#if that was in any way actually relevant to him

[ohrandomfandom]

I kinda really love “Robiin II: Becoming the Monster” because it contrasts the brightness and excitement that “becoming the magic!” encompasses. But what I really like about it is how if there’s an emphasis throughout about his view of himself and how others see him.

Wasn’t he buried next to Sheila? Bruce focuses so hard on how Jason died(does he even know that Sheila led Jason to the joker? That he was just trying to help his mom, that he didn’t just run off recklessly and confront the joker? That at the last moment Sheila, instead of immediately running off tried to help Jason because of how selfless and brave he was but it was too late for them?) that what he remembers of Jason becomes almost warped by every small interaction that could have been a “warning sign” of what was to come. Every close call, every disagreement, every expression of anger from his child is now overshadowing who he actually was. And tbh he still loves Jason dearly and cares for him and his light and hope but after Jason’s death he becomes especially unforgiving, most of all to himself, so he’s remembering what he thinks he should have seen

From growing up in crime alley, people who don’t even know him hear that and just assume he’s violent or destined to become a criminal(probably something he hears a fair amount after he gets adopted by Bruce from higher society members and the media). Maybe he learns from Talia’s sources about how his entire memory has basically been moulded into this tragic thing. The words that travel far enough to reach him are the cruelest. Talking about how he was reckless, how him dying was inevitable, maybe about the memorial in the cave. There’s this one panel set where Talia tells catatonic!Jason that Bruce misses him and that Jason(and dick) gave him hope as Robin and he cries

How he views himself, with his going against some of the rules Batman ingrained in him. How it feels right but also like a betrayal even though he’s so angry with Bruce.

Even physically too ! Dying at 15, losing more than a year of time, did his revival or the Lazarus pit reduce the effects of any malnutrition as a kid? Did he have a growth spurt? Does his body even feel like his? It must be incredibly disorienting and dysphoria inducing to die in one state and basically emerge from that water in a body he can’t remember growing in to. Muscle memory and habits that are unfamiliar.

Becoming the monster is just him learning how to exist. How to help in a way he thinks can actually work. The joker got out and he died, he grew up seeing people get hurt after the system failed to protect them again and again and so his training and returning to Gotham was part of a plan to show that to Batman. To make a Statement that he doesn’t think that things can stay the same and get better.

Him seeing Tim in all that armour could be reinforcing his view that he wasn’t as valued/ was more disposable. Or maybe he takes this as Batman caring enough to add more protection to this new kid but not enough to get blood on his hands and stop the major threats that would endanger him the most.

Ok I’ve gone off on a super tangent and was trying to pay attention to a conversation at the same time so maybe this doesn’t make any sense or is relevant at all but I just really like “Robin 2: becoming the monster.” Jason embodying the whole “I may be a terrible person but at least I’m taking a bunch more down with me and proving a point while I do”(or at least trying to! He thinks he’s making a very good and reasonable point and this is about him so that’s what matters). And I just love imagining talias support of him through all of this being portrayed as mostly background or insignificant in the face of how much he’s Feeling except for a few small moments where like maybe it’s a flash back or a v/o of a line of her supporting him would be like <33 especially if it happens during like a scene with Bruce to set her as a contrast adult/parental figure in his new second life. Or when he’s killing someone Talias line from lost days where Jason’s like “[blah if I kill this person] don’t tell me the world isn’t better off. Why are you smiling?” And talias like “you’re learning” and he’s all intense like “yea guess I am”

Idk just Jason not thinking he’s a good person but still thinking the terrible and even monstrous things he’s doing aren’t necessarily wrong and are even good is just such an important part of his character and I love that for him and that title was just yesssss and I could talk about Jason for hrs and I’m not going to edit this so I’m so sorry if it doesn’t make sense but your brain is so big and this thread is wonderful

There's a post about wanting a story about Jason's time as Robin. I made a reblog of it so long ago, but I can't stop thinking about it.

I want to watch Jason's flight as Robin, but the entire story he's haunted by the future we all know is going to come.

When he first grabs his tire iron, he has the choice of taking a crowbar instead.

Subtle purples or greens pop up when he's in danger (but not necessarily the Joker).

He frees a bird trapped inside a warehouse.

He rescues a kid who was kidnapped by their mom and returns them to their dad.

