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beescake · 10 months ago

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PLEASE PLEASE MEGADUMP THE ARASOL!!! PLEAAASEE MR BEESCAKE I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING YOU

HFHGHD GLADLY aaa i’ve been adding notes to it here and there for months but just hesitant to post it bcs im 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂

also this is just my own takeaway of the events, it doesn’t necessarily comply to the Ultimate Truth of Canon-Alignment or represent the actual facts of what hussie intended! v sentimental smh but hopefully its still interesting to read

i love when characters inform each other by proximity, it's one of my fave things to see in media :') it feels even more significant when two characters deliberately choose to stick together, so that when one operates, you can tell the other is similarly aligned in associative solidarity.

sollux is a keystone of this trope — whoever he aligns with is a wordless statement, a nod of approval. this stood out to me bcs the main four humans were alr friends by default, but once you reach hivebent you realize the trolls can actively choose who they want to hang out with.

and as we all know, after assessing every troll's biases/loyalties, sollux is the only one who maintains his selective preference for innately Good 👍 people.

aradia is such a beautiful character honestly, she evokes such incredible feelings in me. she might not have been consistently written with care but the best parts of her character are truly stunning. i think it's easy to remember sollux as the self-sacrificing one bc he's so open about it (and his friends frequently react to his Moments) but when you compare him to aradia, it's always struck me

how much more. raw it is

to be so alone as an agent of time, having to orchestrate immeasurably harrowing events nobody understands or gives a fuck about

with your role painted in the story as one who must tend to the needs of the narrative, responsible to match every next note

because when you're given the capabilities, it becomes your duty to carry it out.

it becomes expected of you to keep experimenting and arranging the machinations to work for everyone, dusting off hundreds of necessary failures to keep going

and having to be so unwavering in your drive knowing miserably that there's no one who can help you but yourself.

or alternatively: to make things fun! so other people won't think twice about letting you go off on your own.

sure she's had some very good buds, notably thanks to Team Charge v Team Scourge antics.

and yet, at the end of the day, the one friend that kept choosing her time and time again was the friend with the highest standards.

i can see why people like to define arasol as moirails/matesprits but surprisingly i find the nondescript, unlabeled aspect of their relationship more straightforward to understand.

there's no shortage of people who would accommodate sollux. most of the surviving trolls are his oldest friends bcs he’d chosen them well. his transparency with his feelings had built him strong friendships that won’t falter or break, regardless of how much of a dick he can be. they’ve already seen and accepted him at his worst, and they still like him for who he is.

contrast that with aradia, who'd been so approachable, friendly and reliable in her exchanges it was super fun to talk to her. but the moment she became depressed, all her connections broke down.

her friends became hesitant to interact with her (until she became god tier, “happy” and amicable again) because her gloom and resignation didn’t serve them. she dealt with it alone.

there’s def something of note here abt the disparity between the way male & female characters are written+perceived in homestuck (esp parallel arasol with davejade) but i won’t go into that lmaoo

with this in mind i like to think of sollux as a gift to her, a loyal companion given to complement and commend her resolve. she's capable of doing so much alone but hussie took the time to build her and sollux's relationship as one of a unit; a set.

the ambiguity of their status does complicate things, but i do believe it makes sense with their characters. aradia's relationship with romance is a rocky one, the dubious stringalong equius had with her is a pointed reminder that her feelings of attraction are ultimately controlled by the author writing her.

unlike the other trolls who can openly address and own up to their crushes, aradia had romantic emotions forced upon her (especially when hussie implies 'she kissed equius back on her own volition'). and it seems like her character is so intrinsically neutral abt attraction that even when forced by the almighty powers above, she's unable to retain it wholly.

however, looking back to pre-game when she could actually "choose" her own feelings, she did have a crush on sollux.

their soft spots for each other were so obvious to the point where other people could see it.

taunting aside, when vriska comments on their unit as bf/gf it actually informs the audience that arasol's relationship is romantic in nature despite not aligning with the quadrant system.

even while dead, aradia could still describe her care for sollux, expressing that she would like to see him happy. if they had more time to explore their relationship on alternia, it's possible they could've settled in a quadrant once they grew older.

but going back to the lack of labels, their dynamic was affected once more when aradia became god tier.

to me, her ascension was both the perfect culmination and possible closure of her character. it's the light at the end of her journey toiling through countless of timelines where she had to actively assess and participate. that's why it's cool to see her being silly and having fun giving guidance, passively exploring and watching other people do their parts.

and yet the joy of her freedom makes it hard to explore further introspection. if we take her by her word, she'd already come to terms with the hurt she's been through and forgiven those involved.

i can't help feeling attuned to how impersonal and detached it can be, to devote and meld your identity so completely with your designated position as Maid of Time until you've become hard for your old friends (and even some readers!) to personally connect to.

idk post-canon but i assume there’s some degree of similarity to be bridged here with aradia's god tier and how the hs2 humans' Ultimate forms was described as a consolidation of all their possibilities. since aradia's classpect is inherently of service to Time, going god-tier may have elevated her beyond personhood with the "game construct" possessing her entirely. sollux doesn't realize the extent of it bcs he's still mortal, but a part of him may have subconsciously understood this.

i think there is a core aspect to aradia that was lost to the dehumanizing glory of god tier — a core aspect that may have contained an element of why sollux enjoyed talking to her in the first place.

to him, aradia hadn't just been a nice girl, she was a cool girl. despite not having much in common, he's still willing to chill next to her so she's not alone while she does what needs to get done.

back on alternia, they held a mutual and equal-level regard for each other that could've definitely settled into something permanent. but now, he's placed himself in a position where he can be kept around or left behind at will. the parameters of the relationship are largely in aradia's court, so any label she suggests to identify their relationship with he's likely to accept.

but that's why it's so difficult to label it. because god tier aradia may not necessarily Want quadrants or relationship labels. rather than the initial romantic attachment, their commitment to each other had evolved into one fundamentally of companionship.

no label? ok fine. no matter what, he still thinks she's a good soul worth latching on to. the best, actually. aradia > everyone else.

even if it gets stilted at times. there's an unexpected struggle to connect when sollux's go-to default for talking points is his feelings about things, and aradia may not want to talk about emotions all the time.

not to mention god tier aradia became an observer, especially of chaos. but sollux's avoidance of involvement comes partially from his innate pressure to get involved if something goes wrong. and he can't always tell when something goes wrong, because aradia doesn't mind if things go wrong anymore.

it's a non-negotiable preference that causes them to take the occasional time apart, a new boundary that wouldn't have existed before the game and aradia's god tier.

but just like how his friends tolerated his moods, sollux accepts aradia as she is. with no quadrants, their connection doesn't break down because there's no implicit romantic expectations to be disappointed by or resentful over.

