#i just think it could have super interesting narrative implications

[aeoris4lovers]

can i say something about this battle that might make some people hate me

[arkhamochi]

Batman & Robin (2009, vol. 2) #ochireads

BATMAN REBORN By Grant MORRISON & Frank QUITELY

"The new Dynamic Duo uncovers clues involving the mysterious death of Bruce Wayne before facing off against each other in a heated battle that both heroes will regret — if they live through it! Includes THE BLACKEST NIGHT, as well as stories that lead directly into BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE!" [x]

DISCLAIMER: This retrospective may assume that you have a baseline knowledge of some of these arcs. Remember, this is all in the spirit of friendly story analysis and healthy discussion! All opinions are my own.

OVERVIEW:

Hooooo boy, okay, this one is kinda WEIRD. This volume is mostly filler for "The Return of Bruce Wayne", the greater DC event at the time. Damian is out of commission for the first half (due to the events of the previous volume), but whatever Damian moments are in here are more foundational than at first glance, even if it is at the expense of other characters.

REACTION COMMENTARY: (5 minute read)

Talia: "Isn't he magnificent?" Damian: *looking like a soggy piece of naan bread*

Co-parenting moment with your adult ward's ex girlfriend. Alfred's affection/care for Damian is a lot more unambiguous here, and now I really wish we could've seen their relationship grow in the comics (instead of it being implied "off-page")🥺!!!

To be honest, Morrison's narrative justification for introducing Damian still isn't satisfying to me. It's implied that Talia has promised Damian to inherit the Batman/Wayne empire. Now that he's super involved with the Batman gig, Talia is acting all confused and incensed about it. Am I thinking too hard about this?

SO CUTE!!! A little sweater vest moment as a treat 🥺! Another subtle nod to their genuine relationship, where Damian feels close enough to gossip with Alfred (albeit right in front of the poor subject).

I'm not sure if this is purposeful, but Damian's conversation also seems more relaxed and free flowing (compared to the previous arc). Outside of Robin activity, I don't imagine Damian going outside much, and he definitely doesn't have any friends, so he'd naturally spend a lot of time with Alfred.

Context: it really is a zombie clone!

What a smart cookie! It's a brief but interesting insight into Damian using his own unique knowledge of the Lazarus Pit to quickly deduce that this Batman is a fake, compared to Dick. I wonder if this is supposed to be a direct implication that Dick wouldn't have resurrected the wrong Batman if Damian was with him to challenge the idea?

Also, once again showing Damian has immediate and genuine concern for Alfred's wellbeing.

I have to share this whole sequence of teamwork! Could it be, Alfred and Damian are the secret Dynamic Duo!?

That spit is so iconic, so petty, disrespectful even to a zombie... Even when falling to his death, Damian doesn't scream. There's an initial shock, then reservation. Maybe he's even a little embarrassed? Disappointed in himself? Even the -tt- hints at some annoyance.

Damian has lived his life, not for the sake of living, but to achieve great things. It must be a little humiliating for someone like him to seemingly die in such a vulnerable and "pathetic" way. Does this imply that he doesn't fear death, or that he doesn't give himself permission to feel fear at all?

Fear not! Dick arrives just in time to save him! And Damian is immediately back to his quippy self, making sure that Dick knows exactly what he thinks instead of a "thank you".

Of course, Batman and Batwoman defeat Zombie Batman and save the day :)

Who let this 10 year old into the boardroom???

This whole segment is so appropriately silly. It's interesting how this might be the only time (in canon) Damian has been involved with W.E. affairs, and then he's kinda never put in a scenario like this again. Maybe Morrison was getting a feeler for where Damian's strengths outside of vigilante work might fit? Or maybe it's for a one-off gag.

Either way, I can believe that Damian would enjoy scrutinising data like a challenge to be won, but truthfully would have no interest in running W.E. But clearly it's a concept that didn't take off anywhere, so it doesn't really matter THAT much 😛

A/N: Ok so this post has been in my draft for over half a year up to this point, and I'm only picking it back up now. Apologies for the rustiness in my analysis.

Completely unrelated, have I mentioned how funny this batmobile looks to me? It reminds me of the biddybuggy from Mario Kart...

Anyway, uh...

Really beautiful panel here (even though the context behind it is super silly, so we'll just ignore all that).

Damian was raised on the legacy of Al Ghul, but technically that one only goes back 2 generations. Being promised (by Talia) to inherit the Wayne fortune, I wonder how much he knows about the history of his Father's side at this point? With Bruce (assumed to be genuinely dead at this point) out of the picture, is there an added pressure? An added loss? One day, will Damian's portrait be on this wall?

Just imagine if Bruce's portrait was already up, and then just a single beat of Damian looking at the blank space next to it... But once again, the writing kinda glosses over this character opportunity to forward the plot instead (not a bad thing, but just a shame that the potential is now lost).

GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, good food, good food...

They've obviously built up a healthy rapport at this point, so it especially hurts when Dick doesn't realise the depth of his insecurities (he even brushes it off twice, omg!!!).

For all the surface-level boasting Damian peacocks about his superior skills, (arguably) having already proved himself being worthy of the mantle of Robin, Damian knows, consciously or subconsciously, that it isn't enough. Despite how well he's settled into the role, true approval must come from his father in an emotional bid, and Damian is anxiously aware of exactly how Bruce feels about him.

I've always heard about how Morrison "character assassinated" Talia, and to be honest, my uneducated ass always thought "surely it can't be that bad". My god, it really is that bad.

It's unfortunately difficult to separate this characterisation from "canon" since it seems to be the main catalyst for why Damian chooses to stay in Gotham. Damian's motivations in his introductory comics were pretty vague and poorly written imo, so I am assuming this is Morrison's way of establishing something more definitive-- it's just a shame that Talia's writing has seemingly taken the fall for it.

#1 DICK GRAYSON STAN, DAMIAN WAYNE, RAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is...... silly.... this is so silly... And yet, I must admit, this twist had me gagged.

Context: During Damian's spinal surgery, Talia inserted a device that let's her control his body. Slade then takes over (trying to get revenge on Dick as well).

Jesus, this is grim 😻! Slade kinda catching some shade for being an old man tho hahaha. Really emotional panels from the Quitely; the desperation, struggle, and absolute trust between Batman and Robin is so raw and uncomfortable (positive!).

In an era where Damian was still universally hated, it's nice to see in-context moments of Damian's selflessness and maturity, despite the fandom rhetoric of him being a selfish brat.

DAMIAN CONVINCING HIMSELF THAT (he thinks) BRUCE WILL TAKE THE MANTLE OF ROBIN AWAY WHEN HE RETURNS AAUUUGGHHHOOUUUGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something else that I love about Damian's character that I don't see get brought up often is the theme of unconditional love (for family). Even after what seems like an ultimate betrayal in love and trust, Damian still respects his mother, calls her as such, and still holds on to the expectations that, in a roundabout way, he could still make her proud.

This is similarly the case with Bruce, where Damian believes that Bruce has no affection or trust towards him, but he still respects him (and their relationship) as his father.

