indicated in s6, including in s6e8. When Carmen asked about the boys' bruises, Johnny told her that the boys beat each other into submission. This is not true. Miguel had beaten Robby into submission. Johnny's claim is meant to frame the resolution as fair for both boys, just like the marketing attempts to, but this doesn't match what was shown in the actual fight and resolution. s5e5 also added to the continued narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experienced more trauma.

Robby's story has gotten darker as the story has gone on, though the context and tone of his story remain obscured using framing and marketing that minimizes/removes how dark and traumatic these experiences are for Robby. At the same time, Robby still lacks a stable support system and his mental health is shown to be worsening. After s5, many claimed that Robby had found balance. So far, s6 is showing that Robby never found balance. In fact, his mental health has gotten so bad that he eventually chose to drink to cope with his poor mental health, just like Johnny does, although Robby's goal is to not become like Johnny. 

The SA narratively fits as another traumatic experience that Robby has had and that he blames himself for. The SA is framed and marketed as something that only affects Tory. The narrative thread of Johnny's relationship with the Diazs being in opposition to his relationship with Robby, while Robby experiences another trauma also continued. The SA has been dealt with in the narrative and in the marketing the same way as Robby's other traumatic experiences have been. Throughout the story, the writers have been "telling" the audience to ignore all of the abuse and trauma Robby has been "shown" to experience. The SA isn't a unique circumstance. I've said before that this story is full of irony:

"Irony introduces depth, nuance, and multi-layered meaning. Its ability to present contradictions and incongruities between appearance and reality, or between expectation and actuality, demands critical thinking from the audience to uncover the intended deeper significance. Rather than passive acceptance of face value, irony prompts an analysis of context and subtext — engaging viewers or readers in a richer interpretive experience."

If the SA were the only trauma dealt with in this way, I wouldn't be writing this post. But Robby's other traumas have also been dealt with this way. We have been "shown" what Robby has experienced throughout the story, but the "tell" obscures so much of it, and he and the other characters have yet to understand what he's experienced and how it all affects him.

Since part 2 came out, it's been good to see that people have been calling out the SA by calling out the nuances of the scenes involved---body language, dialogue, and context. I've also seen people say that they recognize Robby blaming himself for it as a trauma victim would, and as Robby specifically would. After s5, it was so hard to talk about Robby's abusive/traumatic experiences during the Mexico trip, apartment fight, baby news and the family dinner scenes. People would dismiss all these storytelling nuances that were clearly portrayed as Johnny used and abused Robby to find Miguel and later abused Robby to force his submission into Johnny's new family. Johnny forcing Robby to be friends/family with these people, especially in such a violent way, is a violation of Robby's boundaries. Zara SAing Robby is also a violation of his boundaries. The storytelling nuances have also always been present and ignored by many the whole time as Johnny and Miguel's relationship has been built at Robby's expense, with the persistent layers of Johnny using Miguel to feel better about himself and Miguel feeling entitled to Johnny over Robby and being jealous that Robby is Johnny's son. These nuances and layers are still there in s6, and especially in s6e8. 

After part 2 came out and especially after Hayden's comment, many said that they needed female writers because of how the SA has been handled. But, two women wrote s6e8 and a woman directed it. In fact, the woman who directed it also directed s5e5, which had the apartment fight, baby news, and dinner scenes. That episode has so much nuance that people choose to ignore. I still remember how some people would openly dismiss Robby's body language in those s5e5 scenes that I've described above. I also remember a lot of people claimed after s5 that the writers didn't remember Robby's traumas and mental health issues anymore. Now I'm seeing some of those same people talk about Robby's mental health being the reason he drank. 

Despite many going along with the framing and marketing of Robby's other traumas, it's a relief overall to see that many still hold the view that this is SA and haven't been swayed to believe otherwise. (Although, I have seen that some have shrugged their shoulders and have adopted the view that Robby "cheated" or had "casual sex", which is not supported narratively with "show" but is framed and marketed as such using "tell".)

I really hope that people keep the conversations going in the fandom about the SA, as well as about Robby's other traumas and all of the nuances in his story.

[kyanitedragon]

I'm finally watching The Original Series for the first time (after having watched basically every other Star Trek series) and man is this a fun trip!!

I know all the Trek lore from the other series, but amazingly I've managed to avoid the majority of TOS spoilers. And the few spoilers I do know, I have very little context for them.

And so, with that unique perspective, here are my thoughts:

TOS is equally so similar to and so different from the later series.

The lore, the characters, the set up — it's all the same. It's clear that Gene Roddenberry knew from the get-go what he wanted this series to be.

And yet the series is just so 60's. The dramatic music cues, the dramatic zooms, the over-acting in the fight scenes. Even the starship design looks so foreign to me — so angular and square and with so many buttons.

It's entertainingly frustrating to me how ill-equiped Kirk's enterprise is against inside threats. Kirk doesn't have a main head of security, and he rarely uses security on-board at all. The amount of times that people just waltz out of sickbay when McCoy turns his head, how so many antagonists straight up walk onto the bridge, the amount of times characters enter others' rooms without permission??

Kirk is so casual as a captain and I absolutely adore it. Voyager is my favorite Trek specifically because of how they all become a found family throughout their journey. And TOS has that from the get-go! The very first scene we see is Kirk and McCoy joking around on their mission — clearly old friends.

And it's not just his friends McCoy and Spock, but Kirk is rather casual and lax with his entire crew too. I love TNG and I love Picard but I was never a personal fan of how authoritative and professional he liked his ship.

I like seeing all the likely inspiration from these early episodes. There's so many episodes with mischevious god-like aliens, and I just know they had to be inspiration for Q. Especially Trelane, who literally put Kirk on trial like the very first episode of TNG. So many episodes revolve around computers wanting to achieve "perfection", which likely lead to the Borg. Especially Landru which had a speech that sounded a lot like the Borg.

And Kirk and Spock. Man, where to even begin? Obviously I knew people shipped them, but... Wow.

I'm honestly a little shocked that Trek did go more authoritative in later Treks. Kirk and Spock are just so close. Kirk is so handsy. They banter and joke back and forth all the time. It's so far away from the professionalism of any other on-duty starfleet officer in any Trek. And I absolutely love it.

Kirk and Spock start the show already friends. I had no idea this was the case going in, I thought episode 1 was going to be them meeting for the first time as Captain and Second Officer, the first day of their mission — just like all later Treks do. And I got so excited when I realized they were already best friends.

And I love how, despite already being so close, their relationship just evolves from there. For the first half of season 1, I thought they were cute, sure, and they had some moments, but I didn't see the big deal. But by the second half? Oh. Ohh I understand now. I get it.