sometimes when i see hs content that deliberately distances sollux from aradia, i assume this is the dissonance people might have felt. people might find it "easier" to be cynical about them bcs of this strange tension.

but idc lmao. grab that shit by the neck

lack of easy resolutions and cleanly tied ribbons is pretty standard of homestuck and imo it doesn't make arasol's dynamic any less incredible. with the right affection and consideration, there's still so much potential to develop the nuance of their relationship outside of the popular quadrant-based depictions.

hs has a lot of really great character compatibilities but the way aradia and sollux are in their own special orbit is why i can write this much about them in the first place. it's that frail innocence between first loves that makes it so sweet to me, two kids who grew up too fast playing guesswork without being clear where they're going.

ultimately i do think you're meant to feel a little tragedy for just how much they care for each other, even if they can't quite establish it in simple terms.

maybe they keep taking breaks to progress their own paths. maybe they remain as anchor partners while seeing other people. but even if you decide to separate them, they're still (awkwardly) texting each other updates all the while. and when they reunite it feels like coming home.

and well. more than anything, i like to believe that they do want to be exclusive.

they're just afraid. after all, they're still learning how to love, beyond the projections of the foursquare quadrant system they had inadvertently distanced themselves from since young.

they might not have everything figured out, but they'll get there eventually if you just hold them together and write them there.

optional post-canon segment:

one of the limitations of main hs is that (monogamous) relationships are often written as the go-to solution to wrap up character growth; it's an easy "patch" to imagine characters getting their happy ending because they have a partner, and those who don't end up with someone don't get that closure (most notably jade).

hs2 reaffirms this by suggesting that aradia's character cannot progress without letting sollux go, because happily settling in a relationship automatically locks your potential.

that pathetic panel of sollux staring emptily into the sky is still my fave hs2 spoiler ngl i find the impact of their parting so emotionally provoking precisely bcs they were written in original hs to be each other's forever, coming back together again and again

but now, they're subject to the decisions of the post-canon authors who might choose to deviate from that.

it's not new for them to part, but now there's an underlying worry that her dropping him off this time might be the last time. while i think the prospect of shattering their stability to make them grow separately sounds fun on paper, no amount of me desperately hoping for a good execution is gonna guarantee it

idk. i guess prediction-wise im expecting sollux in classic dramatic-hs2 fashion to tell dave to back off aradia LMAO. otherwise it's just gon be sollux and karkat pathetically watching aradia and dave from a distance swimming in their unresolved feelings for narratively-powerful time players smh obvs it sounds corny as hell but who knows its still plausible

srsly tho i hope they take the opportunity to develop arasol's relationship in a fresh direction that doesn't hurt me too badly...... and i hope they force sollux out of his comfort zone. i like watching him struggle :-)

#sorry if this isnt fully accurate heh its just my personal impressions/feelings #despite best efforts to simplify my annotations the wall of text still ended up massive #there's also a comparison i wanted to make abt characters who “broke up” from romantic expectations losing a lot of what they had before #dave(sprite)/jade‚ karkat/terezi‚ dirk/jake etc = which is why i think arasol was rescued by hussie on purpose. arasol endgame truth #ngl there mightve been more moments that shouldve been mentioned but i have no memories of... limited cloud storage #long post #ask #anon #homestuck #arasol #aradia megido #sollux captor #arapostings #2024 #vioart #not disqualifying acespec/qpr reading i think its also possible :]#if anything i dont understand fanon killing off aradia for their sollux ships haiyaaa why is this trope so damn popular #every time i open a slkt fic and aradia is dead i go outside and burn a tree. global warming could not come sooner #slkts who treat aradia like dvkts treat jade…. i punt u football style

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necrotic-nephilim · 4 months ago

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@sasheneskywalker i love when you enable me to ramble about things because oh my god do i have thoughts.

so recently, i made a post discussing the phenomena of DC x DP and DC x MLB crossovers and why they exist and part of that post was discussing how largely speaking, at least half, if not more of the Batfamily fandom doesn't read the comics. if they interact with canon DC material, it's adaptations that are their own sequestered universes and oftentimes not remotely comic accurate or seeking to be. the most obvious example is the Young Justice cartoon. i'm adding a cut to this post because it just got so long i'm so sorry.

a lot of times, when people are discussing the "why" of this oversaturation of fanon-only fandom, they blame Wayne Family Adventures. and i think, to a point, i agree WFA is responsible for a boom in this fandom. but as someone who's been in the fandom long before we had WFA, to me it's the other way around. WFA was DC's way of meeting the demand for this easy-to-get-into, easy-to-consume content about the Batfamily that predicates itself on the comics just enough to be vaguely the same characters, but has a more sitcom, slice-of-life sort of vibe so DC could profit off of this section of the fanbase that otherwise wasn't consuming its primary material. and well, it's definitely worked. not only that, but i have a weird theory that the decline in the MCU also led to the rise in the Batfamily fandom. when you consider the fan content that made the MCU popular within fandom, it's that 2012 "they all live in Avengers Tower and Thor is eating poptarts and Clint is in the vents and there are movie nights every Friday" sort of vibe. those were the fics that were a hallmark of the fandom. and as the MCU has strayed from well... quality content in general, but specifically well-thought-out crossover content where characters can have their own arcs but also exist in a wider story where they clearly care about each other, that fandom was sort of homeless. so where do you go, if you like a superhero found family where you can have villains for angst but also stick them all in one big family-like home for silly crack and have a plethora of options for gay ships? well. you go to the Batfamily. if you write a crack/fluff Batfamily genfic with silly vibes and low stakes instead of say, a fic about a very specific comic issue even if it's a popular comic, you're *going* to get more traction for the former. because the fanbase largely just isn't reading the comics.

and i feel... complicated about this. because on one hand, Don't Like Don't Read has been a tenet of my fandom experience. i'm very pro-fandom and that includes fandom content i don't like. and to an extent, i do think this sort of should apply to Batfamily fanon. i enjoy having my moments with other comic purists, giggling over exceptionally painful OOC headcanons or even facepalming in pain over some content but it is on me to not interact with that content. you don't make fandom a better place by being hostile to fans who engage with canon in ways you don't approve of. and frankly? we as comic readers are not going to get non-comic fans to read the comics by being asshats to them. no one is going to want to pick up any comic if we get a superiority complex about it. and also, i feel like we're all lying to ourselves a little bit insisting comics are so, so easy to get into. they're not. we can just all agree, they're really not. i've been single-handedly helping my sister get into comics, specifically Wonder Woman and no matter how simple i make it, i watch her get frustrated trying to understand what pre-Crisis and post-Crisis and New-52 and Flashpoint and all these things mean and what a retcon vs a reboot is and what a Crisis Event is and what the hell Diana's current backstory even *is*. sure, you can give someone a beginner list of comics to start with and slowly dip their toes in the water but sooner or later, *something* is going to confuse them. comics as a medium straight up aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea. and if someone *just* wants to read silly fluffy fanfiction about the Batfamily, i can't entirely begrudge them for not wanting to take the hours and hours out of their day to understand this medium. it's not an accessible medium to get into. "read this and this, but this run is out of print and this run wasn't collected in trades at all but also make sure you read that event in order and this is a good comic but the backstory in it is retconned and you *have* to read this it's so important but it's also really bad because the author kind of sucks" sounds. ridiculous for someone who like. just wants to read some stuff about Nightwing. sometimes, we all make reading comics sort of sound like a chore, not a hobby.