So many dead or injured birds

While helping Alfred with gardening, he breaks a nail

Gun magazines at many scenes

Motorcyclists wearing red helmets

Someone's bubbling jacuzzi has a green light on

Duffle bags

He helps hold a bandage to someone's neck until paramedics arrive

Jason reads Frankenstein while at the Manor

An ad proclaims their coffins to be the sturdiest

Just his Robin story being jammed packed with foreshadowing.

It'd also be rad to have Easter Eggs:

Someone makes a comment about assassin kids

When talking to Bruce about something, on the batscreen is a very short file about "One Who is All"

Someone at a gala mentions the Drakes' newest archeology find

Kids at Jason's school chat about meta powers and how cool controlling light is

When visiting the hospital, the nurse introduces herself as Crystal

The buildup of the audience watching Jason, who's unaware of his future, continuously face sign after sign after sign? The irrational hope that maybe someone will notice the universe basically screaming about the future? Nobody notices as more and more signs pop up. It's maddening but so intriguing.

Jason's story of Robin would follow him as he goes from being desperate to survive to thriving. His paranoia that it's too good to be true thrums in his veins, but he learns to ignore it. He's fed, loved, and flies over Gotham every night. There's conflict, sure, but he's figuring out. It's okay.

The signs start out slow and subtle. As he starts to reach towards the end, they get more and more obvious. They occur more often.

Jason doesn't know when it all goes wrong, but he's figured it out before.

We don't see him lose hope until the very end.

EDIT:

Here's the og post I was referencing

[takumiraine]

Once Upon a Time chapter 9

Danny is still going through it, but it gets better I promise.

Taku note: jesus fuck putting the links in on these ones was a beast. I actually had to LOG IN to tumblr on my COMPUTER. ick.

<first> <prev> <next>

There is some texting abbreviations here. The abbreviations are: B, meaning Bruce, obviously. It is saved as just ‘B’ in his phone. R, meaning Replacement which is Tim. Tim is saved as Replacement. DB is Damian, saved as Demon Brat. D, is Dick, and is just saved as an eggplant emoji in Jason’s phone. This may or may not be relevant later.

—-

Okay. Okay. He needs a plan. He needs to think and form a plan. He needs a computer. He grabs a notebook. Scrambles around his upturned apartment until he finds a pen. Starts writing equations. The equations will solve to binary numbers. Each one a different letter. His brain is humming. He double checks his work. Triple checks it. Tears the page out.

Checks the work again.

He grabs a bit of his remaining cash. Climbs out onto his fire escape. Phases his hand through the glass to carefully reset the trap.

Move on silent feet, sticking to shadows. Hoodie on and hood over his head. Silent and fast. Alert. Find an Internet cafe. Buy an hour of computer time. Log onto the conspiracy site. Send a new private message.

Carefully type in the equations with shaking hands. Time ticks by so slowly and yet so fast. Equations come back to him. Solve. Translate. Read. Send more back. More frantic than before. They have to run. They have to hide. They cannot come here.

He received a picture of a chocolate bar in return.

They’re coming here. They’re coming. They’re coming and Danny can’t stop it. Can’t stop any of it.

He deletes the messages. Logs out of the website. Clears the history. Takes the paper. Leaves the building. Burns the paper to ash.

Hears a van. Pulls his hood further down over his head. Has to get to the observatory. That was the agreed upon meeting place. Has to get there. Has to hide.

Has to find a way to keep them safe. He’s out of practice. He doesn’t have the upper hand. He’s so scared. Scared for his friends. He gets to the observatory. It’s dark in there. Locked. Danny finds a ladder. Climbs. On the roof. The dome is solid. Cold. Damp. He sits in the shadow of the lens. He waits.

Time moved. Time stood still. Heavy cloud cover meant he couldn’t watch the passage of time in the moon and stars. That was Gotham. Last clear night or day was a long time ago. Danny couldn’t breathe.

Loud footsteps. He pressed himself deeper into the shadows.

“D…?” The voice was familiar. Danny peered out into the darkness, and saw two familiar faces.

“Tuck… Sam…” he croaked, voice raw like he had just spent hours Wailing.

“Hey Danny, good to see you.” Sam sat beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The Fenton Creep Stick laid across her lap. Tucker came to join them, sitting on his other side and rifling around in his backpack. Before Danny could process it, a couple high protein granola bars and a bottle of strawberry pedialyte was put on his lap.

“Eat. Panicking burns calories and you need them.” Tucker insisted, nudging him gently. Already Danny felt the panic subsiding, leaving him exhausted. He ate the protein bars mechanically, forcing himself to focus on the taste and the feel of them between his teeth. He needed the nutrients desperately. After the protein bars were eaten, Danny chilled the bottle of strawberry drink and popped the cap off, chugging it.