And I love the consistancy between episodes. The show isn't serialized, it's episodic, and yet if you pay attention, you can catch little references and connections to previous episodes. Kirk mentioning he has a brother at the start of the season, and one of the last episodes is about his brother dying. Kirk learning that "half-breed" bothers Spock early on, and knowing to use it when he needs to get him angry in the last episodes. Just to name two. And I've poked around the fandom and seen you guys mention so many more little callbacks that I had missed.

Later Treks do a good job giving pretty equal screentime to their large casts. But TOS is so heavily focused on the Kirk, Spock, McCoy trio. It's not a bad thing, I love them together, but it just feels weird to me. Similar to the security thing, it also feels so inefficient and dangerous to have the Captain, Second in Command, and Chief Medical Officer on almost every single away-mission.

McCoy is so interesting to me. Later Treks tend to keep their doctors mostly in sickbay. But McCoy is almost constantly on the bridge just hanging out. It feels weird to have the doctor as a main character, but I had always wanted the doctor characters to have more screentime, so I'm definitely not complaining!!

And on a similar note — Spock is blue. He's the only Second in Command of all the Treks that wears blue and not Command colors. I've been so used to seeing barely any blues among the bridge crew, and now TOS has Spock and Bones both in blue and on the bridge near-constantly. I always wanted to see more Science officers in the main cast, so it makes me really happy to see it.

I've only finished Season 1 of 3, but already I have a feeling it's gonna be competing with Voyager for my favorite Trek series.

[bratphilia]

nsfw alphabet: mike schmidt

note: i am a nsfw alphabet virgin so please be kind ^-^ also the wild card was so self indulgent byeskdj

taglist: @dilfity

a = aftercare

mike checks up on you, during and after sex. he brings you water and anything sweet. will also take a shower or bath with you that sometimes ends in round two.

b = body part

doesn't have one tbh. he's obsessed with your boobs, big or small, he likes to make the peaks harden with his fingers while the other is in his mouth. he loves clutching at your chest when you're riding him and looking at your pair while you suck him off. but he's also an ass man — again — big or small. loves to smack it, grab it, knead it, or finish on it.

c = cum

only comes inside when he's pussy-drunk and forgets to pull out. he doesn't want kids but he'll entertain the idea of coming inside if you have a breeding kink, then he'll just buy you a plan b. again, loves to pull out and come on your chest or ass.

d = dirty secret

wants you to tie him up when he's feeling needy, OR wants you to call him daddy.

e = experience

a lot of mike's experience comes from random occurences, such as high school flings, but since he's been taking care of his sister he hasn't had much of his adult life to explore sex that much. he watched a lot of porn to cope with the sexual frustration and it's hard for him to build relationships with women outside his family. it's complicated.

f = favorite position

LOVES IT WHEN YOU RIDE HIM. he gets to see everything, from your pretty little reactions, the way is cock disappears inside and reappears outside your pussy, and he gets to play with your tits

g = goofy

sometimes he'll laugh at some of the things he says when he's dirty talking to you like he can't believe he just said it. he also sometimes can't keep a straight face if you two are roleplaying. other than that, sex is no laughing matter to him.

h = hair

his hair is as messy as the hair on his head. enough said.

i = intimacy

varies based on the context leading up to sex. sex used to mean a lot more to him meaning he would always make it romantic, passionate love making, but he's getting used to more rough sex and quickies.

j = jack off

his favorite way to get off is either you telling him what you want to do to him, or just masturbating to photos of you, purposefully sexy or not.

k = kink

i've included this in two fics so far and i'll say it again: he has a huge voyeurism kink. he doesn't necessarily want to watch someone else fuck you... but if he did? fuck, it would get him hard. he moreso wants someone to watch you guys.

l = location

bedroom but sometimes he can't just help it!! there's no time for when or how, he'll just have to have you right then and there. this is where he really gets annoying because the public teasing goes crazy with mike.

m = motivation

i kid you not he is literally like a wild cat that goes into heat every now and then. however, if you're wearing something of his (especially the classic big t-shirt + panties combo) he just can't contain himself. he's also very much motivated by his anger and stress.

n = no

would never do something that you guys didn't talk about first. he MIGHT entertain the idea of cnc, but you guys would have to go through every explicit detail of what you want him to do to you.

o = oral

blowjobs are fine. they get him off. but mans is the biggest munch that ever munched. he will literally come in his pants while you're riding his face, no stimulation required.

p = pace

again, depends on the mood and the context leading to sex. if he's in a needy mood, he's practically humping your leg and thrusting in erratically and babbling incoherent words. when he wants to be rougher, he'll push your face into the mattress and just pound into you.

q = quickie

king of quickies. they tend to be the most efficient way to fuck when he's a caretaker at his age.

r = risk

things have to be discussed beforehand, in very explicit detail. he honestly wouldn't know what to do to you otherwise. he just wants to satisfy you!!

s = stamina

he'd honestly just be happy as long as he can give you head and make you orgasm at least twice. that's enough for him.

t = toys

would never personally buy a toy but would use the fuck out of them to tease you with if you had any. but vibrators ONLY. he hates anything being inserted into you that isn't his cock, tongue, or fingers.

u = unfair

loves to tease and edge, but it depends on how much time you have and the situation. if it's out in public, he's teasing you and there's a twenty percent chance he'll actually let you come.

v = volume

has surprisingly trained himself to keep quiet for the sake of his sister, but a whimper escapes him every now and then. he loves to tell you to "shut the fuck up" when you need to be quiet.

w = wild card

if you dated him before and during the events at freddy's, you would be right there with him at his career counselling appointment, where he caught his counselor raking his eyes up and down your body. he decided, intrigued, he wants to try a threesome.

x = x-ray

average but very girthy. maybe about 5 inches?? i don't really see him as a grower.

y = yearning

he literally has two moods: in heat or dom. literally the definition of a switch.

z = zZz

he takes sleeping pills after you guys fuck, but tries to stay awake until you've fallen asleep first.

[littleeyesofpallas]

So I've mentioned before that Hisagi Shuuhei's given name Shuuhei[修兵]: "disciplined soldier" is a homonym with shuuhei[州兵]: lit. "state+soldier" but refers to both the organization and individuals of a "National Guard" and contextually the US National Guard specifically. And I've mentioned how it kinda plays into his characterization in relation to his zanpakutou. But something that maybe isn't as apparent is how he shares a very loose theme with Kensei.

Kensei's got a weird mix of things going on and it always felt to me like part of it kind of pivoted half way thru the series, and really the Visored in general, where he started with a sort of US military theme but got shifted into being more of a Japanese style biker gang leader instead(and how that plays into Mashiro's toku hero gimmick)

Among other things he's got the retroactively named move, BakudanTsuki[爆弾突き]: "bomb thrust" that has a subtle militaristic connotation to it. But then in context it's the same root word for "bomb" used in Bambietta's Schrift The Explode[爆撃]: "bombing(raid)" like in an aerial bombing from a plane.