so my point is, i do extend some grace to Batfamily fanon for existing. i think my biggest gripe is, as i said in my other post, misuse of tags (if you're not creating content about comics, maybe you don't need the comics fandom tag on Ao3, just the all media types umbrella tag) and my far bigger gripe: when panels are taken out of context to support fanon only headcanons. if i could impart *anything* onto the Batfamily fandom as a comic fan it'd be this: if you haven't *read* the comic, don't spread the panel. if you don't even know what comic it's *from*, don't spread the panel. it's fine to use comic panels to discuss your headcanons, but so often i see someone spreading a comic panel from a comic they haven't read, and when asked where it's from, they can't source it. a silly example that comes to mind is a post going around, taking a panel where Dick, in his internal monologue goes "here comes the sun. do do do do." and the post is claiming it's from him getting buried alive. when that panel comes from Nightwing (1996) #140, and he gets buried alive in Nightwing (1996) #127, two completely different moments frankensteined together. if you're going to not read the comics, that's completely fine, but unless you're sure of the source and the context, panels shouldn't be spread around. i'm sick of this specifically happening to Red Robin (2009), with ppl claiming Tim has totally killed people because he blew up some of Ra's' bases, when those panels within context, make it clear he gave everyone time to escape. and in a later arc in that very comic, Tim grapples with the idea of murdering Captain Boomerang, and *specifically chooses not to*, because he doesn't agree with murder, even against the person who has hurt him the most. if you'd like to write fanfiction where Tim is pro-murder and has done some sketch things, i'm totally on board and would probably like to read it. but there's no need to pretend it's canon from a few panels you saw out of context.

beyond that, i think it's not *entirely* correct to say that fanon is harmless. whenever i see very WFA-positive posts, they often default to the argument that WFA is fun and silly, and comic fans are killjoys for not liking it. which. i think is complicated because the issue is, WFA and fanon don't exist in a vacuum. if you like WFA power to you, i don't think it's the worst thing ever, but i do think it's degrading to these characters because honestly? they feel incompetent in the webtoon. it's one thing if WFA was solely a slice-of-life sort of deal, just having silly episodes where Bruce is taking on a PTA mom or they're all fighting for the last cookie. but when WFA attempts to take on more serious plots with these characters, it *fundamentally* falls flat in understanding them. i get it, Bruce comforting Jason having a panic attack because a noise reminded him of the crowbar felt cute in a microcosm, but i'm so serious when i say that storyline destroyed how like. half of this fandom understands Jason Todd's relationship to his trauma. it doesn't understand how he reacts when he's triggered, what coping mechanisms he seeks out, and how he would handle Bruce comforting him. even if i can believe for a brief moment Jason *would* be triggered by something like that, him running and trying to hide and then getting a hug from Bruce to make it okay is just. painful. WFA needs everything to be wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow. so even when it starts to tackle interesting concepts, it makes them fall flat with its need to be soft, low stakes, hurt/comfort. there was a two-parter episode that dealt with the complicated mutual hatred/jealousy between Tim and Damian that *almost* really interested me because for once, it felt like the webtoon wanted to explore canon messy dynamics. but of course, it had to be fixed with one conversation and a hug. you don't mend the *years* of issues these characters have like that. WFA isn't in character because these characters are hyperbole cartoonified versions of themselves to fit within the medium and be a cute happy family.

because that right there, is the crux of it. the Batfamily fanon seeks to simplify the Batfamily and force them into a nuclear family. there are so many fantastic posts on here discussing how the nuclear family-ification of the Batfam is eroding decades worth of complex histories so i won't go too far into that. but what i will say is that there's this need, in the Batfamily fandom, for the Batfamily to exist as a unit. they are a *family*. (honestly i think calling it the Batfamily is a misnomer and has been for years but we're in too deep now.) they exist to each other first, and any teams or friends they have come secondary to this family unit. you can *specifically* see this demonstrated in what headcanons are becoming popular these days. i have an entire lengthy meta in my drafts about how i *loathe* the "the Batfamily meets the Justice League" genre of fanfic because it makes no *sense*. in order to have this genre of fic exist, you must operate under the assumption that no one in the League, or adjacent to the League, knows the Batfamily exists and are thus utterly shocked to discover Batman has kids. and to make *that* work, you have to strip *every single Batfamily member* of such important dynamics and friendships so you can lock them all in Gotham for their whole lives. Dick can't have the Titans, Tim can't have Young Justice, Duke & Cass can't have the Outsiders, Jason can't have the Outlaws, Damian can't have the Supersons, Babs can't have the Birds of Prey, and so on. because if they had these relationships, they would be known to the League. the Batfamily fandom doesn't care about this, it's just "silly fanfiction", it's not trying to be serious. but how can you say you like Dick Grayson as a character if you don't understand the Titans *are* his family? at some points of his life, moreso than the Batfamily even is. it is constantly repeated to us in most comics with Dick how much the Titans mean to him. he *needs* them to be who he is. the same extends to every other Batfamily member, most of which have been full League members at this point. but in fanon, that doesn't matter. the Batfamily are a sequestered unit first, and all of those side relationships are secondary and easy to toss away, if it makes your fanfic work better.

and because they have to be a unit first, you have these forced relationships that dump years of actual canon material for the sake of making them get along. the Batfamily fandom has its favorites and well. it's no secret it's usually the boys. Jason and Tim by *far* stand out as fandom faves so, their dynamic is a heavily explored one. it does matter that in canon they don't tend to get along and especially don't see each other as family. what matters is that you can push dynamics onto them. and so fanon gets all twisted up about which Robin Tim actually idolized as a kid (Dick) and what member of the Batfamily is pro-murder but still an older sibling figure to him and looks out for him (Helena, or if you want the dynamic of once tried to harm Tim but they've reconciled, Jean-Paul) in favor of who's the most popular. Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian are always going to be the standouts for popularity, but it's specifically Jason and Tim who are getting fanonized the most. and that's because really, we don't have much canon content of Tim that *isn't* the comics. for Dick you've got Young Justice (tv), for Damian you've got the DCAMU, for Jason you've sort of got the Under The Red Hood movie, but Tim sort of lingers in this limbo. (yes, he's in Young Justce (tv) and Titans (live action) but in neither is he the main character nor given much depth) so, he gets a *lot* projected onto him and has become fanonized. and even with Jason's animated movies, you don't see him interact with Tim, so people build it from the ground up how they want to see it, disregarding of canon comics. i think it's what makes him so popular in the first place- he's malleable into whatever you want or need him to be.