“Alright. Now that you’re sort of fed and hydrated, breathe. You know I love the whole dead vibe as much as the next girl, but you’re still half human.” Sam rubbed his leg with her free hand and Tucker rubbed his back. It was soothing and almost involuntarily he took a deep breath in and out, then another, and another. He felt his mind settle. When he could finally think clearly again, he pulled them both close in a hug.

“Ancients, I’ve missed you guys…”

“Us too man. Us too,” Tucker agreed, squeezing Danny back just as tightly.

“Now, not to turn you back onto a doom spiral, but what the hell happened?” Sam asked once they pulled back from the embrace.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story. But I’ll tell you everything.” And Danny did. He started with getting enrolled in school, which they knew, because Tucker helped. Then with the cute guy that befriended him out of nowhere, and although he kept the name to himself, Sam clocked his crush almost immediately.

“It’s okay Danny, I have a radar for that. You were in love with me for how many years now?” She teased. “I am now able to spot a Danny-crush from a hundred yards.”

Tucker laughed with her and Danny groaned putting his head back in his hands. “I hate you so much sometimes…” he moaned.

“Yeah we love you too buddy.” Tucker patted him again. “Keep going with the story.”

He did. The tutoring, the meetings with red hood, and then finally, the week before and that evening. Again he left out the fact that he recognized Hood’s real identity. Sam and Tucker wouldn’t tell, but he couldn’t out another hero in good conscience. Even if they were fighting.

“Shit man.” Tucker scooted himself closer, while Sam did the same on his other side. “That was…”

“I’d rather fight Skulker and Technus together without my powers or a thermos…” he mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest and pressing his face into them.

“Okay. So here’s what we’re going to do. Tucker is going to make sure none of his trip lines have been tripped, I’m gonna make sure no creeps sneak up on us here. You’re gonna take a nap. You look like you’re about ready to drop dead again.” Danny nodded into his knees, and Tucker got out his pda and got to work.

Slowly, Danny’s breathing evened and slowed then stopped almost completely. Having his friends nearby meant he was safe. Safety meant sleep.

Jason was out looking. He started at Danny’s apartment, but he wasn’t answering, there was no sound of movement, the thermals were all ambient, so he moved on.

The longer he looked the more he realized, he barely knew anything about Danny. Danny was great at hedging around questions about himself. Turning the conversation back to Jason, or topics that were safe. The weather, the best places to get burgers, the best type of tree to climb, the best dangerous animal to be freed from the zoo. That last topic was courtesy of Damian but…

Then Jason remembered. They had been eating outside after dark. Danny had looked up at the sky and sighed, then pointed fries accusingly at Jason. “Your dad is like, richer than anyone else here right? He should really do something about all this smog. Seeing the stars at night is one of life’s great pleasures.”

“You could go to the observatory,” Jason had suggested, fairly used to Danny occasionally having ideas for Bruce’s money without any real interest in using it for himself. Always for the betterment of the city as a whole.

“That’s a last resort option. Nothing beats constellation spotting laying on a rooftop. You should be able to see Orion’s Belt over….” Danny looked up at the sky, head shifting as he oriented himself to north and then pointing “over there, somewhere.”

“Well, I’ll bring it up and see what WE has in the works for ecological initiatives.” Jason had said, taken in by how certain Danny was. He could have been bullshitting Jason, but sure enough when he looked it up later, Danny had the right idea, even if he was a few degrees off in his estimation.

Not having any better idea, Jason sped off towards the observatory.

Danny had been asleep for maybe an hour when the motorcycle was heard pulling up. Tucker turned off his modified PDA, the backlight in the screen would have given them away in a heartbeat.

Once the motorcycle turned off though, Sam woke up Danny. He woke with a silent start, looking around to see what had alarmed his friends. When he felt the familiar press of another halfa’s core he pressed a hand to each of their knees and wrote a small smiley face on them. Danny did not miss the way Sam’s grip on the creep stick tightened.

Jason didn’t immediately think anything of the observatory as he circled it. There were two hot spots on the roof that were likely just horny teenagers. He would make his loop and then head off. At least, that was the plan until he spotted the ice cold person shape between the two warmer ones.

Nobody ran that cold except Danny.

Jason stood at the base of the ladder and considered his options. He didn’t know who Danny was up there with. He didn’t know if Danny was in danger. Though the pit in him wasn’t any more riled up than it normally was. He didn’t know if Danny would throw his ass right off the roof. There wasn’t anything around here for him to grapnel onto if he was.