(The other attack there is just SANDBAG BEAT[サンドバッグ・ビート] which doesn't feel especially thematic, but I guess does kind of evoke him being in something like a more western boxing gym, rather than any kind of japanese or samurai specific aesthetics like you'd expect from Soul Society. And his given name is written as "West(ern) Fist")

And then his zanpakutou, Tachikaze appears to be, at least in my mind, evocative of the Tachikaze class destroyer ship. Although I admit that's largely on the back of my own kind of wild/broad speculation about the Visored more as a group than anything supported by just him specifically.

Shuuhei ka tsuyosou na namae janee ka! Nakuna![修兵が強そうな名前じゃねえか! 泣くな!]: "Shuuhei is a strong looking name isn't it? Don't cry!"

It feels too obvious to need spelling out, but he's not just giving the generic pep talk, he's very specifically pointing out the Shuuhei's name means "Disciplined Soldier" so he should act like one.

I wish I could find it again but I swear there was some transcript of an interview where Kubo more or less reiterated stuff he'd been asked in other similar Q&A but mentioned that he doesn't really design characters with a background in mind, he just draws what feels cool and comes up with a story and personality to match the look. And mroe over that he similarly doesn't design characters with their relationships in mind, he just takes the characters he's already made and imagines which ones look like they'd get along in some way or another. (Among other things this explains why the same women keep showing up in 8th division, not because Nanao and Risa, or even Risa and Kyoraku were ever meant to be meaningfully related but because Kubo just keeps making these women who look the same and ends up pigeonholing them into the same basic network of characters.) Again i can't seem to find this specific Q&A though so take that "factoid" with a grain of salt.

Still it's with that in mind that it feels like Shuuhei and Kensei ended up together. Not because Kensei was ever actually meant to be Shuuhei's childhood hero but because they both had a soldier gimmick and so Kubo's brain filed them into the same general corner together. And it's from that link that he specifically made their meeting in the TBtP arc punctuated with this line about Shuuhei's name.

Also Shuuhei's got his whole motorcycle thing which is weirdly never actually brought up in the context of Kensei's biker thing and his hollow form made to look like car parts; although it's Shuuhei who's only briefly nodded to as the orbital factoid around Jackie's whole gay leather biker daddy themed Dirty Boots. (Very funny that between that and Mashiro's Kamen Rider homage that we have two implicitly motorcycle riding kicky ladies in Bleach. "...two nickles..." and all that...)

[anonymous-dentist]

I think it’s interesting to look at how this villain arc is going already, because people have already started taking things out of context and ignoring any and all subtext going on.

Ex: people saying that q!Cellbit is manipulating q!Roier into still being on his side by saying he’ll get Bobby back.

This is not true. Watch the clip below of their conversation: (let’s see if the clip cooperates this time lol)

If you pay attention, you’ll note that the word “promise” isn’t anywhere in there. Neither is anything like “I am going to get Bobby back” or “I will get Bobby back”. He says that he will try. There’s a big difference between a guarantee and an attempt.

Is this all to say that he isn’t trying to manipulate Roier? Not at all, because this is still manipulative in a way. He’s still out here using Roier’s weak point to get him on his side, but also? He’s been telling Roier that he would try and get Bobby back since the day Bobby died in that dungeon. He tried again in that white room before Cucurucho kicked everybody out. Maybe that’s why this manipulation would’ve worked if it, uh, actually worked.

The thing about q!Roier and q!Cellbit is that they have a… special relationship. We all know about Guapito and Gatinho, but there’s another aspect here, and it’s that they trust each other with almost everything they’ve got, especially on Roier’s end. Cellbit is one of three people on the server who knows about the secret area in Roier’s base (the other two are q!Jaiden and q!Mariana, Roier’s best friends and the only other people he openly trusts), after all, and he’s implied to be the only person that Roier has loved that loves him back. That goes a long way.

And then there’s the matter of Roier saying that he’ll believe in Cellbit because of the parallels here with the ad (which Roier seems to think is the root of the problem here) and with what happened with q!Spreen and q!Quackity months ago. Roier sees the ad and everyone’s reactions to the ad/Cellbit’s investigations into the ad as Cellbit does, as a betrayal. He empathizes with him because he went through what Cellbit is currently going through.

Most importantly, we know that the manipulation didn’t work because Roier isn’t on Cellbit’s side. He isn’t on anybody’s side, actually! He said as much in his stream last night.

He will be Cellbit’s legal counsel for the upcoming custody hearing, but it won’t be because of the whole manipulation thing. It’s because this is Cellbit we’re talking about here.

(Pardon the translation here, but it basically means “He says he wants to support Bobby, and I support him in everything. Even if he can’t do it, I’ll support him then, too.”)

And you see this behavior all night. He’s the only guy defending Cellbit during the Order’s meeting, he says that their first priority should be “saving” Cellbit rather than destroying the Federation, he says that Cellbit might just be sad and lonely, he tells Maximus to take the ad down, and he doesn’t do any of this because Cellbit asked him to or because he’s on his side or anything. He acknowledges that the custody trial is fucked up and he seems genuinely sad hearing that Cellbit is ditching all his friends here. Roier does all of this because he cares for Cellbit as a person, which is something that I’m not sure Cellbit himself realizes.

TLDR: q!Cellbit didn’t manipulate q!Roier by saying he’ll get Bobby back, he manipulated Roier by saying he’ll try and get Bobby back. It didn’t work either way because Roier is a Good Friend.

[the-crimson]

Why does it feel like we in the q!bbh fandom are constantly defending q!bbh from people who hate his character for no reason.

I say no reason because a majority of the time people make things up whole sale to get mad about or take the smallest action completely out of context to get mad about it. There are legitimate things about q!bbh that I can see turning people off from his character but those things are almost never part of the discourse.

It’s always: q!bbh doesn’t care about the eggs, q!bbh is the most evil person on the island and should be killed repeatedly, he and Leo have no relationship and she would dislike him, Dapper’s deserves a father that actually cares for him, etc etc etc

It’s honestly exhausting because all of these things are blatantly untrue and I have no idea how anyone could come to these conclusions even if they never watch a second of bbh. Q!bbb is the sole reasons no egg has died of neglect since Trump. Q!bbh is the sole reason many of the eggs have maxed out armor, auto feed set up so they are always at max health, and an XP backpack with hundreds of XP. Q!bbh is constantly going out of his way to help others the moment they ask regardless of his own plans.