and of course, the fanon ignores other characters in the Batfamily it doesn't know about. i feel like you could create a tier list of Batfamily characters by their popularity, going from the fandom main characters: Tim, Jason, Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Damian. to the underrated: Steph, Duke, Babs, Cass. to the forgotten about unless they're convenient for a story: Kate, the Foxes, Helena Wayne, Carrie, Selina, Harper Row, Maps, Minhkhoa Khan. to the absolutely unknown: Helena Bertinelli, Jean-Paul Valley, Onyx Adams, the Clovers, Julia Pennyworth. it's not lost on me that the ignored characters tend to be women and people of color. which is both a canon and fanon problem, DC will continue adding interesting characters to the Batfamily, play with them for a few years, then drop them to default to the "Batboys" again. and it's a vicious cycle of the fandom only caring about the "Batboys", and thus people entering the fandom via fanon osmosis won't have content about the other characters, therefore, they won't be interested in those characters enough to create it, and it's just this ouroboros consuming itself, no matter how much canon content we have of these other characters. and it's ridiculous just how large the Batfamily is becoming because of this, which is why i'm a pre-Flashpoint fan, because then the Batfamily was contained enough to actually feel like a family with every character having nuances relationships with each other, but i digress because those thoughts could be their own post.

and the thing about fanon is it doesn't exist in a vacuum. DC has started turning the comics to accommodate for what fans are asking for, because fans will beg and beg for content they're not going to consume. Tim Drake: Robin had Tim as a coffee drinker because that's the fanon accepted headcanon. and the resolution of the recent Gotham War arc was for Bruce to buy this new manor for everyone to move in and call him. nevermind that most of these characters have their own homes and have zero reason to be moving in with Bruce. Tim had his marina in Tim Drake: Robin, Dick has Bludhaven, Cass and Steph have their little side of town in Batgirls (2022), and so on. these characters are being forced together as a unit, as one big happy family living together, to appease what non-comic fans want and it's damaging comic relationships. Robin: Knight Terrors saw Jason and Tim team up and working together, which i've seen varying opinions on but i personally despised. their interactions made zero sense for any of their canon history, but it appeases them being this close sibling relationship that fanon acts like they are. also the fears they faced in their respective knight terrors didn't make sense for either character and *only* worked as a moment of bringing them together so they could reassure each other and have this weird dreamscape bonding moment. the canon is bending itself to the will of fanon rather than building on the pre-existing complex relationships. Tim barely even gets along with his most important team in Dark Crisis: Young Justice because it seems the only important relationships the Batfamily can have is with each other. and when we do see them outside of the Batfamily, it only seems to be to relive the glory days like with World's Finest: Teen Titans, instead of developing them as they currently exist. this isn't recent in the comics, it feels like you can trace it back to the New-52, but it does feel a *lot* worse over the recent years. WFA is fine when it exists in its own bubble, but the simple truth is, DC content never exists on its own. the adaptations will reflect back onto the comics. (the damage the Young Justice cartoon has done to some characters should honestly be studied) and so it does frustrate me a bit when fanon-only or adaptation-only fans act like we're being nothing but killjoys for being frustrated with this. since they don't read the comics, they don't see how the comics are suffering as a result of this.

people argue about what's out of character for the comics they don't even read. i'm sorry, but "bad dad Bruce" is consistently canon. that man is just kind of shitty. when you take someone who has the drive he has, who has this need for the Mission first, who needs a teenager in spandex next to him to keep him off the ledge, that guy is sort of going to be a shitty father figure. he just is. not on purpose or with malice, but when you compare him to any other dad in a big DC family, he sure takes the cake. it's why characters like Oliver Queen tend to *really* fucking hate Bruce for how he treats his kids. Bruce loves fiercely, but he doesn't do well with putting that love first. and his love is a controlling one, he is very particular about controlling how others in the Batfamily are "allowed" to operate. it's what drives the wedge between him and Dick, it's why Steph is never a true daughter to him. (besides the reason of her needing to be a love interest to Tim first, anyway-) i've never understood the massive outcry of people reacting to Bruce kinda being shitty in comics they're not reading. there are some moments that get ridiculously OOC with how cartoonishly evil he is (the whole Gotham War arc and that... complicated mess with Jason) but largely if you want sitcom loving nuclear father Bruce, you have to accept that is a fanon thing, not a canon one. the Batfamily being a nuclear family in *general* is fanon. most of the "Batkids" don't actually see Bruce in a particularly fatherly light and begging for moments where he calls them his kids or they call him dad outside of incredibly specific circumstances is just OOC.

it's getting harder and harder to exist peacefully in this fandom it feels like, if you don't comply to the standard fanon has set. i'm happy people are having fun with their blorbos, even if in ways i dislike, but that "harmless fandom fun" does ripple it's way back to canon, eventually. so i end up pretty tangled with my feelings because are fans at fault for DC making these poor decisions? probably not, but it certainly feels like an unfortunate cause-and-effect situation whether at the end of the day, nobody is happy. and of course, i know some fanon-only fans are striving to be more canon accurate and care about canon dynamics more than others, but for them it's always going to be an uphill battle with the above-mentioned out-of-context panels thrown around and ever-pervasive fanon overtaking anything that's truly seeking to be canon compliant. so really, it sometimes feels like we're all losing.

#necrotic festerings #batfamily #batfamily meta #dc comics #fandom meta #fan studies #fanon vs canon #i deleted paragraphs of this to try to make it shorter. it failed btw.#anyway i got into comics when i was like 12 with the dark knight returns #and if i hadn't been into this medium for a decade i don't think i would be able to get into it as an adult so i get it #bc i'm trying to get into marvel comics and fuck ME am i confused as fuck.#do marvel comics have like. an equivalent to crisis events?#is the ultimates like their version of the new-52? i do NOT know #it's so hard and daunting so trust me i get it #if you never wanna pick up a comic god i respect you you're so right this is fucking miserable #i want to live and let live in fandom but *god* i'm struggling here #i used to bend to the will of fanon fun fact #i wrote my share of tim and jason fics playing into fanon tropes. god i hate them *now* but they did fucking numbers.#and i used to care more about getting attention in fandom than being accurate #i've matured now. it's why i write on anonymous so much to remind myself this should be for me.#anyway i could do a character study on every batfam member as fanon vs canon #ESPECIALLY tim and jason. i know so much about them trust me.#jason todd fans annoyed me so much i once sat and read almost every fucking jason comic. i didn't even like him.#but i tell you what i know that man and he will never leave my top five characters on league of comics.#this is so long. is anyone going to read all of this.#if you do you're a fucking trooper i'm saluting you.#this isn't even all of my thoughts i had to condense myself.#bc i also have thoughts about how this means some characters no longer get to exist outside of the batfam #because they only exist as a member of the unit #ergo we have very little current content of helena bertinelli or onyx adams or duke thomas

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kakooshi · 10 months ago

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I feel like enough time has passed...