To cap this off, I also wanted to include this "writer's commentary" by Morrison lol.

Overall, this arc had a little more bite than the last! Everything is obviously overshadowed by the "Bruce Returns" event, but we got some really definitive Damian moments... even if it was at the expense of Talia's character...

Anyone else have favourite moments to share? Personal analysis and thoughts? Let's talk about it 🥰!

[genericpuff]

Who is your favorite LO character? Who is your favorite LR character?

i feeeeel like my answers change every time i get asked this question JFDSKLAFJSDALK but that's okay because it just means i'm constantly finding new ways to analyze and explore these characters >:3

LO faves: Minthe and Hephaestus.

Minthe because she obviously gets such shit treatment in the comic and subsequently from the fanbase, but she's a lot more relatable than 99% of the characters in the plot, she feels like she has actual depth and a real character arc, even if that arc ended with an unceremonious whisper. It goes to show how great of a character she was that Rachel practically had to nerf her out of the plot, because it was often only ever at its best when she was present. Funny how as soon as she was written out, there was nothing interesting going on with Hades or Persephone anymore - the plot was literally so boring without her that Rachel literally tried to create a Minthe 2.0 through Leuce, and we all know how well that went /s

As for Hephaestus, nothing super specific, I just like his vibes. Maybe it's just my absent older brother issues, but I would love to just like, hang out with him, game in the same room as him, just autistic parallel play stuff, I think he would be into that. Only complaint is the design flaw of giving him running blades as the default prosthetic, that can't be comfortable for his hips and joints. But that's not his fault u.u and that's basically my only complaint about him which makes him a winner in my book, esp compared to the rest of the cast. He might not be in the comic all that much, but that was clearly to his benefit because it seems the more attention Rachel pays to a character, the worse they wind up being in the long run due to poor writing. Hephaestus is in the comic just enough, not too little, not too often.

So yeah, Minthe and Hephaestus are both 10/10 characters written by a 0/10 writer. They did the best they could... not Rachel of course, she did literally the bare minimum of "representation" which often came across as ignorant white knighting at best and blatant stereotyping / stigmatizing at worst, I mean that Hephaestus and Minthe did the best they could as genuinely interesting characters with unique circumstances and disabilities who were being written by an amateur Wattpad-level writer with a privileged white guilt complex lmao

LR faves (within the cast that's currently been introduced): Persephone and Dionysus.

I know, very different from my LO choices, esp considering Persephone herself within LO is literally one of the most insufferable characters by the end, but I'm frankly having a great time rewriting her in my own way, especially in regards to her specific role as the "wrathful side" of Kore. I know I've gotten questions regarding the interpretation of Kore as a DID system, and while that interpretation is totally valid, the angle I always approached it from was that repressed trauma and emotional bottlenecking. Obviously those two things are, in and of themselves, contributing factors to DID, so far be it from me to tell people they can't identify with Kore / Persephone as DID representation. It just motivates me even more to give her the character arc she deserves and never got. It's gonna be messy. It's even gonna be downright ugly at times.

But I hope, in the end, that anyone who identifies with her struggles will find closure and comfort in the resolution of her story. It's certainly a challenging tightrope to walk, between honoring the themes of her original myth, retelling a version of her that almost existed in LO (a version that I was hoping for and never got), and dissecting the implications of my own version of her throughout LR's narrative, but it's a challenge that I've been having a great time undertaking and all I can hope for is that I can meet and possibly exceed my own expectations - as well as the readers - in the end. This is Kore's story - it's also Persephone's.

As for Dionysus... he's just a very, very fun character to write, and someone who I had the advantage of introducing before he was depicted in LO. It wasn't intentional but it sure as shit paid off because even though I'm sure some will assume that this is my own re-interpretation of Rachel's version of the character, myself and anyone else who was there at the time can vouch that Dionysus was aaaalllll me, baby LMAO

All that said, we're obviously going at it from a VERY different angle than how he was tackled in LO, but I'm hoping people enjoy his presence in the story, especially as he becomes more involved (which is very, very soon wink wink) The roles have definitely reversed here with Dionysus taking on more of a "parental" role to Kore rather than the other way around. I feel like his characterization has only grown stronger in hindsight compared to what we got in LO, especially where he's one of the only characters who beat LO to the punch and wound up being in a sort of arms race with Rachel's depiction ─=≡Σ((( つ•̀ω•́)つ

[fallloverfic]

Thoughts on To Be Hero X Episode 3: The Ever-Standing Hero

Another great episode!

The animation's still so lovely. I do like what they're doing with the 3D, but I'm just imagining how much more fun a full 2D animated series in the style they use would be. It looks so nice and I love whenever they use it, though this episode they kind of cranked up the horror, at least for the downsides of Firm Man's powers.

I like they still focus on Lin Ling's regret. They could have easily moved on, and many shows do, but obviously he feels doubts, and maybe that ties into his increased anxiety he mentions as part of his perfect powers. I also appreciate they incorporate it a bit into his movements (e.g., with the soda cans, and even how he moves around spaces). OCD can be really debilitating. They haven't really shown the full breadth of it (though the at least vague implication it's maybe what led Nice to jump is there, I suppose), so it'll be interesting to see how it's explored in future.

Apparently Nice's Hero Tower floor number is actually a 12, not a 10, but also not a 15. So did Lin Ling drop in the rankings to 15 from Nice's 12 at some point? Wouldn't really make sense because he seemingly didn't move rooms, unless they just did it without showing us...

It's a really weird way to draw a two, though.

Also did that one guy get smashed to bits against Firm Man adlkjal I know the show opened with an apparent suicide, but wow lol

This is me.

I also just want to compliment how nice (no pun intended) it is watch Lin Ling fly around. It's so smooth and pretty. His movement in general is really pleasant to watch.

I don't feel super big brain for guessing Wolf Girl was the little girl. That seemed really heavily foreshadowed lol I think the angle of "this fan noticed something no one else did and tried to help in their own way" is an interesting premise for a narrative, especially when, despite Lin Ling's insistence that she wasn't going to kill the other little girl and didn't care about destroying the statue, she likely hurt and maybe even killed a lot of people. The piping is seemingly for water, and we have no idea how much damage her stunt caused to the local infrastructure. How many people might be without running water or have contaminated water for some length of time, or no access to functional bathrooms, or any sewage backlogs that might cause issues even with the functional stuff, let alone how screwed up the roads are going to be for deliveries, travel, and work. How many people were trapped in collapses or injured by debris, especially disabled folks, or will suffer while waiting for rescue as most of the other heroes are busy or disabled themselves.

There's just the disconnect of "people force a lot of expectations on celebrity" and "some people notice how bad that is for them and just want them to be free", which can be a good thing, with, "okay, but she definitely killed and/or injured people, possibly permanently, just to save one guy, who would have potentially been haunted with letting the world down or letting a kid die." And maybe that's part of the point: obsessing over a celebrity and trying to control them because you think you know what's best for them isn't a good thing, either. It was Lin Ling's interference that saved the day, to a degree, after all, not Wolf Girl's. And Firm Man's decision to let go of his power.