‘I did not know your trip into the pit made you a coward, Todd’ he could hear Damian taunt in his head.

Shaking the thought of his brother off, Jason climbed the ladder. The moment his helmet popped over the roof Danny’s eyes were fixed on him. “Go away J-Hood.”

Jason was momentarily surprised, Danny had obviously not expected him to come in costume, but corrected himself fairly flawlessly. Not outing him to the two people who were holding him protectively. Must be Sam and Tucker.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Are these your friends?” He asked, not moving any further up the ladder. Danny nodded, continuing to glare over his knees.

“Sam and Tucker. They knew me… before everything else.”

Jason nodded. Climbed up enough to get a good look. “I have a safe house nearby. Can we go there and talk?”

“Is more of your little guano group” Sam snickered at the name and Tucker gave Danny a fist bump, “going to hunt me down if I don’t?”

“No. But you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

Danny looked between his friends for a minute, before slowly uncurling and standing, helping his friends up. “Fine.”

Once they were all on the ground they walked to the safe house, a couple blocks away. Once they were inside, Jason pulled off the helmet.

“Jason Todd. Also known as Red Hood.”

He noticed Sam give Danny a look, and he made a face back at her. Tucker rolled his eyes. “You talk to the Bat?” Danny asked, rather than confront his friend.

“Yeah. But that’s not the important part. After we talked tonight Oracle noticed something. The firewall was an automatic scoop. Anything related to your parents’….hobby got thrown into a…. Technological bucket. It’s why your messages never made it to the League.”

Danny took a step back, and Sam and Tucker automatically moved closer, supporting him. “You…. Heard the messages?”

“There was video too. Of… an attack.”

“Of course those assholes were filming it.” Sam tightened her grip on the creep stick as she spoke. Danny raised a shaking hand to his face, feeling for something. His eyes had gone unfocused.

Damn it. Jason took a step forward and Danny flinched, the air going cold. “Easy D.” Tucker soothed. “You’re in Gotham. We’re gonna go sit.” Sam and Tucker bullied Danny to the couch. Tucker sat next to him, while Sam stood in front of them protectively. When she caught Jason trying to look around her she snapped to get his attention.

“Hey, Danny needs some water. About 35 degrees if you have it that cold, cold as you have otherwise.” The snapping and hyper specific orders placed her in his memory. Samantha Manson. Daughter of the Amity Mansons. They attended a few Galas when she was younger. She was very insistent on her veganism even then.

Jason wasn’t about to argue with a woman holding a bat. If Sam was anything like his brothers, she knew how to use it even before the vigilante training.

He brought Danny water, tap with a couple of ice cubes, and passed it to Tucker, who was still talking quietly to Danny. Danny was nodding and occasionally giving a thin half smile, but was able to hold the glass on his own and sip from it.

“We need a plan.” Danny said after he finished drinking.

“Batman wants to talk to you.” Jason told him, which got Danny opening his mouth to protest.

“First,” Sam interrupted, looking at Danny then at Jason, “Tucker is going to do his checks, Danny is going to sleep, and we are going to wait.”

“I don’t need to sleep.” Danny crossed his arms, protesting.

“And Dash didn’t shove you in a locker at least once a week.” Tucker’s response was combined with an eye roll. “You look like you just went a dozen rounds with Skulker without your powers. You need pizza rolls and a nap.”

“You make me sound like I’m a kindergartener.”

“I think I have pizza rolls.” Jason interrupted the protest. “I’ll kill the lights, make the brat’s pizza rolls for you and you just lay there until they’re done.”

Danny scowled at Jason for hanging up on him but as Tucker slid off the couch onto the floor in front of him, Danny obediently laid down. As Jason pulled the bag out of the freezer and started the oven heating, he watched Danny’s breathing slow down and even out, then stop altogether.

Sam followed his gaze and took Danny’s sleeping form in quickly before peering at what Tucker was doing. Seeing that the people Danny knew the longest weren’t concerned about his lack of visible breathing, Jason settled a bit, texting the family chat.

From J: so I found Danny. But he has backup now. He managed to get in contact with his friends.

From B: Are you on your way?

From J: no. He was freaking out. Right now he’s asleep on the couch and I’m making pizza rolls.

From DB: Excuse me zombie child, those happen to be mine.

From J: Better learn to share now before you learn the hard way like Dickie, Timber and I did.