There is a REASON q!bbh is the only character on quesadilla island with access to every egg’s safe room in and out of the Ninho. Q!bbh is the only character on the server who has an actual relationship with every single egg that goes beyond acquaintances. Ramon is Dapper’s bff and constantly hangs out with bbh and Dapper. Bbh has done Leo’s tasks more times than I can count and her last words before being kidnapped were “I love you”. Bbh has taken care of Tallulah and Chayanne too many time to count. It was only after talking to bbh about how she feels guilty about feeling like Philza is more her father than Wilbur that Tallulah asked Philza to adopt her. Pomme is literally his daughter. Richas has spent countless nights hanging out with bbh and Dapper (and Pomme) after his parents logged off. Bbh would literally burn the world for Dapper in a heart beat.

When bbh learned no other egg made it off the island in purgatory, he spent the last 15 minutes of his stream muted because he was crying irl. Q!bbh was literally killing himself after the eggs were kidnapped and is basically a walking corpse rn with a gapping hole in his head that’s been there for two months. He’s been having memory problems for over a month - this development with his short term memory loss is a natural progression of his preexisting condition!

PEOPLE PLEASE criticize his character for things he actually does. You don’t have to like every character - q!bbh is an annoying little menace! But don’t make shit up to get mad about I’m begging.

If you don’t like a character, then ignore them. There are several character on the qsmp that I absolutely despise and get annoyed when every they show up on stream but I doubt anyone following me could tell me which characters those are because I never talk about it! Especially not in the main tag! I think through purgatory - when my frustration was at its highest - I mentioned one of these characters once in the tags of a reblog.

Tldr: if you don’t like a character, ignore them. Don’t make shit up about them to get mad at. You’re just making urself look like an idiot and an asshole.

[tubborucho]

Yeah, I am pretty sure he thought of it as a light-hearted way to explain Sunny why Tallulah is moody. Doesn’t change the fact that it was a fucked up thing to say and genuinely hurtful for a literal toddler.

This and your point about people not being able to let go of the whole Dadza thing are two of my biggest problems with q!Phil. I know it's not cc!Phil's fault how people treat him but the way people overhype his parenting does make it more irritating as a viewer. It's not just fans, though, most characters seem to share this view of him as an amazing Dad. The fact that he stepped up for Tallulah when Wilbur left is great and the effort he puts in is great, but his parenting skills are just okay.

It feels like every time he talks to or about Sunny he ends up doing something bad that's brushed off because "that's just how Phil talks" or "he's just protecting his kids".

His reaction to Sunny's train was awful. I know he has a banter-y relationship with Tubbo but he was criticizing her father and her own choices right in front of her. It felt like he didn't even absorb any of what Tubbo was telling him. Like, why did he keep complaining about it feeling sterile when it was a brand new build and Sunny chose the white blocks themself?

The morality test about stealing the panda was completely unacceptable. Genuinely horrible thing to do to a child especially when he told her point blank at the end that it was a test that she managed to pass. Why would she trust someone who might be secretly testing her?

The talk in the museum was bad for both Sunny and Tallulah. Tallulah isn't "in a mood," she has genuine concerns but has still been making an effort with Sunny even while trying to maintain some distance. For Sunny he was playing up a very real insecurity to make a point. It's not really fair to Tubbo either, his game was having issues and he left his daughter with two of the people he trusts the most. I went to watch from the vod for slightly more context and chat reactions and Phil did not waste any time at all. The moment Tubbo was gone he rolled straight into it with Sunny.

There was also a point a few days ago where Tallulah showed some discomfort over Empanada and Phil responded with this:

Empanada’s nice, you like Empanada. You like Em. It’s Sunny you’re not a fan of. Sunny’s just all in your face with money and sunglasses and shit. But, like, Sunny’s fine too. Sunny’s just a bit much though. Sunny takes a while to get used to.

Sunny was not around for this but it's still a terrible way to talk about a child. They weren't even the egg Tallulah was concerned about at the time. And I do believe that q!Phil wasn't trying to be mean here but he still was. He is consistently unkind to Sunny even when he's trying to make a good point or a joking.

Wait, is the last thing a genuine quote? Because I haven’t heard this one before.

And yeah. Listen, Phil is a good parent. He takes care of Chayanne and Tallulah very well. He is a good parent, but it doesn’t mean that he is good that way for every other child ever. I think people forget that Dad figures in stories don’t mean that they are perfect in every adult-child relationship ever.

He is a great dad for Chay and Lullah. He is genuinely very condescending towards Sunny. It’s like every time they interact he just refuses to even try to see past his initial impression of them. Phil wrote her down for no reason as a shallow and tolerable at best kid in his books, and acts on that judgement in a way that he doesn’t care about her in any way past their basic safety and sometimes teaching them stuff if they need it immediately.

The only reason he pays Sunny any mind at all is that he cares for Tubbo. Also not in a parental way that people (and Tubbo lmao) seem to try and picture it as, but he cares. Sunny is just a tag along.

And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that he should love her like his own or even really like her. It’s fine. I am saying that he still should treat her with the same grace as other kids that are not his – she is a child, you are speaking of and with a child, being mean about and to them is not okay. Especially because this child did literally nothing wrong.

[mikuni14]

We Are - Ep 6, Only Boo - Ep 5

Perhaps because of I Cannot Reach You, which I watched on Saturday, my view of We Are and Only Because this week was more harsh and less forgiving than usual 😭

We Are My biggest problem with We Are is that this show has no substance when it comes to romance. NONE. Seriously, it's more "meaty" on friendships than romance 😄 EVEN if a couple falls in love with each other at first sight, even if the couple starts their relationship with strong attraction and sex, for the romance to be interesting and engaging, we as viewers must observe some development, progress in the relationship. This is some form of journey for lovers and we accompany them in it. We Are, with the exception of Q and Toey, doesn't show relationship development at all. Tan and Fang have had about 3 scenes together so far, involving giving each other snacks and one scene of helping with a project. We know NOTHING about Fang. And suddenly in this episode, Tan proposes dating and Fang accepts. Where did this come from? Since when has Fang been in love with Tan? Is he in love with him? Their relationship… like what? Where?? When???? I have no idea what's going on with Chain and Pun (will they even be a couple?), especially since Pun suddenly has a great relationship and better chemistry with Mick. Regarding Phum and Peem: I just can't stand the way Phum behaves towards Peem, it's FUTS all over again, i.e. a rich and handsome but dumb guy doesn't know how to talk to his crush and comes up with complicated plans that always somehow humiliate said crush. The way Peem was waiting for him at the pool in this episode, AGAIN, while Phum was gaming with his friends… it pissed me off so much! And this "being a slave" is still treated so… normally and it is shown as something funny and romantic, as if Peem had no sense of self-worth and it was still a form of "fun" for him, and when he screws up and Phum is still nice (as in the food scene), then it is something positive for him. Well, unfortunately this is not my kind of romance, there is NOTHING cool or romantic about it for me and in real life Phum and Peem would not have a chance to be together. Their romance is ENTIRELY based on the oldest tropes, i.e. falling on each other and suddenly being close. Normally I love this closeness, when the characters are lost in each other's eyes and the sudden closeness makes them feel dizzy 👌 But this is literally the basis of their relationship, not one of the many things that make up romance. My beloved @miss0atae described the character of Phum in a very interesting way in this post and I also have the same thoughts. But the series completely screwed up on this matter because this thought occurred to me after his one sentence at the end of episode 5, because Phum simply acts like an ordinary asshole, his behavior was devoid of nuance and context so far. And that's the problem with We Are: this show has potential and, most importantly, it has the TIME to delve into each of its characters, including showing Phum as someone who is lonely and has trouble establishing romantic relationships, which is why he behaves stupid (for which he should face consequences). How unfair it is that Gray Shelter had material for a full season and crammed it into 5 short episodes, and We Are has SO MUCH TIME and can't use it. How much more interesting would the relationship between Phum and Peem be if they met under bad circumstances that would make them dislike each other, but also if they felt attracted to each other due to their expressive and strong personalities, all laced with the fact that they are both young, hot and each other's type 😉 I would love to watch their relationship in which they both mature, discover new feelings and needs, in which their prejudices are tested, in which they make mistakes and apologize, thanks to which they develop. How much more this kiss would feel deserved, long-awaited, important.