#dbh #detroit become human #connor rk800 #gavin reed #convin #reed800 #my first hot take in years #i must be the only person on the planet who thinks this skdjhdksjhdsk #tbh i wish i could get into reed//900 cuz its shippers are so spoiled with content but I CANT #not even the fan films got me interested #i realized that reed800 and reed//900 have the same tropes but the difference is that the former actually has history #so its more fun to explore that in fanon imo #with how gavin treated connor its always interesting to see how fic writers would develop their relationship #esp if connor puts gavin in his place at the beginning

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dephoraowo · 1 month ago

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Lan Wangji and a List of his Fanon Tropes

For some reason, Lan Wangji is also misunderstood by the fandom. Luckily, he isn't that badly misunderstood as Wei Wuxian is 😅. Here is a list to help you understand Lan Wangji, one of the best characters in mdzs, better.

List of Fanon Tropes:

Lan Wangji only loves once. Side note: This can apply to all the Lans.

Lan Wangji is repressed / struggles to express himself.

Lan Wangji has a speech impediment.

Lan Wangji adopted A-Yuan as his son.

Lan Wangji mourned Wei Wuxian or played for Wei Wuxian for 13 years. (+ this, this, this.)

Lan Wangji saved Wei Wuxian in Nightless City because he loved him.

Lan Wangji learned how to be righteous from Wei Wuxian. (+ this, this, this, this, this.)

Lan Wangji wore mourning robes after Wei Wuxian died.

Lan Wangji is Chief Cultivator.

Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian, even more than his own morals. (+ this.)

Lan Wangji confessed to Wei Wuxian after saving him at Nightless City.

Lan Wangji cares about his own reputation. (+ this.)

Lan Wangji expects Wei Wuxian to return his feelings.

Lan Wangji is a stickler for all the rules.

Lan Wangji fought his clan elders in a cave in the Burial Mounds. (+ this.)

Lan Wangji isn't that smart. (+ this.)

Lan Wangji’s family approved of Wei Wuxian.

None of these posts belong to me. Please support those who have written the posts. As usual, if there are any more fanon tropes about Lan Wangji, please do tell 😁.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #lan wangji #fanon tropes #i cant believe there are ppl saying lwj aint smart #theres a reason why lwj is able to keep up with wwx #i mean if we were to compare wwx to lwj #theyve got different types of smartness #wwx on top of being book smart #he is also street smart and innovative #wwx got the inventors type of genius #thats the only difference #but other than that lwj and wwx are equally smart #wwx avoided lwj so much after he lost his core because he knew lwj would figure it out sooner or later #cuz lwj is just that smart and observant #but i digress

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vicontheinternet · 6 months ago

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I like dickory more than i like dickbabs but as soon as you make either a bitch or an obstacle just to get the other together I’m leaving the fanfic immediately no matter how good the fic is. It could have all the tropes and tags and be completed but as soon as I see that I get immediately pissed off cuz I’d rather a 3rd act break up or miscommunication trope then turning an canon love interest into a jealous bitch for romantic drama that is so misogynistic and insulting to me

#dickory #dickbabs #dick grayson #koriand'r #kory anders #barbra gordon #like get that not everyone like the amicable ex trope but come on ppl #I only don’t like dickbabs in some fics because they have the batfam hate on Kory for being an alien #like one Bruce would never do that his best friend is one #I blame that one comic author for the mischaracterizion of the batfam thoughts on dickkory in fic #anti dickbabs #<<<tagging that for the weirdo’s who can’t read #also for the weirdo’s who can’t read it says either do you know what that means it means dickbabs or dickory #because I like babs as a whole just not with dick #and I like the batfam #oh my god if you couldn’t tell this was about fanon and fandom shit #I don’t necessarily like either ship i just hate when ppl trash both in their fanfics #jesus christ

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tres-pistolas · 1 year ago

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I needed a reason why fanon Din uses mandoa words all of sudden so here it is

#dinluke #dinluke fanon trope adventures #fanon din #fanon luke

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blanceyblance · 3 months ago

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*looks around* Can you guys tell me where are you seeing Alpha macho Irep and soft boy Peri?

Because most of the content I see of them is just little shit/annoying clingy loser Irep and bitchy sassy neurotic mess Peri.

And there is only like 70 works for that ship in ao3 and most is them is co parenting Dev or them being bitter exes.

Honestly, why are we now shaming creators when the ones that write the "problematic yaoi tropes" are in the minority?

#fairly oddparents #peri cosma #irep #ah yes because the biggest issue in this fanbase is the bad yaoi tropes and not yaknow #the actual fics with minors #i prefer soft boy peri to the ones where he is shipped WITH A CHILD #and i have not found actual soft boy Peri? ppl always write him bitchy #even in the kinkiest of fics #and those are not something you usually go to for characterization #Peri ends up as the most domineering partner #it just feels like making a bigger problem of something thats just the minority #and their interpretation is as valid as others #specially since its a ship mostly made by fanon we have no canon interactions #fopanw #fop a new wish #perirep #like i love to bitch about fanon too dont get me wrong #but this is getting quite big and its a small fandom

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thoushaltnotlive · 3 months ago

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"Oh he's such a ladies man" "What a womaizer" "A real heart breaker"

WRONG he is a WHORE 🫵🫵🫵🫵 (/aff)

Call him by his proper title, he earnd it. This kind of disrespect won't be tolerated on my watch.

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darth-kote · 1 month ago

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SFW Tropes Masterlist

For writers - or for those who'd like to request a fic from me and need help generating ideas. Click here for the NSFW masterlist. Guidelines for requests can be found here.

Angst and Hurt/Comfort

Post-Battle Care: Tending to wounds (physical or emotional) after a fight.

Nightmares and Consolation: A character seeks solace after a distressing dream.

Bottled-Up Emotions: A character finally breaks down after holding everything in.

Survivor’s Guilt: Reflecting on losses and grappling with responsibility.