Also liked the "bullying is shitty" plot. Some folks mock the bullying in these animated series like, "Oh it can't be that bad, that's cartoonishly over the top." Nah, it's generally worse :/

Generally, though, I appreciate the story exploring the downsides of certain powersets. Poor Firm Man. He really went through a lot. I hope he gets to sleep and go to the bathroom normally and just breathe. I also love Lin Ling's aside that lifting the world's biggest boulder really isn't hero work or generally necessary lol I mean why is a giant statue made of diamond(???) necessary (also why couldn't they have, I don't know, moved it over a few feet, set it down, and then gotten to safety?).

Also I'm happy the little girl got up and ran to safety instead of waiting for Firm Man to do it. Another show might have made her wait. She didn't. She was proactive. Good.

Considering Enlighter's whole thing is about revealing frauds, I wonder if that's even Moon, or just a decoy, maybe someone he dressed up, or even a hologram or something, considering what we've seen of the technology. But generally, it sucks if she got captured when she thought she was free! Since she left her gun behind, and potentially her power with it, she probably is more vulnerable.

I'm curious if Wreck (if he survived) will come back next episode? To help "Nice" maybe? It'll be interesting, anyway. Looking forward to Episode 4!

More thoughts:

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 (You are here), Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9

[lilliryth]

I have such a hard time interacting with Stobotnik content post- movie 3 because of how most of it seems to be interested in Stone angst; like I get how it can be super fulfilling for people into that sort of thing, but the closest angst I can handle when it comes to them is a temporary heartbreak whilst Stone is semi-convinced but not entirely of Ivo’s death, meanwhile Ivo is stranded and pining yet again, but they are inevitably going to find one another. I don’t know how to stay only in the one circle and not the other, though. I know that canon is whatever you want it to be once a piece of media ends on an open note, but it still feels Too Real whenever I’m looking at art of Stone grieving alone instead of a bittersweet vibe of redemption and searching.

Plus, Villain!Stone can happen a million more ways than one! It doesn’t have to be grief, it can just be him finally taking charge of Schemes™ during Ivo’s absence, so that once he comes back he kinda has to reckon with Stone strictly as an equal instead of a subordinate he can boss around. I also think ngl it’s a little more in-character?? Stone doesn’t go mad with loss at the end of the third movie, he more or less sees the point in Ivo’s sacrifice and is both heartbroken and full of love for the man who saved his (and every person on the planet’s) life.

Anyhow—with the movie itself there are definitely a couple aspects I could do without, just minor details, specifically how the narrative handles Ivo’s changing appearance (not just how he’s introduced in a manner that kind of puts him under a magnifying glass, but also the way they had Stone’s latte art centered around movie 1 Ivo which. okay but then it’s backhanded and Stone wouldn’t do that), so I’m not gonna pray to whatever’s portrayed onscreen as the one and only truth, esp when the ending clearly shows Shadow surviving and is only ambiguous about Ivo for Jim Carrey’s sake. To me a work of art isn’t just the text but the implication and intent behind it.

Bottom line I want them to be happy together, because to me StH for all its potential to have adult themes is still an escapist thing for me. Specifically with Ivo and Stone, the chance to have kid whimsy and play even when you’re grown. That’s what their relationship feels like, and it’s precious to me.

[ilions-end]

Hiii! I just finished The Iliad and I have THE NEED to get deeply into classics and greek mythology but I don't know where to start (obv next I'm reading The Odyssey lol) I'm also really interested in analysis of these texts, so if you have some recs on how to start and what should I read/watch/listen I would be very grateful! Thanks a lot! Love your blog!

hiii yay welcome aboard!

me 🤝 you: getting bit by the bug from reading the iliad

keep in mind i'm not a classicist (just a random nerd) and i'm obsessed with the epic cycle in particular, so i'm not super familiar with whatever parts of greek mythology don't bump up against the trojan war, lol. so here are just some cycle-specific reccs:

so for some PRIMARY SOURCES, somewhat in order of importance (according to me):

there's the iliad and the odyssey, obviously. basically they're our only two surviving -- and non-consecutive -- episodes of the ancient tv show that was the epic cycle.

there are several surviving plays by aeschylus, sophocles and euripides that portray other crucial moments in/related to the trojan war (in rough plot order: iphigenia in aulis, ajax, philoctetes, the trojan women, hecuba, the oresteia, electra, orestes, and more). a lot of them are excellent in their own right and well worth reading or watching imo.

(if i could go back and change one thing about my own initial reading order, i wish i could have read aeschylus' oresteia in between the iliad and the odyssey, to really appreciate and understand the implications whenever the odyssey alludes to agamemnon's homecoming. clytemnestra and orestes' deeds haunt several characters of the odyssey, and i did not fully understand the weight of that when i first read it).

there's quintus of smyrna's 4th century posthomerica, aka the trojan epic, which tries to cobble together the plots of the (now missing) epics that originally went between the iliad and the odyssey. the literary quality is markedly poorer than homer, but it really helped me understand the chronology of the events at the end of the trojan war. this one has the wooden horse in it.

the achilleid by statius (a roman, not greek) is a very unfinished epic that was meant to tell achilles' life story. the two parts that exist focus almost entirely on the skyros narrative (thetis disguising achilles as a girl to keep him away from the war). i think what little exists of it is delightful, but then i'm a statius fangirl who also finds achilles intriguing as a character.

as for ANALYSES, everything related to homer and the epic cycle has been actively analyzed for millennia (isn't it wonderful!), so i'd recommend simply looking into whichever facets interest you. like i love going to JSTOR and just searching up whichever character/scene/relationship from mythology i've got on my mind and read whatever catches my eye. if i land on a paper that i REALLY enjoy the perspective of, i'll look at its bibliography/sources and jot down whatever looks neat, to look for later (interlibrary loans rule for this).

personally i'm also a big fan of elizabeth vandiver's introductory audio lectures (she's got ones for the iliad, odyssey, greek plays, and classical mythology in general). the context and insights she presents have really helped my own understanding and appreciation of those works. if you want, you can drop me a dm and i can show you where to get them :)))

i realize this might look really overwhelming or like i'm giving you homework or something! you're forever free to skip straight to whichever parts interest you, that's what i did! wanna revel in odysseus' nastier side? try philoctetes. wanna cry some more about astyanax? read the trojan women (or check out the katharine hepburn movie). want a more faceted view of agamemnon? try iphigenia in aulis (or the 1977 film adaptation iphigenia). want to read breathless descriptions of achilles' androgynous beauty? that's the achilleid. there are so many stories out there!

[the-storyteller78]

Ok, midterms are officially done and I’m finally getting my Vengeance Saga thoughts together. HERE WE GO.

I will be very frank. This was not my favorite saga. I did really like portions of it, and I was still left gobsmacked and mouth agape by the end of it, but overall, it was not one of the stronger sagas. Of course, I have nothing but respect for Jorge and all the amazing voices who contributed to this musical. Epic is still very dear to me, whatever qualms I may have. And I have the privilege of yapping on Tumblr without having done any of the work in figuring out all the logistics of creating a musical, so just remember: These are my opinions. Just me blabbering cus I like talking about Epic.