Only Boo I love Moo, I love Kang, I don't like forcing feelings on someone, I don't like putting pressure on someone, I hate love serenades, and I HATE love triangles. I know, I know, the series is silly and fun, and not that deep 🤡 I'm just being grumpy.

But maybe it's actually I Cannot Reach You's fault. I should take a 2-week break from watching BL series after every 10/10 drama lol

[bugflies00]

I continue to wonder since you said fostering au wilbur continues to be entirely in denial and Not Realizing for some time after he and quackity re-meet how exactly DOES the Feelings Realization TM go down qcihdtiwdzgd

OOOH well its very gradual and very much a disaster because. well. its him .

i think i said they remeet when theyre around 22-23, and at the time wilbur was in a really bad relationship that he only breaks off two or so years later. his girlfriend was very controlling and always bringing him down and making comments about him, his appearance, his interests, what he ate, etc. so needless to say wilburs already absolute dogshit self esteem is so further down the gutter it’s actually Wow look it pierced a hole into the ground from how far down it is.

this is important context because it’s part of why he takes soooo long to realise his feelings, he’s just so deeply entrenched in trying to make his girlfriend happy and love him and to appease everyone that he doesn’t realise. its what i call his “ghostbur” era - none of this stuff is actually strictly based on the bursonas, but i find he does follow a similar pattern of evolution, and at that point in his life he’s trying to be the biggest people pleaser possible after realising that being the unapproachable loner he was in high school would only leave him alone (also bc his abandonment issues got worse after sally left). his new relationship makes that worse also.

in the beginning him and q are just sort of awkwardly tiptoeing around each other considering they last left each other with a bajillion things unsaid and they are extremely determined on keeping said things unsaid. they start to grow back into friends, albeit more normal friends than the absolute mess of a situationship/frenemies they were in high school. theyre still themselves meaning they can’t go a second without aggravating each other, but its definitely friendlier.

and as time goes by some of their joke flirting gets a tad bit too real sometimes- quackity will make a joke and stare at him a moment too long, or wilbur will stutter out of nowhere, etc.

but wilbur still has a girlfriend!!! so as usual he shoves his head in the sand and he takes melatonin so at night he falls asleep instantly without having the time to yearn or reflect lmao. (for the record i do not condone this if your feelings change communicate that with your partner etc)

time progresses, every stranger they meet think theyre either married, sworn enemies, or fucking each other. meanwhile wilburs relationship grows worse and worse, he’s fallen deep into an eating disorder (while he was already struggling with bad eating habits pretty much his whole life it gets much worse then), hes struggling with self harm a lot, and its just not a great time. his friends keep trying to convince him to break things off, especially tommy who, since he lives with them, has seen a lot of shit and absolutely despises wilbur’s girlfriend’s guts and makes this very well known.

eventually they do break up (its a longer story than that but it would require its own post) and wilbur falls deep into a depressive episode. it makes him doubt for so long if he did the right thing, if he just should’ve sucked it up and taken whatever scraps of love he was given, but in reality the depressive episode had been a LONG time coming its just his brain was in survival mode. he never felt safe enough with her, so subconsciously his brain only allowed falling into depression again once it was safe to do so.

and so my point is that with all these things happening he’s absolutely nowhere near ready to accept his feelings. meanwhile q is pining hard - that man is going through it LMAO trying to support his friend (they still pretend to be frenemies) whilst shoving down his own shit. he’s one of the few people wilbur feels safe with (even though theyve gotten into fistfights and q has sincerely threatened his life on several occasions), mainly because, in a way, q knew him at his worst (high school) and still came back. so he has more trust in him than some of his other friends because hes convinced he’s manipulated them into thinking hes better than he is.

anyway q is planning this trip for an internship he’s doing for his law degree, and he has to leave for a month or two. wilburs 25th birthday rolls around, and he knows q wont be able to be there. he’s already still feeling shitty, not really entirely out of that depressive episode, and he’s ready to just have a lame birthday and go back to rotting in his bed.

and then (this is so cliché LET ME LIVE) theyre about to do the cake whatever and tommy yells announces they have a surprise and he turns around and wham! quackity standing there looking downright exhausted, with his suitcases around him and the airplane neck pillow still around his neck (he came straight from the airport). wilbur runs to hug him and, to me, that moment is the kickstarter that forces him to start actually realising whats happening.

first off because theyre not exactly huggers but that one was so spontaenous and it felt so right!! second because hes already sad and a bit emotionally volatile and the fact that q cared enough to rush and try his best to make it to his birthday moves him a whole lot. and finally because well yeah he’s madly in love with him but the only thing he says is to ask whether the eyebags q got from jetlag are a fashion statement in europe or if hes just reaching for the raccoon look.

theres definitely more moments after that (they take a LOOONG time to get together. and so much pining. its so bad) but i just think that moment is really sweet and also i love how their relationship progresses over time

[eretzyisrael]

Exiled prince:’Jews are part and parcel of Iran’s future’

Iranian Jews may still contribute to a post-Islamic revolutionary Iran, even if they don’t live there, says  the exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah. Wide-ranging interview by Karmel Melamed in JNS News:

Journalist Karmel Melamed interviewing Prince Reza Pahlavi

Q: When you visited Israel last year, you interacted with many Iranians in the country who welcomed you warmly. What surprised you the most about the Iranian community in Israel, and how did their interactions with you, which Persian-language news media broadcast, impact perceptions of Iranians worldwide about Israel?