Grief and Healing: Finding a path forward after devastating loss.

Action and Adventure

Escape Mission: Characters must break out of an enemy stronghold or evade capture.

Treasure Hunt: Seeking an ancient artifact or holocron with unexpected challenges.

Undercover Operation: Posing as someone else in a high-stakes situation.

Hostage Negotiation: Characters navigating delicate situations to avoid disaster.

Defusing the Bomb: A tense countdown to prevent disaster.

AU (Alternative Universe)

Role Reversal: Characters swap roles (e.g., Jedi becomes a bounty hunter).

What If: Explore pivotal moments with a different outcome (e.g., “What if Order 66 failed?”).

Canon Divergence: A single decision alters the course of the story (e.g., “What if Qui-Gon survived?”).

Time Travel: A character is sent back (or forward) in time to change events or gain new perspective.

Relationships and Dynamics

Found Family: A group of unlikely individuals grows into a close-knit family.

Enemies to Allies (or Lovers): Tension and grudging respect turn into trust or affection.

Mentor and Protégé: A seasoned character trains or guides a younger one.

Unspoken Feelings: Moments of lingering glances and unsaid words.

Sibling-Like Dynamic: Bickering like siblings but with deep care.

Adoptive Parent: An older character becomes a mentor or caretaker.

Healing Together: A group works through shared trauma as a unit.

Mystery and Intrigue

Murder Investigation: Characters work to uncover the truth behind a crime.

Hidden Identity: A character conceals their true role or past.

Lost History: Unearthing forgotten lore or secrets tied to the Force.

Double Agent: Navigating the tension of working both sides.

Emotional Exploration

Forgiveness Arc: Characters work toward forgiving themselves or others.

Past Lives: Exploring flashbacks or reincarnation themes.

Letters and Holorecordings: Communicating through written or recorded messages.

Lighthearted and Whimsical

Mundane Adventures: Characters tackle everyday challenges (e.g., cooking, fixing a droid).

Unexpected Babysitting: Caring for a child or youngling in humorous or heartwarming ways.

Festival or Celebration: Participating in a holiday or local tradition.

Animal Companion: Bonding with a creature, whether friendly or ferocious.

Whump, Survival, and Isolation

Crash Landing: Stranded on a remote planet and working together to survive.

Quarantine: Stuck in close quarters due to illness or contamination.

Lost and Found: A character presumed dead is discovered alive.

Weather Woes: Trapped in extreme conditions like sandstorms or blizzards.

Injured and Alone: A character survives despite grave injuries.

Captured by the Enemy: Psychological and physical struggles in captivity.

Lost in the Void: Stranded in space with dwindling supplies.

Dark Themes and Morality

Fall from Grace: A character descends into darkness or betrayal.

Redemption Arc: A path to atonement after a character’s mistakes.

Doppelgängers: Facing a duplicate or altered version of oneself.

Mind Games: Dealing with manipulation, brainwashing, or visions.

Rivalry to Respect: Enemies slowly come to admire each other, even if it is never made obvious.

Hidden Humanity: An evil character reveals an unexpected vulnerable side.

Villain Wins: A world where the antagonist succeeds

Jedi and Force Mysticism

Force Visions: Cryptic glimpses of the past, future, or alternate timelines.

Lost Holocrons: Discovering ancient Force teachings with unexpected consequences.

Gray Jedi Exploration: Balancing Light and Dark sides of the Force.

Force-Bonded Pairs: Two characters linked by an unexplainable Force connection.

Romantic Tropes

Fake Relationship: Pretending to be together for a mission or disguise.

Forbidden Love: Romance defying rules (e.g., Jedi Code).

Slow Burn: Long build-up to a romantic confession.

Accidental Confession: A slip of the tongue reveals feelings.

Mutual Pining: Both characters believe their feelings aren’t reciprocated.

Culture and Worldbuilding

Exploring Traditions: Delving into unique customs of a planet or species.

Language Barriers: Characters navigate miscommunication.

Rebuilding After Tragedy: A community recovers from devastation.

Artifact of Power: A relic tied to ancient Force-users that affects the story.

Undercover or Espionage

Royal Disguise: Pretending to be someone of lower rank.

Spy Among Us: A mole within a group creates tension.

Assassin’s Target: The assassin and their target form an uneasy alliance. Or things don't go as smoothly as planned.

Deep Cover: A character fully immerses themselves in enemy territory.

Legacy and Destiny

Reluctant Heir: Inheriting an unwanted responsibility.

Prophecy Fulfillment: Fulfilling a foretold destiny with unexpected twists.

Living in the Shadow: Struggling with the expectations tied to being a legendary figure.

Defying Fate: Challenging a preordained path.

Time and Memory

Amnesia: A character forgets their identity and rediscovers themselves.

Alternate Timelines: Characters glimpse or visit different timelines.

Time Loop: Reliving the same moment until a lesson is learned.

Memory Sharing: Using the Force or technology to experience someone else’s past.

Humor and Lighthearted Tropes

Miscommunication Comedy: A small misunderstanding snowballs into chaos.

Droid Antics: A droid takes center stage with humorous behavior.

Overwhelmed Jedi: A Jedi struggles with mundane tasks.

Space Road Trip: A long journey full of banter and mishaps.

Crossover or Genre Mashups

Horror Elements: Haunted ships, Sith ghosts, or terrifying creatures.

Political Thriller: Intrigue within the Senate or Rebellion leadership.

Western Style: Lone bounty hunters and shootouts.

Heist Story: A team plans and executes a complex theft.

Personal Journeys

Identity Crisis: A clone, droid, or Force-sensitive questions their place.

Self-Exile: A character retreats from society and finds company.

Reunion Story: A long-lost character is reunited with friends or family.

Breaking the Code: A Jedi defies their teachings.

Battle and Combat

Last Stand: Characters make a desperate final stand.

Truce on the Battlefield: Enemies must work together.

Training Montage: A character hones their skills under a mentor.

Reluctant Fighter: A pacifist is forced into action.

Miscellaneous

Holovid Star: A character accidentally becomes famous.

Unlikely Hero: An everyday character rises to the occasion.

Force Ghost Encounters: Guidance or conflict from beyond the grave.

Lost Artifact: Recovering an item of immense value.

Clone Troopers

Identity and Brotherhood

Individuality vs. Unity: A clone struggles with being one among many.

Nicknames and Call Signs: The personal stories behind a clone's name.

Brother’s Keeper: A clone sacrifices everything to protect their brothers.

Clone-Centric POV: The galaxy through the eyes of a clone.

Post-Order 66

After the Fall: A clone wrestles with guilt over Order 66.

Defying the Programming: A clone resists the inhibitor chip’s control.

Living on the Run: A clone deserter avoids detection.