(And I know this would be very unconventional, but when the stage production of Epic comes out, I almost want there to be an intermission sort of thing after the Wisdom Saga or something. I don’t know how that would work out, but I feel like it would provide an indication of how much time has passed for Odysseus on the island.)

“Not Sorry For Loving You.” I felt nothing. I understand that Calypso has suffered because of her punishment of isolation, and I sympathize with what she had to go through. But I do not like her at all. I loathe her. Her tragic backstory does not give her permission to keep a man prisoner for seven years and ignore his desperate pleas to be allowed to leave. It does not give her leave to constantly pursue him when he has unequivocally told her that he is married and very much NOT. INTERESTED. And that’s barely even touching on the implications of sexual harassment. I was not happy with the choice to make Odysseus say that he loves her at all, even if it’s not romantic, but I was honestly very satisfied by the absolute stone-cold expression he had in Gigi’s animatic. That is not the face of a man who cares one bit about someone who kept him captive.

Anyhow. Moving on (because I’ll never stop talking about it if I don’t).

I really feel that “Dangerous” and “Charybdis” could’ve been combined in some way. Look, I love Troy Doherty’s voice. Every verse he sings in Epic is such a jam. But I have to say that “Dangerous” is probably one of the less narratively important songs in the entire musical. We know the journey is dangerous; it’s BEEN dangerous the whole time. No reason that would change now, especially with Poseidon still after him. And I know some people think “Charybdis” could be taken out, but I kind of like that the idea of him being dropped into this super scary situation right after leaving Ogygia but rallying himself and declaring that he’s still fighting. He’s not giving up. The way I see it, Odysseus’ lyrics in “Charybdis” are a meaningful specifically because he is returning to himself, he’s not willing to just die anymore like he was seriously considering on Ogygia. He has hope. I think it would be interesting to have “Charybdis” come right after “Not Sorry For Loving You,” have Hermes appear towards the end of the song, then have Odysseus sing his adorable little Penelope I’m coming home my love don’t worry moment. I don’t know how that would work out musically, but I’m sure someone could figure it out.

AND THEN POSEIDON POPS OUT OF THE OCEAN. “Get in the Water” was pretty intense; I don’t really have much to say about it. The voices of his mom, Eurylochus, and Polites echoing around him as he teeters on the brink of death had me teary-eyed. I’ll be real though, I’m not sure why the wind bag was relevant. It was such a lose-lose situation. If he doesn’t open the bag, he gets drowned by Poseidon. If he does open the bag to survive and fight Poseidon, he can’t go home. Either way, he loses. Was it like that on purpose because Zeus was trying to be a jerk even after flash-frying his daughter??

(Also, I don’t know what the physics or whatever of a super powerful storm bag jet pack is, but I somehow doubt it would be a viable option)

“600 Strike.” I wanted to like this song. And I will freely admit, the ending had me breathless and absolutely on the edge of my seat. However, I was definitely struggling not to cringe when he yelled 600 strike. I don’t know why. I was trying so hard to be cool about it, but I just could not. And I don’t get how he beat Poseidon with a regular old sword in the middle of an ocean. AN OCEAN. WHICH POSEIDON CONTROLS. We saw how helpless Odysseus and his crew were against Poseidon in “Ruthlessness,” and now he just goes down after a few blows from Odysseus who, by the way, does not have any divine enhancements or support at the moment. The wind bag doesn’t give him super strength. His sword isn’t magically able to cut a god. How is he suddenly able to beat him? The power of friendship?? At least the trident doing damage makes sense because it’s Poseidon’s own weapon. Which brings me to my final point. Like I said earlier, the end of “600 Strike” was really impactful. However, because I don’t think it makes sense for Poseidon to have been in that position to begin with, I can’t say that it sat entirely well with me from a narrative standpoint. I’m not sure what I would’ve liked to see, but maybe I’ll make a separate post about it once I mull it over some more.

OK THAT’S A WRAP. Thanks to everyone who managed to get to the end of this rant. Went waaaay longer than I expected, but what can I say. I’m just a girl.

[bababerries]

Can’t sleep bc I’m anxiously anticipating mizu5

I really really want them to explicitly commit to Mizuki’s transness. I’m pretty confident Mizuki being a transgirl is colopales intended purpose but I’m not super confident in colopale being explicit about it I worry they’ll leave it vague to keep both sides happy and that would be very disappointing and such a cowardice move. I’m just exhausted of most of the conversation around Mizuki being around if they’re actually trans.

If colopale wanted to make a GNC/crossdressing character that’s fine but if Mizuki was supposed to be that that would be incredbily malicious, deceitful and transphobic with the way they went about setting Mizuki up. (The idea of having to hide your hobby in GNC fashion by living as the opposite gender is really ridiculous way of going about it and has really bad implications) It sucks that Mizuki is such a great transfem character that people spend more time arguing about it if she’s transfem then discussing how the narrative goes about her trans femininity because what they do with her is very interesting.

And even fans who do respect her transgirl identity I feel like are a bit close minded in some regards. I think it’s gotten better over time. And while I’m not opposed to they/them nonbinary fem presenting Mizuki as an interpretation I really don’t like how people say that Mizuki IS without a doubt nonbinary (they could be, but we don’t technically know the term they use for them self specifically) and got pretty hostile at transgirl and she/her being used for Mizuki. And the arguments for this bother me

“They use they/them for them in the text!” The text of the English translation for sekai and I think people forget that. It’s just a bit Eurocentric and assumes that Japanese pronouns work that same as English ones when they dont. The translation just tried to translate boku as literally as possible. (The story also would just not work if people Mizuki was afraid to come out to was already using they/them pronouns for them) and it neglects a really interesting transfem read for Mizuki where she as a transgirl tries to third gender herself because she still doesn’t fully accept herself for who she is and it makes the use of more feminine pronouns in later stories as she gains confidence in herself really loving to me.

And I want to talk more about Mizuki in this lens…. I find her really powerful and she’s affected me and some of my friends a lot through her exploitation of transness. I think she’s really great rep that deserves to be discussed more in deph. I’m sick of people disrespecting her identity. I honestly do feel a bit pessimistic regarding colopale being explicit and debunking transmasc/gnc male “”reads”” of Mizuki but I really hope I’m proven wrong. I don’t want to hold their hand on this because trans girls really deserve this. They deserve respect. She deserves respect.

[angeldeviloshi]

I'm thinking about Future's contract with Aki again. And the fact that he saw Aki's "worst death" which took place BECAUSE of Aki seeing that vision and going to Angel Devil and then the beach... not to mention the many times he survived up till that point due to Future's contract.

Makes me wonder about the linearity of the future the Future Devil sees. Especially accounting for the contracts he's had with the other devil hunters before Aki.

If we assume that the future is fixed and Future is simply witnessing Aki living out his worst death after they've established his contract, not to mention the fact Future said he determines the terms of the contract based on what he sees in his contractor's future... then he likely agrees to contracts and asks for the according payment he sees based on whether or not he likes what he saw, almost like casting himself in a film he likes.