A: First of all, I wasn’t surprised, because I knew of that sentiment from the very beginning. The Iranian Jewish community in Israel, compared to peers elsewhere, has from the very beginning been the most vocal that we had to flee the country but has remained Iranian, attached to the motherland.

This was not a surprise to me. I knew it from the very beginning. This sentiment is present today more than ever.

I’ll tell you what was more of a surprise to me. On the last day before I returned to Europe, I was strolling on the beach in Tel Aviv in front of the shoreline, and average Israeli citizens would walk up to me excited, knowing full well why I was there. They said how hopeful they were that we can have this relationship again between our two countries. That was an element that I didn’t expect—that level of enthusiasm and interest.

Q: For more than four decades, Iran’s once-sizable Jewish community has nearly completely fled Iran for its safety and due to the persecution it experienced at the hands of the Islamic Republic ruling Iran. What sort of future do you foresee for these Iranian Jews—who live primarily stateside and in Israel and who have achieved significant success there—after the regime is no longer in power? What roles might they have in helping to rebuild Iran?

A: It’s no secret that many of the people in Iran who brought in factories, industry and investments to help the country modernize were Iranian Jews.

Of course, they are part and parcel of Iran’s future. I’d like to stress one point. When Hitler was mounting his war and carrying out the events of the Holocaust, I wonder how history took a change.

The attack on Pearl Harbor propelled America to engage in the Second World War. Until then, it didn’t want to have anything to do with it, knowing what Hitler was doing to the Jews. Even before the war, in Iran, we were harboring Jews and protecting them and we did so especially when the war started.

We had Iranian diplomats in Europe like Abdol Hossein Sardari, who helped get visas to Jews in France. Iran was a country—dare I say the only country in the Middle East—that actually gave refuge and asylum to fleeing Jews.

I think Iranians do embrace that. Iran was a country that was once respected in the world. Iranians were one of the few peoples who would travel to many countries without visas. The Iranian passport had value. They were respected.

Today, they’ve been humiliated and painted as terrorists.

All that context of course includes Iranian Jews rebuilding the nation. It goes without saying. It’s obvious.

There were those that had to but didn’t want to leave Iran who were murdered by the regime. It forced an exodus and exile. Many would have preferred to stay, but how could they do so under such a level of immediate discrimination?

They don’t necessarily have to return physically, but they can contribute to Iran in a hell of a lot of ways. They still have that attachment and can still find that role.

At the end of the day, history will not repeat itself if we do not forget what happened before. Today’s new generation of young Iranians needs to understand a little bit of what contributed to that development in the past. It was not imposed on them, but Iranians participated in it voluntarily.

Imagine how much more can be done in Iran once the atmosphere is opened, outside of all of these discriminations, and everybody has equal opportunities to contribute and what a bright future we could have. That’s the message we should spread around the world far beyond whether we are Jewish, Bahá’í or Muslim, or whatever ethnicity or whatever political thinking. The country can in fact help itself.

Read article in full

[bakery-anon]

BUG!!!! HAPPY SELF SHIP TUESDAY MY LOVE I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GOOD DAY!!! AA I'M SO HAPPY TO DO THESE WITH YOU AND I'M SO EXCITED TO ANSWER YOURS!! I HOPE NO ONE'S ANSWERED THESE YET!! HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU <33333

pre 2 & 7

love 18 & 20!!!

domestic 8 & 14

wedding 2 <3

silly 6!!!!

ILY ILY ILY PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!! <3333

NESS!!! HAPPY SELF-SHIP TUESDAY!!!! I HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD DAY TOO MY DARLING!!! <333 THE ONLY BUGMU THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY ANSWERED IS NUMBER 6 </3

self-ship questions <3

Pre-relationship: 2. Were you flirty before getting together?

You guys have seen how I act with you and how I act with Q…take a moment and think about the question /lh <3

I was extremely flirty, like more so than usual. One of my favorite pick up lines to use because it usually at the very least makes the other person smile is “I just put on some skittles chapstick, kiss me if you want to taste the rainbow.” Context for how this came up: I forced him to go to the park with me because I wanted to try and go mushroom hunting, unfortunately my shoes were newer so I had to stop because I was getting terrible blisters :(

Osamu all but carried me to the gazebo so I could sit down (look who’s prepared, it’s me and my mini first aid kit in my bag). So after putting bandaids on my heels he sat down next to me and I just kind of leaned against him. I had a silly idea so I pull out my skittles chapstick (yes this is real, yes I have an entire collection of chapstick flavors) and I put some on and then turn to him and say the line. He burst out laughing and it was that one smile that makes me go 🥰🥰🥰 and then he shook his head and went “Bet you won’t.”

No we did not kiss that day </3 he did kiss my forehead when he dropped me off at my apartment though so a win is a win 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Pre-relationship: 7. Were you two obvious about being in love? Did your friends try to tell you?

One thing about me is…I can’t be subtle about anything. Like, genuinely it’s so obvious when I like someone. I would find every excuse in the book to try and hold his hand and I really should have known that he liked me because every time we held hands he would bring them up to his lips and kiss the back of my hand :(((

Moral of the story, yes. We were so obvious. We’re just hopeless romantics.

I know for a fact Atsumu tried to tell me. Anytime Osamu would get on his nerves he would smile and go “Bug, wanna hear somethin’ funny?” The GLARE THAT OSAMU GAVE HIM OMG.

And Ave (ily Ave <3) tried to tell me I was being stupid. Because for as much of a hopeless romantic as I am I don’t like telling people when I have crushes </3 it was especially bad since we had classes together that we were partners in 😭😭😭

In Love: 18. Favorite romantic thing they’ve said to you?

Ooo. Okay, so he’s a sap. I think we’ve all established this <3333 but I think this would have to be from the night before he asked me out. He took me home and when he was dropping me off made a joke and then he stopped and smiled at me. I was really confused so I asked him like ???

AND HE GOES. “You have a really pretty smile. I like your little fangs.” And I’m like really insecure about my smile and my teeth so I don’t usually smile where you can see my teeth </3 but that just made it so clear to me that YUP. I WANT HIM.

In Love: 20. Favorite romantic thing you’ve said to them?

So- I was maybe a bit sleep deprived when this event took place. Maybe just a bit (def not running off of pure spite because I stayed up all night studying and doing hw…I would never do that). I hadn’t seen him all day so I wanted to see him :( so I forced him to come over and we went up to the roof and watched the stars. I think this was about a month or so into dating.

I brought all the blankets and I forced him to carry the pillows and snacks. I’m not sure how long we stayed looking at the stars but I remembered a quote I really liked and while he was trying to look at the stars I grabbed his hand and went “Apparently we’re made of stardust.” And he kind of paused but let me continue. “They say soulmates are made from the same stardust, and I would like to think we were. That we’re made from the same star.” And then I proceeded to fall asleep </3

Domestic: 8. Something that makes you look at them and go “I love you.”