From B: Jason, please.

From J: what? It’s not a lie. He’s the fourth Robin that we know about.

From DB: I am the best. I will not be replaced.

From R: idk Dami, the new kid has black hair, blue eyes and a troubled past. He’s adoption bait. Hopefully he didn’t lie about his age and really is older than you.

From D: it’s never easy having to hand over the spandex and cape to a younger more dangerous Robin.

From DB: So you admit that I am the best.

From D: no I said you were younger and more dangerous than we were as Robin. Except for maybe Jay. He liked to bite criminals.

From J: hey! They were the idiots who put their hands near my face. I grew up hungry. You eat what you can.

From B: Before this gets more out of hand, Jason, do you know about when you will be arriving?

From J: probably going to leave here in 45 minutes to an hour. I will let you know.

Jason was going to take his time cooking those pizza rolls correctly. He wasn’t going to let them ooze out everywhere, then they would have to cool so when Danny inevitably wolfed them down he wouldn’t scorch his mouth. Allow for some wake up time…

Jason was completely, and understandably in his opinion, giving Danny as much time before the meet the family scene happened. The guy had been through enough.

[eriexplosion]

Okay so another thing on the Tech Lives table that I realized through a conversation with @heyclickadee...

If Tech isn't alive, the Archium has no reason to exist.

Because truly we don't DO anything with it, we set up that it's a giant building where rescued artifacts are kept, where all the memories of the various cultures that have escaped to Pabu are kept. It gets its own explanation, we get the batch retrieving an artifact which then gets put into the Archium, setting it up as something that is at least going to become relevant.

But what did we actually do with it? The only thing that happens is Tech's goggles getting put into it, which COULD justify its existence... if the goggles had stayed in it. But we know they don't! Because the last shot of them in the show is being in Omega's ship, having been removed from the Archium at an undetermined date.

So... if Tech is dead, the Archium officially has no purpose - it doesn't serve as Tech's metaphorical final resting place, it doesn't contain anything that was useful to the batch, etc.

But, if Tech is alive and if, specifically, he comes back before the epilogue, the Archium is then a huge Chekov's gun. Imagine an amnesiac Tech, having fallen in with pirates and smugglers like Phee explicitly told him not to do, getting into a situation where he's raiding the Archium. He's drawn to the tree statue that they helped Phee save without really knowing why - and conveniently, the tree is right next to a pair of shattered goggles and a children's toy. Completely valueless items that he's compelled to take with him, perhaps?

I don't think that anything in TBB exists for no reason at all. The goggles were put into the Archium for a reason, and that reason was probably not JUST to get them off the ship, because setting up a building all the way back in season 2 for the exclusive purpose of not blowing up a pair of goggles is unlikely when they could have had them off the ship for any other reason, or even be one of the few surviving pieces of the Marauder. It's not to be Tech's final resting place, because they don't stay in the Archium. So, what does it exist for? Does it serve a purpose?

If Tech comes back in a future show, yes, otherwise no.

[bibibbon]

Hello. I have notice something in MHA for the series having idea about reverting the tropes of classic hero comics trope it actually have very less morally ambiguous characters who don't side with hero and villain faction of the MHA world and even less having impact on the story narration and its core theme and let alone characters who the story don't paint as character who infact a good points but are not too violent or even self sacrificing. I genuinely wish there were more morally ambiguous characters who either are not hero or villain. For example, Lady Nagant is one of my favourite characters for the same reason. A pro hero who was got disillusioned due to the HPSC and saw the truth of the society and kill the HSPC president. More characters like her who don't fit in any of the MHA worlds morals alignment or how society fit people or hell even characters who actively reject the title of hero and villain and the very definition of it, the MHA society put in and the traditional morality. There's very few moments where fluidity in morality for characters dynamic is allow but the narrative don't give it more appropriate focus. Morally ambiguous characters whose personality, ideology and how they act don't fit in any way possible in the box of hero and villain definition the story put in. Morally ambiguous characters who don't need saving or need to save others narratives wise but make both Izuku and Tomura questions their own goal and why they are taking action. Scenes of lady nagant where she was talking about hero society real truth with Izuku was my favourite from my series. And I actually wish the story has more moments like these with Tomura where someone probe him why destruction is his ideology. Because Destruction is equal to Creation. Where Tomura draw line in destroying every thing? Is it because he personally want it or AFO influence?