That Future himself is both the audience and a subtle auteur in Aki's eye... That Aki played his part as an audience surrogate as the "normal guy" while framing the narrative of part 1 to us through his selective lens until the moment of his death when the true nature of the narrative is revealed.

But the future "can't be changed" and I wonder about the futility of it experienced by the Future Devil too, he can provide the means to influence someone's fate with his power and contract, but they ultimately lead down a single outcome, what he sees is one future that he has yet to partake in but nonetheless involves him in the role he plays in determining where it goes.

And the fact that only two devil hunters besides Aki managed to get a contract with him... kinda implies that Future likely saw his involvement in their futures too w this line of thought and that this is a rare occurence for him. That the two other devil hunters would live a future without half their lifespan and the physical sense they sacrificed as payment because of him. That this future exists with him in it.

But if the future isn't fixed, and I kinda talked a bit abt this in my other Future Devil thread, then he may have looked into a plethora of possible futures and settled for the one leading to Aki's "worst death" the power he provides not one that branches his future but one that nips those branches. Aki's "worst death" as his "most interesting, compelling, dramatic death". The death that reverberates into part 2 through Denji. (Side note but Future resembling a tree adds a whole other layer of symbolism to Denji and Aki's arcs in the context of their family and the chainsaw, the pruning of the cycle as narrative inevitability)

This is super fun to think about on a meta level for canon divergence ideas, Future has a lot to dig into with this. But also just how these implications affect part 2 as far as the prophecy is concerned. Cuz I'm currently of the idea that the Church may be enacting a self-fulfilling prophecy in order to combat it.

That the Church represents CSM's fandom and its exploit of youth with passion and arms in exchange for their body and devotion, (what Aki himself was under PS and Makima) that Aki's fate forms the cornerstone of this fandom. That Denji is tangled between this violence and family bc of his ghost of family that he inherited from Aki's. The ouroboros of p2's narrative bled over from p1.

Cosmos's quote to Santa about everything running its course too, much to think about.

But even just the fact that Future and Cosmos are devils, born from human concepts which in turn bring these concepts to life and altering reality, then used by humans...

This is what I think about Death too, and the self-fulfilling prophecy angle of the apocalypse. The tree people could potentially be one of the four fates besides death that Pochita erased, tho that might clash with Pochita's erasure abilities thru his stomach being intact even in Aging's world despite Aging's world disabling devil powers.

[clio-just-clio]

I’ve got one episode left of season 8 and unfortunately I think my opinions on it have soured a bit, even though there’s still some life in the series. here’s a condensed list of my thoughts:

The Good

- Doggett and almost everything related to him. He’s a super nice and standup guy, and his headstrong skepticism and by-the-book mindset gives him a near perfect dynamic with Scully (and later with Mulder).

- Scully being forced to see things the way Mulder did puts her in a fascinating situation where she has to realize that she just… isn’t able to replace him, and I’d like to think this is the real reason she ends up leaving the bureau

- The entirety of Via Negativa. Certainly a top 10 episode, possibly a top 5? I’ll have to circle back with a full ranking after I finish season 9

- Reyes! I really like her more nuanced take on the supernatural; she’s not a true believer or hardened skeptic, so she pairs nicely with the mostly down-to-earth Doggett. I’m looking forward to their adventures together in season 9. Unfortunately, there’s one aspect of her character that I do not like at all, which we’ll get to.

The Bad

- After an incredibly strong start with the search for Mulder and introduction of Doggett, the mythology kind of takes a nosedive. As Scully gets more gregnant the narrative gradually strips her of agency in a way the show has long threatened to do, and I really don’t like it. We get to a point where she’s being ferried around by The Boys (and Reyes) so that she can escape from an… alien replacement super soldier… ohh we’ll get to them.

- Reyes is a super competent investigator with a particular interest and expertise in cults and ritualistic crimes. This is cool and makes sense. But you know what doesn’t? Making her actually, honest-to-God psychic. In my opinion the X-Files protagonists should get fleeting glimpses of the supernatural during their investigations, and maybe some connections to it in their backstory, but they should not be supernatural themselves. I hope they abandon Reyes’ visions next season because they’re the one thing holding me back from embracing her as a series lead like I did with Doggett.

- Mulder actually, literally rises from the dead. This is bad. I really don’t think him dying served any purpose either. Just have Scully find him alive!! Give these poor sods a rest, please, they’ve earned it.

- The alien super soldier human replacements. I also don’t like the implication that Scully has an alien baby or whatever, because again, there should be some separation between our leads and the supernatural. Anyway, it looks like we’re doing Invasion of the Body Snatchers again, and it’s just not that interesting here. “oh but they could be anyone” you know who else could be anyone? The black oil! Or the alien bounty hunters! Why make a third, more cliche type of alien that looks like a person??

Anyway. I might update this when I see the finale, but let me know how wrong I am in the notes

[one-squash-one-end]

>1.6k words on bi Gansey

Hi! This belongs to my big Raven Cycle analysis, click here for the masterpost.

Today we are diving into all the reasons why I think Gansey is a bi king (and then some more). Enjoy!

(I think there might be mild spoilers up to trk, nothing too bad though, more character interactions than plot)

b) Gansey

Alright hear me out. This man. There is nothing this rich boy can do to beat the fruit allegations. He is a bi king, through and through. Everyone but him knows, including you, because what I have to say is the absolute truth and I am great at convincing. I once saw a tumblr post that said “Gansey has to physically restrain himself from kissing all his friends” and there has never been anything more true.

And it’s important to note that this is really not only reader interpretation. Or, at least, reader interpretation includes other character’s interpretations, which are sometimes incredibly straight(lol)forward.

After doing Adam a big favor, Gansey’s sister Helen (who is aro-ace btw, because I said so) immediately assumes he is sleeping with him, which is a conclusion she jumped to way too quickly if Gansey has never previously shown any interest in Adam or other boys. Like, she seems to know him quite well, and for her to just think he’s in a relationship with Adam says a lot about the homoeroticism prevalent in Gansey’s friendships with both Adam and also Ronan.

Because then we have Kavinsky, another canonically queer character, who thus might arguably have some sort of gaydar, assuming Ronan and Gansey are in a romantic (but most of all, sexual) relationship. Admittedly, this has largely to do with Kavinsky assuming things about Ronan and his sexuality, as is explicitly mentioned in the book. However, you can very easily speculate about someone’s sexuality without knowing their (previous) partners, if there have been any at all, so to correctly believe Ronan is gay does not have to randomly entail relationship speculations. So somewhere, even from not interacting with them so much, Kavinsky must have gotten that idea. That somewhere is the deep affection the two of them share, which is absolutely palpable for everyone around. Yes, I know their relationship is described as brotherly (please note I do not condone incest!), but also somewhere within “they’re bros” lies the implication they are gay. Two bros chilling in a hot tub. They’re having a bromance. Let bros kiss.