Omg. It’s gonna have to be when I have a day off or it’s lunch and I go to visit him at Onigiri Miya. Esp during lunch rush. I can see him from the counter working in the kitchen and he always has a small smile on his face no matter how swamped it gets. And seeing him be so happy doing something he loves just makes me love him more you know? Like, that’s my partner. And they’re happy so I’m happy <3 :)

Domestic: 14. Bedtime routine

So by the time we get home we’re tired. It’s been a long day of cooking and standing and it’s exhausting. So we have a mandatory 1 hr nap when we get home. Where we don’t say anything and we just lay down and hold each other.

Osamu will usually be the one to cook and doesn’t want me to do anything (🙄) but sometimes if he’s really tired I’ll cook by myself or help him. He usually just tells me to make dessert because he knows that it calms me down <333 :(((

I make him do skin care with me bcs I refuse to be the only one who does it. Once he got used to it he started doing it for me when I’m too tired to get up from bed. I’ll make myself a cup of tea an hour before bed and we’ll sit in silence on the couch as I read and he talks either his friends. Once that hour is up though we’ll go to bed. :)

Wedding: 2. Who stutters through their vows and who calms them down?

I know I’ve said this somewhere and I think it was for Molly’s self-ship stuff lol. But it is me. I AM THE STUTTERER.

I hate public speaking and it just makes everything so much worse when it’s all of my friends and family and it’s a really important moment. And I was really anxious. :( but he just rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand and squeezed it three times and I was much better.

Silly: 6. Snowball Fight! Who’s winning? How did it start?

Find it here <3

Ness, I don’t know if it’s a you thing or the prompts you picked out but omg. I YAPPED. Like maybe it’s just because you give off such like <3 comforting warm energy that I can’t stop myself from yapping. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the Bugmu lore and I can’t wait to see your self-ship stuff and fawn over Suness <333

ILY ILY ILYM NESS <333 TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TOO!!! EAT FOOD AND DRINK WATER!!! ALSO REST WHEN YOU NEED TO <3333

[somerandomcryptid]

Techno and Phil are here yipeeeee!

(This is two tiny comics not one big one)

Ok so context/lore drop:

Techno and Cryptid at first run into each other by absolute pure chance

The whole; Cryptid's wearing Tommy's clothes at the time is also a coincidence. And I guess for fun I'll leave that a mystery for now :3 their friendship is important to the plot, like hella important but I'll cover that when I finally draw them together

When they meet Cryptid's heard enough about Techno to recognize him, but they're honestly surprised with how chill he is, given most of the things they know about him are from Quackity's angry rants about anything and everything

But he's chill, and they both basically immediately realize they just vibe with each other

They have many of the same ideals even if their methods are very different , but they can agree to disagree, also on Cryptid's side, Quackity absolutely hates Techno so befriending him is absolutely a way to say "fuck you" to Q

And yeah, once Techno introduces Cryptid to Phil, they pretty quickly gain another bonus dad (I swear this little guy has so many dads, if you don't count Sam(which is.... complicated and weird but sam does kind of view Cryptid as his kid, sort of, like I said, it's weird) than they've still collected 3 at this point(not including their bio-dad since he's currently out of the picture))

Anyway, beyond that, Techno and Phil can tell there is something off about Cryptid, they never ask them about it, but their chats actually know about them being from another world, and tell Tech and Phil about it

So yeah, they know, and they sudtly hint, but they don't out right admit they know till.... well... That might be a bit too much spoilers so go wild with your imagination for now

But yeah, overall they have all have a pretty good relationship!

And especially Techno is one of if not Cryptid's favorite person

Techno, like Punz, doesn't treat them like a child very much, (he's more responsible about it than Punz though) , even if he teases them about it sometimes, Techno's just their friend without him underestimating them/being actually condescending ever

And on his side, Techno genuinely likes Cryptid's company, and they agree on a lot of things so much that he invited them to the syndicate after a bit of knowing them

Yeah their good friends :)

He's also the one to finally give them some damn battle training

I think that's about it for the stuff I can think of right now but I like them, they are friends <3333

(obligated Dreaming of Death is an au of the fic PenPal by @calamari-minecraft-corner, though literally all of this is just my own thoughts, but context ya know?)

[ao3gobi17]

What do you think your custody au quaritch thinks about Jeanniebug's weaving the web spider and quaritch respectively?

How would he feel about cyren myadd's quaritch or spider? Like his thoughts and opinions on them if they were to ever meet?

I see Cyren has replied to this - so I'm looking forward to reading the answer - esp if you've sent it to all 3 of us!

So I hadn't read Weaving the web until recently - I am actually still reading it as we speak! There's a chance I may not know something super relevant, but at the point I'm at, there's three different Spider personalities. My plan is to finish it soon.

I do actually really like the idea of some kind of Spider multiverse collab, though I don't know if its actually practical or possible.

I think Custody-Quaritch is going to gravitate towards collecting Spiders at the first sign of trouble from any of the Quaritches. My impression so far on WTW-Quaritch is that he's trying to do his best by Spider (minus letting the interrogator thing happen twice - as far as he knew - before stopping it), so I don't think Custody-Q would have a huge issue with him if he met mid-fic. He might later on if he found out about the interrogations. In contrast he'd have an issue a mile wide with BITTW-Quaritch from the get-go. The Spiders he would intellectually understand aren't his Spider, but he'd probably view them as an extension of his Spider and therefore under his remit and he'd struggle to leave them be if he couldn't build a good relationship with his counterpart.

In terms of the Spider personalities.. in some ways it doesn't matter to Custody-Q, his kid is his kid and he can try to fix things once he has him safe.

But he would be alarmed for sure by the multiple personalities on WTW-Spider and would want him in therapy asap, getting the best medical care. He'd be very precaution-heavy with 'Miles' but he'd try to foster a bond with him and adapt his approach regardless. 'Spider' and 'MJ' I think would be much easier for Custody-Q to manage and depending on context I think he'd really struggle with wanting 'Spider' to front and ultimately win out as the main personality because he's the original, and getting a bit of a catch up feel with MJ on the childhood moments he missed with his own Spider. But ultimately he'd know the MJ part wasn't healthy, so I do think he'd try to get 'Spider' back wholly.