Reunion with the Jedi: An unexpected meeting with a Jedi they thought dead.

Training and Battle Bonds

Rookie Struggles: A young clone's first mission.

Veteran’s Wisdom: An experienced clone mentors a new recruit.

Unlikely Alliance: A clone teams up with an enemy.

One Last Mission: A retired clone is called back for a critical task.

Clone-Specific Dynamics

Armor Customization: The personal meaning behind a clone’s armor.

Dealing with Loss: Coping with the death of a brother.

Echoes of Kamino: Reflecting on their training and origins.

Enhanced Abilities: A clone with unique genetic traits.

AU and Alternate Scenarios

Rebel Clones: Exploring a timeline where clones joined the Rebellion.

Post-War Integration: How clones navigate a galaxy that no longer needs them.

Clone Defector: A clone switches sides to fight for the Separatists.

Found Family: A lone clone builds a new "family."

Sith and Dark-Siders

Rise to Power

Apprentice’s Betrayal: A Sith apprentice rises against their master.

Seduction to the Dark Side: A Jedi succumbs to the Dark Side’s temptations.

Master Manipulator: A Sith orchestrates events from the shadows.

Artifact of Power: A dark relic amplifies a Sith’s abilities.

Conflict with the Light

Pull to the Light: A Sith struggles with feelings of compassion or guilt.

Jedi-Sith Bond: A Force bond forces uneasy cooperation.

Redeeming the Sith: Can a Sith truly abandon their path?

Forbidden Alliance: A Sith and Jedi work together despite their differences.

Dark-Side Mysticism

Sith Spirits: Encountering the ghost of an ancient Sith Lord.

Dark-Side Nexus: Exploring places saturated with the Dark Side.

Bloodlines of Power: A Sith discovers their lineage ties to a legendary figure.

The Holocron’s Secrets: A Sith Holocron offers knowledge at a cost.

Sith Philosophy

Rule of Two: A Sith duo’s balance of power and betrayal.

Power at a Price: A Sith sacrifices something personal for ultimate power.

Survival of the Fittest: Infighting among Sith apprentices.

Eternal Struggle: A Sith sees their existence as a battle for dominance.

Redemption or Corruption

A Sith’s Redemption: A Sith struggles to redeem themselves.

Corruption of the Pure: A Sith manipulates someone to embrace the Dark Side.

Turncoat Apprentice: A Sith apprentice secretly undermines their master.

Moral Ambiguity: A Sith challenges the notions of good and evil.

Unique Sith Abilities

Force Alchemy: Experiments to create monstrous creatures.

Illusions of Terror: Using the Force to project terrifying visions.

Lightning’s Wrath: Devastating Force lightning.

Blood Rituals: Ancient Sith rites to enhance power.

AU and Alternate Scenarios

Sith as Heroes: A Sith defends their people or fights a greater evil.

Jedi-Sith Swap: A Sith raised as a Jedi or vice versa.

Light-Side Sith: A Sith rejects the darkness but embraces the teachings.

What If: A timeline where the Sith rule the galaxy.

The Force

The Force Playing Matchmaker: Despite all reason and seeming logic, the Force wants two people together. It won't stop meddling until Its vision becomes a reality.

Spiritual Connection

Force Bond: Two characters share an unexplainable, deep connection that allows them to sense each other’s emotions, thoughts, or presence across great distances.

Shared Visions: Characters experience a Force vision together, revealing shared destinies or hidden truths.

Guided by the Force: A Jedi or Force-sensitive character interprets the Force as encouraging their relationship.

Opposites Drawn Together: The light and dark sides of the Force pull two characters toward each other, creating tension and mutual growth.

Meditation Partners: Two characters bond over meditative practices, learning to sync their energies and emotions.

Conflict and Struggles

The Burden of Knowledge: One character hides a devastating vision or premonition involving the other, creating tension in their bond.

Teaching the Force: A Force-sensitive character mentors someone who is new to their powers, deepening their connection through shared learning.

Moral Differences: Clashing interpretations of the Force (e.g., strict adherence to the Jedi Code versus emotional connection) challenge their relationship.

Force-Driven Jealousy: A character senses their partner’s lingering emotions toward someone else, creating conflict.

Healing and Support

Force Healing: A character saves their partner by channeling the Force to heal their injuries, creating an emotional and physical bond.

Force Meditation Therapy: Helping a partner process grief, guilt, or trauma through shared meditation and emotional support.

Force Awareness: A Jedi or Force-sensitive partner instinctively knows when their loved one is in distress, no matter the distance.

Strength in the Force: Two Force-users amplify each other’s abilities when they are together, creating a sense of unity and trust.

*verging nsfw Force Tropes

Intense Focus: The Force allows one character to focus solely on their partner’s well-being, whether during battle or in intimate encounters.

Dangerous Proximity: When trapped together or forced to rely on the Force for survival, their bond deepens emotionally and physically.

The Will of the Force: A relationship forms or is tested because they feel their union is destined—or forbidden—by the Force.

The Dark Side's Pull: One character’s struggle with the Dark Side adds tension, as the other seeks to save them from being consumed.

Shared Visions of the Future: Intimacy is driven by a mutual vision of a life together—one they believe the Force has promised them.

Apologies for any similarities – I tried to keep it nuanced.

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firethekitty · 1 year ago

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Ranking Every Wolfwood!!

happy wolfwood wednesday! i've ranked every wolfwood and it very quickly got out of hand and turned into more of a character analysis/meta. it was really fun and helped me better understand why i love this guy so much!

yes, really!

i hope you guys enjoy and that my autistic rambling makes sense!

1. trimax wolfwood. yeah he’s perfect. nothing else to say. god bless

while i can’t fit everything i love about him into one post, just know that i’ve written almost 30,000 words in wolfwood (and vash) character studies. so when i say “i like trimax wolfwood” that really means “i am fucking obsessed with trimax wolfwood”.

he’s the perfect mix of silly and heartbreaking, funny and serious, annoying like an older brother, deeply kind, so so painfully human; and a PERFECT foil to vash. simply phenomenal writing.

my only complaint would be that his tits are not on display like they are in the 1998 anime. but i can appreciate the subtly, so this doesn’t detract from his otherwise flawless score.