Another person who seems to believe in a Gansey romance above bromance is Henry, who at that point of book three had only interacted with him at school very superficially. We can assume the way Gansey behaves with Adam and Ronan at school is very much homoerotic, or elsewise Henry would have no reason to be surprised about seeing Gansey with Blue (“a chick”). He can’t be surprised about Gansey pulling… someone, considering he is apparently super good-looking, he just never had reason to assume Gansey was anything but achillean.

Now this was mostly people who don’t know Gansey that well, or at least people not part of the inner circle, so it can’t mean that much, right? Surely there would not be anyone who truly, deeply knows Gansey, who would assume he is queer. Right? Wrong. I have since forgotten the context of that quote, but Adam, someone who is very close to both of them, thinks that Ronan and Gansey could date. Make of that what you will, but I will it to be homoerotic subtext. (Or text, as what Adam says is what he says, no room for interpretation there.)

Lastly, Adam’s father called him the f-slur. Ok, I will admit that it’s not completely confirmed to be that, but what else would a censored word with f stand for? Again, it’s hard to tell, because my two options would be the slur and just straight-up “fucker”, but both “f*g” and “fuck” are used directly in the following books. The f-slur was used directly in Ronan’s narrative though, in that of a character who talks very obscenely in general, so I have no trouble believing Gansey just wouldn’t have wanted to repeat that word, especially if it’s just a memory.

The line between romantic and platonic interactions is thin enough in this series as it is, but Gansey seems to blur it especially. I am going to touch on that at a later point, but platonic affection is given a very important role, so much that in some parts it carries as much significance as romantic actions do (as it should- relationship anarchy rules), if not more. With Gansey that seems to be especially strong, a lot of the things he does with his friends seeming romantic.

First of all, he is co-parenting with Ronan. Yes, it is a bird, but Ronan loves her like a human daughter so the point stands. The two of them even squabble about it like an old married couple, Gansey’s legendary “this is exactly why I didn’t want to have a baby with you” speaks for itself.

Then there is the insomnia quality time, as I like to call it. We, as the readers, are probably supposed to focus on the late night phone calls and drives with Blue, the fact that “she makes [him] quiet”, and that he can sleep after talking to her. But what I find equally important is the time he spends with Ronan at Monmouth during those sleepless nights, them getting orange juice at three a.m. While it might not be something super comforting that makes them both fall asleep, this routine they seem to have fallen into, just spending time while not expecting anything from the other, is something that means a lot to me; they are very much giving platonic soulmates, but also what if they kissed?

Of course I cannot not mention “While I’m gone, dream me the world. Something new for every night.” That boy is being unnecessarily dramatic about going away for literally one weekend. And why? Because “they had been a two-headed creature for so long, Ronan-and-Gansey. He couldn’t say it, though. There were a thousand reasons why he couldn’t say it.” What are those reasons though? Is it because he is actually in love with Ronan but admitting to that would make the friendship super fucking awkward so he whips out a dramatic, half-romantic metaphor quote? Yeah, that makes total sense.

Staying on my Ronsey bullshit, let’s not forget the glorious, deleted pool table scene. In case you are not familiar with it, or have forgotten the way it sounds (probably the reason it was deleted), I’ll just let two quotes speak for themselves. “There was something suggestive about how [Ronan] wore the suit” Oh yes, of course there was. Sometimes you wear clothing with a certain intention, and in Ronan’s case, that intention is to be bent over the pool table by Gansey. This becomes even clearer here: “Gansey was well aware that Ronan rather fancied the way he looked while he played pool, and the way he reached across the felt now, intentional and elegant and coiled, indicated that he was fancying himself at this very moment.” Once again, everything is super intentional, and Gansey wants to fuck him so badly. Not even kidding at this point, the way Maggie wrote this scene really makes it look like Gansey finds Ronan super hot; even as an aromantic asexual person I have to say, this is a lot more than “bro appreciating his best friend’s glow-up in a completely heterosexual way”. This iconic scene is gay brainrot, which is exactly why we did not get to experience this masterpiece within an actual, published book. The Ronsey shippers would have gone too wild.

[Speaking of which, I’d like to clarify that I do not ship Ronsey in the way some other people do, I do prefer them with their canon love interests, however I clearly see the potential of them having had some kind of mutual attraction in the past, I just think it makes the dynamic a lot more fun and interesting, sort of like how Jesper had a crush on Kaz in Six of Crows.]

Gansey has received at least one (1) dick pic of Ronan. The circumstances do not say anything about either Gansey or Ronan, but I think it’s funny, it builds character, so I chose to include it in this.

Perhaps the strongest evidence for him running with the lgbtq+ is the fact that he goes to an all-boys school. Come on, what is he supposed to do, surrounded by all those guys rich enough to afford good haircuts and a private trainer? Should he just not have gay thoughts? Impossible.

Now all this was mostly evidence for Gansey swinging that way, somehow, but of course he’s one of those doors that open both ways. Yes, he has a girlfriend, but there is even more proof for him being specifically m-spec, just you wait. To begin with, apart from his friends Gansey has two true loves. Henrietta (the town with a female name, who his sister refers to as his girlfriend- the same sister who assumes Gansey is sleeping with Adam; Helen is a bi Gansey truther) and Glendower, the dead, male king. Obviously, this is totally serious business. Additionally, I have talked through to a very full extent how he is in love with Ronan, but of course he is also in love with Henry, I do not have to elaborate on this. He is also very much jealous when Blue and Adam are dating, as is described multiple times, but we don’t find out exactly who he is jealous of. Yes, he likes Blue, and he is sad that his best friend is sort of being stolen away etc., but what if he also just wanted to hold hands. With both of them. At once.

It’s not only Gansey being in love with all of them, it’s also all of them being in love with Gansey. His bi swagger. It was this: Blue finding him irresistible. It was this: Ronan wanting to smash his fist through a wall because of how hot Gansey is. It was this: Henry saying Gansey is a “Caucasian with great hair”.

Bi Gansey is the truth and I will defend that until the day I die.

However, I will admit that he is absolutely a cis guy, no question. At no point in his life has he had to be afraid to take up space or anything, but that man supports trans rights of course. He would not wear a crop top on his own, but considering how he is in love with them, Blue, Ronan and Henry could bully him into it and he would rock it.

[munchkinmarauder]

So I'm reading What If Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker were siblings and I find myself disappointed- this book is probably just not for me. Shame I really wanted to like it and I recognise the landmark significance of having a writer of Roma decent finally write Wanda. It's a wonderful thing and I hope it opens more doors for the writer and for Roma and other minority creators to write minority characters. However, reading this I have mixed feelings. I've got some thoughts under the cut (spoilers).

I'll give this book a 4/10 but it's treatment of Pietro and other non American characters has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm a massive Pietro fan and a fan of both twins so I may be biased. I hope others can get more out of this book than me. It definitely has it's good points that I can see winning it some fans.

Let's just say this is a YA book that reads very YA. I can definitely see the appeal for fans, especially of Spiderman. Wanda is the main character though little of her lore gets used and her relationships are destroyed. The author does make a genuine and really nice effort to respect and call focus to Wanda's heritage and the disconnect of being an American adoptee.and there are some nice mentions of Django but it all gets undercut by the author harping on about how wonderful Aunt May is for introducing Wanda to him.