BITTW Spider is more impulsive than Custody Spider and he probably yearns even more for love than Custody Spider does, so I think Custody-Quaritch would take to him very easily, especially if there's no 'did you kill my mom' thing hanging between them! <3

[goobie-goo]

recent reblog: tell about q!slime 👀 (i havent watched qsmp but i know crumbs)

HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA yippee!! im very bad at character analysis and articulating my words but its ok i got this

1. feelings: ohhhhhhhh my god. he literally has been my favorite character of all time for the past year or so? i cant get him out of my brain 😭 i think hes such an incredibly tragic character that deserved so much better than the shitty hand he was dealt :( i feel ill about this freaking guy.

2. romantic pairings: main romantic ship is definitely him and mariana! at first they were the definition of a toxic, loveless marriage (still pretty much are LMAO) but i think, especially after their conversation in purgatory, they were genuinely really good together. like, them joking around and being really sweet was so, like, augghhhh 😭😭😭 but like. the toxic marriage was so fucking funny to watch 😭 i laughed so hard i started crying during the trial of juanaflippa LMAOO

2.5: another romantic pairing is him and cellbit because. dude. their conversation during the dia de los muertos stream was SOOOOOOOOOOO omg. it lives in my head rent free 😭 i think they would only serve to make each other SO MUCH WORSE and i am here for it (yeah cellbit is married but like. slime had a mega crush on that man theres no denying it, and me personally i think their relationship (romantic or not) is SOOOOOO fascinating, especially during slime’s code arc)

3. non-romantic otp: slime and baghera!!!!!! they are the definition of friendship soulmates to me LMAO. baghera trying so hard to be there for him even when NO ONE ELSE WAS and the infection was getting so bad……. ough……! but also, their funny moments are EVERYTHINGGGG to me. the fish joke and the karaoke and all their silly little conversations… gah…….. AND PURGATORYYYYY!!! i cant articulate thoughts about them beyond OOOOGH🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍 (platonic)

4. unpopular opinion: idk how unpopular this is but like. i wish purgatory never happened 😭 like it was SO MUCH FUN while it lasted, but the overall impact it had, especially on qslime, was DEFINITELY not worth it lmao. like, it completely shoved all of his lore and buildup out of the way in favor of the event, and then????? he wasnt ever told to log back on???????? (context xi: the admins on the qsmp handled a lot of lore for the players, and slime’s lore really started to pick up just before the purgatory event. when the event was over, multiple players were told to not log on for “lore”, but slime and one other guy (pol) were never let back onto the server 😭 like, they straight up forgot about him even though he was SUPPOSED to have made it out of purgatory) i dont really have much more to that. bolas was fun, wasnt worth my cubito never getting anymore lore tho

5. something i wish happened: i wish we got an ending… or closure……… or something………

because!!!!! like!!!!!!! his story was going SO WELL (in a pacing and interest sense, the character was SUFFERING lmao) and it was really coming together!!! the pacing and buildup were AMAZING and it really looked like it was going to reach its peak after purgatory!! but, alas. he was forgotten. and so was his lore. because we NEVER saw codeflippa again. or him. or his code infection. and im never going to be over it.

i really need to go back and rewatch the streams to brush up on my qslime brain but. yeah!! thank you for indulging me :333 (if any of this was confusing or smth lemme know and i can clear it up!!)

[grayseeker]

Supernova: A Starscream Tribute Zine

Your Questions Answered!

Welcome to a special Q&A session about my upcoming zine Supernova, dedicated entirely to Starscream! I've gathered some of your questions—and added a few that I think you might be curious about—to help everyone understand the vision and how you can contribute. These answers are subject to change as the project evolves, but I'll release a definitive FAQ in June, along with the call for submissions.

Questions and Answers:

Q: What inspired you to create a zine focused on Starscream? A: Starscream is the beating spark of my love for Transformers. He swooped into my life in '85 and took up residence, capturing both my heart and my imagination. Supernova is my way to extend that love to a wider community, inviting others to bring their own Starscream-fueled perspectives, experiences and creativity in what I hope will become a collective love-letter to this amazing character.

Q: Will you be accepting submissions based on [insert continuity]? A: Absolutely! I'm primarily a G1 fan myself, but the zine is open to all continuities, including alternate universe settings. Since I'm admittedly not versed in every TF continuity, I plan to bring in editorial support as needed to help fill any knowledge gaps. Ultimately though, the canon a work is based on is less important than how it's written. I'm looking for thoughtful, well-rounded characterizations that celebrate Starscream's strengths without ignoring his flaws.

Q: Are there specific themes or storylines you’re looking for? A: Yes! My long-term vision is for Supernova to run for several issues, each focusing on a different theme. One of my goals is to encourage works that are slightly off the beaten path, offering character explorations not often seen in fanfic (or, let's face it, especially not in canon). For the first issue, my proposed theme is friendship - and other non-romantic bonds. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy romance as much as the next person, but for this issue of Supernova I'd love to see works that explore Starscream in other relationship contexts. What's he like as a friend, or a frenemy? An ally? A parent, sparkling, sibling, or trinemate? As a commander, subordinate, mentor or mentee? The focus here is on how these relationships impact his life, and how he impacts the lives of others, for better and worse.

Q: Do I have to follow this theme? A: No, you do not. If you have an idea that falls outside the theme, go for it! Be forewarned, I might give preference to submissions that do follow the theme if there are a lot of submissions and I have to make tough choices. However, the plan for now is to put out other issues, with other themes, so if your piece doesn't make it into this issue, it might very well become a cornerstone for the next one.

Q: What kinds of works are you looking for? A: I'm looking for poetry, art, comics, short fiction (probably 6k or less), as well as non-fiction essays, character analysis, headcanons, and so on. I will have more specific submission guidelines available in June.

Q: What is the deadline for submissions? A: This is currently undecided. I'm thinking of setting the submission deadline in early November, though a firm deadline will be announced along with the submission guidelines.

Q: Will NSFW submissions be allowed? A: Yes. The theme might be friendship and non-romantic bonds, but that doesn't exclude a friends-with-benefits arrangement. If I do get NSFW submissions, I'll publish two editions of the zine: one that's SFW only, and an extended version that includes the NSFW content so readers can pick according to their preference.

Q: Will this zine be published physically? A: I hope so! I'm looking into options for print publication. Ideally, I'd like to find a print-on-demand service that allows fanfiction, so that anyone who wants a copy of the zine can have it printed and shipped to them wherever they are in the world. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if most print-on-demand services allow fanfic. If you know of one that does, please drop me a DM and I'll look into it.

Q: I didn’t see my question here. How can I reach out? A: Feel free to DM me with questions! Apologies that I don't take anonymous asks, but I can keep your question anonymous when I post my reply.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and curiosity about Supernova. I'm excited to see how you bring Starscream to life in your own unique ways. The interest-check is still open (linked below), so don’t hesitate to reach out if you think of more questions. Feel free to share this post with fellow Starscream fans and potential contributors. Let’s make Supernova a spectacular tribute to one of the TF uni's most fascinating and memorable characters!