2. 98 wolfwood. omg hiiiii hehe twirling my hair ohh he’s so handsome what an absolutely beautiful design for him. his nose, his spider-esque shape, his TITS…… they even kept his little whiskers!

on top of an amazing design, he’s a very good balance of silly, irritable, playfully annoying, and serious! he fits pre-trimax wolfwood to a T!

but, as trimax progressed…

he’s cool. too cool. he has too much pull. wolfwood should NOT have swag. genuinely it is imperative to his character that he is, and i say this as lovingly as possible, a fucking loser with no friends.

wolfwood is a deeply traumatized man. he isn’t nearly as charming as we, the audience, thinks he is. no one laughs at his jokes, his insults are crude and immature, he embarrasses himself in front of literal children…

god, he is so painfully awkward. and who wouldn’t be in his situation? to have your childhood stolen and forced to grow up as a weapon? not allowed to interact casually with anyone else during the most important developmental stage of your life?

he's just not suave like tri98 wolfwood is. so, while 98 wolfwood is an excellent character, he doesn’t entirely read “wolfwood” to me. similar to how 98 vash is good on his own, but he’s just not “vash”. this is, of course, the result of making an anime out of a manga that wasn’t even 30% finished at the time. while i don’t understand the reasoning behind this, i know that nightow desperately needed the funds the anime brought in, as well as the motivation to keep making trimax, so i have to simply make peace with the dated characterizations tri98 has.

but don’t get me started on the milly situation. really a godawful writing decision, idk who approved that mess.

3. tristamp wolfwood. he is so bullyable. he’s like a sopping wet cat. absolute fucking dweeb.

i debated this for a long time—whether i should rank tristamp wolfwood above tri98 wolfwood. and i asked myself, do i love tri98 wolfwood because he’s a good character and is similar to trimax wolfwood? does he even remind me of trimax wolfwood at all? well, not really, he’s very clearly based on pre-trimax, just like tri98 vash is.

ultimately i decided i do genuinely just prefer tri98 wolfwood, but i felt the need to defend tristamp wolfwood because i see a lot of fair criticisms but also really dumb discourse throughout the fandom about him. so here’s my attempt at trying to address these:

so, there are some things i really enjoy about him and some things i really dislike; and, unlike vash, most of these criticisms are not a result of time/pacing issues. they’re easily fixable.

like, for the love of god he NEEDS to get sillier. they got the loser part down, but he’s a bit too overtly sad in tristamp. i think he will be more like his trimax self in season 2, but wolfwood’s humor is in-part a coping mechanism and important to his character. he’s an older brother! he’s fucking annoying! he thinks he's funny when he isn't! we do get a little bit of this with him and meryl, when he's tormenting her at the campfire, and that’s what i want to see more of. even if he’s playing it up, he should be working on getting their guards down, convincing them he isn't going to betray them.

since tristamp takes place in a weird prequel sort of canon, i get that he would look/act younger than he is in trimax. i think he was modeled after the teenage wolfwood we see in the flashback scenes of him training for the eye of michael, where he’s noticeably less outgoing and more reserved.

however, this doesn’t change the fact that he WAS silly as a kid in trimax, before his “teenage angst phase” (hate to call it that when it’s more like a “realizing he’s going to die by the gun and not being able to do anything about it” phase). but he’s still a lot quieter and reserved in tristamp as a kid, so i think we really need to find a good balance here in the trigun adaptations.

another example of an easily fixable issue—i really hate how they did the “vash sees how kind wolfwood is” scene, in which wolfwood gives money/snacks to children. in tristamp, wolfwood already knows the kid is zazie, which tells us absolutely nothing about his character. this scene is almost entirely worthless, only good for reminding vash that he should eat, which gives tristamp its own not-as-good hospital yuri scene.

and, so, about the elephant in the room… i don’t think he was whitewashed. let me try to explain my thought process.

tristamp, as far as i can tell, doesn’t seem to be taking any inspiration from tri98, whose wolfwood is very explicitly a brown man. trimax wolfwood i feel is a bit more ambiguous in his skin tone, which alternates between dark screentones and completely uncolored pretty much at solid 50/50 odds. just fairly inconsistent overall, even on the official manga covers.

but this doesn’t mean wolfwood is white in tristamp, and it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his aquiline nose. the notorious scenes of him in the suns, looking white as a fucking sheet, shows us how a 3D environment can diminish a character’s silhouette and distinctive features.

compare this to scenes of wolfwood in a dim environment, or to the 2D scenes of child wolfwood and livio that i can't include bc i'm only allowed 10 pics. he looks MUCH better, much darker than vash, and as they both should appear in such lighting. it just doesn't add up—he should be much darker in strong light if they followed the same color values:

SO, even though i feel like all of this is more of a technical issue rather than malicious whitewashing, that doesn’t mean i think it’s acceptable. it looks fucking awful, and the lighting system needs major improvement to work with darker skin tones.

and, like, at the end of the day, wolfwood isn’t canonically latino, and he doesn't really have a consistent skin tone either. it’s a great headcanon, one i partially share, but it’s not canon. the only ethnicity that could technically be considered somewhat canon is japanese, as wolfwood was based off a japanese singer named tortoise matsumoto. you can see this resemblance best in early trigun!

and i really need to defend his nose!!! a lot of people say he lost his nose but he didn’t!! i promise it’s there!!! another victim of his 3D model, you can only see his nose from the side or in the 2D frame after he gets his shit wrecked. see how clearly he has a very well-defined nose when he’s hand-drawn? this is what i mean when i say a 3D environment can drastically alter a character’s important features, as much as i otherwise adore the animation for this show.

also, if you think nightow would let studio orange get away with not including his nose, you got another thing coming.

in conclusion, while i think tristamp wolfwood is a great start, he’s just not quite there yet. but i have immense faith that the next time we see him, he’ll look and act a lot more like he does in trimax!

i know this is true, because there are already some shots in tristamp where i’m just like. oh yeah. there he is. that’s wolfwood. there's the guy i love so much

...

well, that was long! this was really fun to write and i

oh jesus christ what the hell is that thing

4. badlands rumble wolfwood. ah, now here’s a great example of overt whitewashing. no lighting excuses this time, just blatant colorism.

even if he wasn’t ghostly white, there's just something about his design that makes me viscerally uncomfortable and i can’t pinpoint what it is exactly. he’s just so… angular. he has no scruff, no kitty cat mouth, his eyes are very oddly shaped, almost no eyebrows... i just really hate looking at him!

his ONLY saving grace is how mentally ill he acts in this movie. and his tits. otherwise i don’t really have much to say about him!

ok, now we’re done! and here’s a handy wolfwood chart i made to summarize everything.

really hope this was fun to read and if people liked this i'd be glad to write a vash version or other characters!! happy woowoo wednesday :)

#trigun #trimax #tristamp #tri98 #wolfwood #vashwood #a little bit. enough for me to tag hehe #meta #trigun meta #character analysis #also i don't mean to imply ethnicity = skin color but latino wolfwood is by far the most common headcanon i've seen. which i really like!#but it can very quickly diverge into the latino lover trope and i've seen that A Lot in this fandom #and i don't really want to get into fanon wolfwood here bc that's an entire other can of worms

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