I do encourage people to pick this book up and form their own opinions. If you are a fan of the MCU and Spiderman comics you'll probably walk away happy and have mixed feelings as a comic Wanda fan (Quicksilver fans and fans of the twins relationship just save yourself the trouble and not read this book trust me!). Maybe wait till it's cheaper though as it's a lot of money to spend on something you might not like - I'm planning on returning or donating my copy because I walked away feeling cheated.

The book however is very American and Wanda is emphasised to be American. The American characters are largely good and the foreigners with foreign accents largely bad. Other Romani characters are either cameos or evil. If your a fan of Pietro and the twins relationship just don't pick this up.

Basically as long as Wanda has a brother with a similar name to Pietro she'll be fine, her bond with her twin can just be superimposed onto other characters. It negates the importance of one of the most important sibling relationships in comics and reads like Magneto's letter to the twins in Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (except where the reader believes that Orlando meant for Magneto to be unironically right). It feels a little dirty and like it's there to serve Peter Parker and give him a win rather than Wanda. Anything meaningful that could have been said about the twins relationship is instead given to Peter.

Making Pietro a one dimensional evil twin was a very boaring and very overdone take. Writers love to make Pietro evil despite the characters history and it never has been done well (as has the evil twin trope in general) and has always been immediately walked back in the comics for a reason.

And while I definitely don't think the author intended it this way, having Wanda have zero interest (Pietro is treated terribly by his sister, the other characters and the narrative from the second he appears or is mentioned) and reject her "evil foreign" family in favour of her "wonderful white American" family has some unfortunate implications.

Wanda also rarely accomplishes anything for herself. The 616 Wanda learns magic on her own, immigrates to America with her brother, builds her own community and reclaims a racist name thrown at her. She works hard and everything she accomplished was her own. In this book everything she accomplishes is because of Peter, Ben and May - they find her a Romani community, she doesn't seem it out on her own, they take her to strange who is souly responsible for teaching her magic and tells her everything she needs to do. Wanda is super passive in this book.

No hate to the writer though. I do think their talented and they have acknowledged they know people will be unhappy with some of the takes in the book. I respect what they've created even if I don't personally like it.

https://x.com/MunchkinM17/status/1828490359682298342

[facultativ]

thoughts on White Lotus finale

pretty much everything that needed to be said about this season of twl has been said, every angle analyzed but there is one aspect that i haven't seen anybody really mention (correct me if i'm wrong ofc) - spoilers below

the thing about this show is that mike white never just writes a character without any complexities. meaning he doesn't write characters that don't have any significant qualities and/or flaws. sure, some of them are significantly worse than others, but overall he always puts a lot of care into writing multi-dimensional people. chelsea could easily be considered the best person this season, but she is, like all the others, a complex being. her relationship with rick is of course the main focus here; on top of having a "i can save him", "he's my 50 yo son" thing with him (which has been discussed by many and is in itself a super interesting dynamic, ofc rooted in the misogynistic belief that women should take care of men, both emotionally and domestically), chelsea is also a pretty superstitious person. and i do mean superstitious and not spiritual.

the main topic this season was evidently the search for one's identity. and it was discussed through an overarching theme, as confirmed by mike white himself: religion. we obviously see that through piper's arc, lochlan's, or the three best friends, especially laurie in the very end, but also through chelsea. throughout the episodes, we see her talk about astrology, yin & yang, meditation, the universe, etc. yet, she never claims herself of any definite religion or belief. she always seems to be picking and choosing various elements of different eastern spiritualities and religions when they help her justify staying with an obviously emotionally unavailable / unstable man that doesn't care nearly as much about her (or help her justify rejecting a loser pick-up artist). this way of seeing spirituality tends to be very superfluous, even when one is meditating and reading books, and can be at times quite self-centered; which is why i prefer calling her superstitious rather than religious or spiritual. of course, she is still a relatively good person, and she obviously loves rick very much and genuinely wanted to help him. but chelsea's death is not meant to be seen as a punishment - or as an implication that she deserved to die -, i think it is a criticism of this popular practice seen in western cultures, one of bastardization and oversimplification of vague eastern religious concepts (also applicable for the approximate use of terms like karma, nirvana, chakra, past lives, aura, etc), which rid them of their intended depth and philosophical meaning to apply them haphazardly to everyday situations and make them fit any given narrative (a practice that could be described, as a woman on tiktok whose name escapes me called, "anthropological thrift-shopping"). we know mike white never shies away from a serious conversation about the exploitative behaviors of white people, so it's not completely unthinkable that he would want to outline this specific tendency here

[vigilskeep]

Considering DA protags are referred to by either title or surname, got any headcanons about that?

i’m going to be real with you i’m not sure i understand what this ask means or if it’s in reference to something i’ve forgotten but i’m going to give it my best shot anyway? and simply proceed to ramble. it’s late so i’m going to be very rambley

i’ve always taken particular notice of duncan’s codex entry saying it’s commonplace for wardens to drop their family names as a sign of abandoning their ties outside the wardens. so the warden being known by their family name is an act of defiance against warden tradition. it’s a good representation of how many warden codes they had to break to do the job, and what firm ties they tend to still have to their respective origins. reminds you that the warden is very often the ultimate anomaly. it can be something of a rallying cry for those whose names arent the type to ordinarily be heard across thedas

as for the ‘hero of ferelden’ title, there’s a couple great things about that one. firstly, it directly mimics loghain’s title, the hero of river dane, which is delicious. who knows how long yours will outlive the death of his, when the wheel of history turns once more! otherwise, i’m super interested in it tying the warden to ferelden especially if the warden is not from ferelden. if you’re dalish, how do you feel about nationhood being applied to you? if you’re a dwarf, are you paragon or hero first? if you’re a city elf or a circle mage, how do you feel about this being the moment they finally suddenly want to decide you’re ‘of’ the same people, rather than pushing you aside? etc

‘hawke’ is so great. love how it depersonifies them. love how they’re the one who doesn’t rlly get a nickname from varric; hawke is the nickname, the false persona carrying the story. love that malcolm probably went by ‘hawke’ too and they stepped right into his shoes. love the genderlessness. love the flavour it gives to the names carver hawke and bethany hawke, the twins who can never be the hawke and struggle to get out from under that shadow, but also are in some ways freer in getting to have their own unique names appended, not made into a lifeless symbol

i’m very fond of ‘champion of kirkwall’. there’s a great beautiful confusing dead tradition of referring to nobles simply as their place name, which would be like for example referring to sebastian himself as starkhaven or anora herself as ferelden, and i would love that to apply to hawke in this case. it’s more relevant if they go dark and become viscount but i think all champions should get it as a treat. you don’t even get to be hawke; you are kirkwall. you clawed your way up it and now it’s a part of you, caked under your fingernails. i like how kirkwall claims them as its champion no matter if they were just fighting for their friend. in da2 everything is narrative, decided after the fact

i wish we could get more into herald of andraste because to me it screams end-of-days cult. a herald arrives ahead of someone, a herald announces them. the implication of a herald of andraste is that they have been sent to cry that she is coming

[pocketgalaxies]

hi! seeing you during all this ep95 mess has been a breath of fresh air. you seem to have a really firm grasp of canon so I wanted to ask what you think of the recent discord message from Liam where he says Orym didn't know that Laudna was under Delilah's influence when she killed Bor'dor? I watched the clip from 4SD, & it's pretty clear that Liam says Orym understood Laudna was opening the door for Delilah when he encouraged her to kill Bor'dor & even says "we'll need that." But the Discord message seems to walk that back. It's been super frustrating being accused of vilifying Orym or infantilizing Laudna for repeating what Liam himself said. I just don't really know how to reconcile these two statements from Liam & it has me a bit confused on Orym's character.

hi anon, thank you!

this turned into a much longer one than i was expecting dfksjdkfs

so last week i posted this Really Long Ask about the whole discussion, if you want to take a look. but i intentionally didn't bring up liam's discord message because you're right! it seemed contradictory to something that was stated in the past, which was confusing

honestly i think the most realistic answer is that liam probably didn't mean for what he said on 4SD to be understood as such a strong and maybe even polarizing character choice. i think a lot of us heard it as "orym sees delilah as a useful/necessary asset that outweighs what might happen to laudna afterward." particularly because he framed it as something that made the whole situation "even creepier," and during that same convo, marisha was emphasizing the psychological impact that killing bor'dor had on laudna. it's a strong stance and it reflects what orym is doing to himself (handing his endgame over to the questionably fickle nana morri to increase their chances of success against ludinus)

but i suppose liam's clarification suggests that he meant it in a softer, more practically level-headed way, like "orym knew he couldn't do a whole lot about delilah's return but he also thought it could have benefits," or something along those lines. they're obviously two hugely different interpretations with pretty big implications on how we understand orym's relationship with laudna

i'm not a connoisseur of orym's character by ANY means so i can't confidently tell you what the change might mean from a narrative perspective, but i personally still prefer the former stronger stance. because i think it raises interesting questions about how orym views his own place in this war and whether or not it's valid for him to (intentionally or subconsciously) project that placement onto the other party members. is it okay for orym to expect the same level of personal sacrifice from laudna, or imogen with predathos (a whole separate can of worms), or anyone else? is it safe? etc etc. but maybe liam doesn't want to go in that direction, or maybe he does but just not in the way we expect, i don't know! only time will tell!

also regardless of what he meant, i think it's important to acknowledge that it's really easy and completely understandable to feel like he was walking something back. that episode of 4SD was almost a whole year ago! many of us built that statement into our perception and understanding of orym's character for a long time, so it's totally valid to go "wait what the fuck???" when liam suddenly pops into the discord to say that's not what he meant. those feelings are valid and real! especially when discourse can already make you question your own intelligence and your personal interpretations of a story, having that pillar, as big or small as it might've been in your mind, knocked over can be really jarring. you are very much not alone in that, and it's okay!!

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

do you have favorite comics or reccs with scarebat vibes?

oh yes, quite a few, actually! there are some issues, which i re-read religiously, like one would a bible lol. an' some which i consider to be more of light fun type of deal.

*i won't give any summaries about the comics itself, so that folks who aren't familiar with them can experience it all on their own accord. but i will give a small notes about my own impression about these, without spoiling the plots / the gist of it. hope, that's okay!*

but, any without further ado, here goes my lil masterlist!

starting off with, Scarecrow Part 1: Dark Wings Fly Away in Fear, an’ Part 2: Haunted House of the Head. it's pretty much everything i could have wanted from scarebat comics, honestly. the storyline, the characterization. the implications. the artstyle. it’s just perfect in my opinion! it’s a two-part comic issues, an’ it was the very first comics i read about them. an' it's still a peak.

Year One: Scarecrow Masters Of Fear *(1995)* a real banger. it gives a very captivating insight into both batman an’ crane’s pov. ‘nothing to fear’ in some ways mirrored its narrative trick, since we get both of their perspectives in one story. an’ for me, this sort of thing can always pass as shipping content, bc it has that edge to it. just enough substance an’ generally fairly strong story to drive the point home. 

Fear for Sale. while it’s not super heavily leaning into batman an’ jon’s interactions, it’s still both visually an’ at it’s core feels like a shippy issue to me. i like how it also plays with more classic comic book-y elements, giving us both 'comedy' an’ lil disturbing bits here an’ there. 

Batman’s Evil Eye. a fun scheme, that is also very directly tied to scarecrow an’ batman’s dynamic. warning for hurt bat fee-fees at the end, cuz jon is an ass lol.

Master of Fear. *Batman #457. (1990)* where do i even begin with this one. it’s just precious. also pretty gay. i mean ...

yeah. this should sell it, i think lol.

Batman Adventures #19 Scarecrow *(1992)* a comics based on animated series. a rather interesting concept an' some lil feels an' spooky moments.

*handy enough, one can find almost all of these comic issues in Batman Arkham : Scarecrow , which pretty much serve as a collection of jonathan crane’s most important classic comics. it was really helpful for someone like me, who had no idea where to start, when it came to batman comicverse. so truly, it was a life savior. not only a lot of issues in there are very scarabat-ish, but it’s also a coherent introduction to comicverse!scarecrow on main.*

now, about more overarching *bigger* arcs, or sets of comics tied together. 

Kings of Fear, is absolute scarebat gold, along with the fact that it’s just generally a very good scarecrow story in general. like even without a shipping element. still, if scarebat had it's own lil sacred book, that's be it. like, seriously. *it’s a separate mini-series, so you won’t have to search for it within many different comic continuities* 

Batman : Terror. another scarebat coded classic. the art took a bit for me to get used to it lol. but i really love the story an’ how absolutely unhinged jon is. *this arc is set within Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, starting from issue 139 an’ finishing with issue 141* 

both of those series really surprised me. i was expecting a meal, but not a whole feast! those two are just really scratching the spot for me. my humble girlie dream is to one day write a series about them too.

an' now the time for some honorable mentions : 

The Six Days of Scarecrow, is a good comics, hence it’s not super shippy, but one can still gain smth of such substance from it too. esp toward the end.

The Scarecrow's Trail of Fear, it’s kinda silly, classic villain plan being well ... very fitting for its era, but it’s entertaining nonetheless. features jonathan kneeling in front of the batman. 

Captain Atom #33 (1989), this one is a rather dark in tone. an' if you have no idea who captain atom is an' why there is smth scarebat related in his comic book, that's okay. i still have no idea who he is either lol. esp since batman an' scarecrow literally put him on sidelines inside his own comic book. in general, there is some very interesting ideas in there, an' also bruce as per usual prioritize scarecrow over his own allies lmao. what to not love about it? an' yeah, you don't have to know what captain atom's deal is to enjoy it.

Fear is the Key, is a super small comic that takes a dip into jonathan’s mind. the version of him, who cannot feel fear anymore due to exposure to his own toxins. it was pretty neat, won't lie. even if i don't vibe with set ups, where jonathan is unable to feel fear *it's featured in Batman: Gotham Knights #49*