What I want to say I actually wish there was more characters whose morals alignment were in the line of neutrality and impact the narration. Because these kind of characters truly make what meant to be a hero and saving someone question even brightly. Make Izuku character as hero more unique, make Tomura 'Villains need their own Hero' more profound and impacting.

But it is just my own opinion and preferences.

Oh I absolutely agree with this!!

For a series that actively tries to show itself subverting the classical superhero trope, it doesn't particularly do it well in the sense of introducing nuance and fulditiy into character morality and fully showing a proper grey space.

MHA does well in presenting morally grey or morally ambiguous situations, but it struggles in presenting morally ambiguous characters that are relevant to the plot.

I say a proper grey space because while the manga claims that vigilantes are morally grey we honestly don't see enough of them in the main manga and the vigilantes manga frames them in a way where there is a clear divide of good and bad vigilante so it just makes the whole point of vigilantes being grey null.

The main cast is all divided into either heroes or villains, with neither one really trying to reject that role and move past it. Ultimately, the heroes within the series try and develop a deeper understanding of heroics, some acknowledging that villains and heroes are the same or that villains also need saving. However, we don't get heroes truly acknowledging the corruption of the society they live in to a full extent. We get some crumbs here and there, for example, ochako realising how bad the quirk counselling system is, Iida realising that to be a true hero, he can not kill a villain because of personal issues and mina realising that both heroes and villains are humans on different sides with the same emotions.

The worldbulding of mha and its flaws aren't at all acknowledged, especially the hpsc side of things. This is why lady nagant stands our so much because she is one of the only character that sees and directly calls out the hpsc and we are shown by her entire character just how damaging and cruel the hpsc and how they harm everyone in the process whether that be heroes, villains and citizens alike by tucking them into a false sense of safety and comfort and indirectly upholding a man who will so soon crumble (all might).

I have already talked about Lady nagant, and it also seems like you acknowledged her character, but truly aside from Lady nagant, there isn't a relevant character who shows morally ambiguity. You can argue that yes, Nedzu is a character who is morally ambiguous, but is he relevant?

The criticisms you hold for izuku and shigaraki's characters are so incredibly valid and are previous criticisms I have mentioned before. How and when will shigaraki stop in this path of destruction? What can be made from nothing?

The same applies to izuku, who holds up the same very system that hurts him and seems to try and climb the system to prove himself to the people while ultimately destroying himself for the hope of better. Izuku never ends up breaking the cycle. Actually, he and mirio (who is now the number one hero) end up fueling the cycle and upholding it ironically enough it looks like history is bound to repeat itself here.

Mha was supposed to subvert the typical superhero narrative that afo and ofa presented and the two main characters who were supposed to be the obvious leaders of this were izuku and shigaraki.

Due to this, its a whole lot more worse when you realise that all of this and the parallels shigaraki and izuku have fall apart due to horikoshi choosing to do what he did in chapter 419 revealing that shigaraki tomura was a puppet all along and that AFO was somehow the big mastermind. This just makes the world feel small and removes all the worldbulding that shigarakis backstory and actions have added to the world of MHA. Pinning the faults all on one man when the world is so much more complex and nuanced than that ultimately removes so much from the story that's supposed to tackle societal issues.

[siflooping]

adding into this to say that i think it'd be a great exploration of like. ok let me try to word it.

edit this ended up being Way Too Fucking Long so its under a readmore. AND i broke it into two parts (added a bit of siffrin Braintime Thoughts (bad) to the next rb). i got wordy bitch disease!

so first there's the stuff that's relevant to sifloop in both canon and an au like this. loop is someone who changed so much from the Torment Nexus they were put in that they felt completely removed from who they used to be, who feels like the trauma they experienced is all they are. who loathes the person they used to be with passion, thinks that they were stupid and pathetic and needy. their past self who always felt like such a disgusting and terrible person that they assumed even their loved ones were put off by them and always one mistake away from hating them. who thought that they were objectively fundamentally unloveable.

and then loop meets someone who IS who they used to be, as a separate, distinct person. the person they, for a very long time, considered to be worthless, unloveable, repulsive by nature. they get to see themselves in third person, to interact with them as a person rather than an abstraction or their past self. and he's. well. just some guy (gn)? to someone on the outside of their head he's not horrible, mean, disgusting, selfish, monstrous, or any of the innumerable negative things siffrin as a person has always believed to be. they're just. a little guy? who is actually. kind of funny and endearing, who does his best, who loves their friends so much it hurts. who loop ends up genuinely enjoying the company of and caring about.

which i think is neat vis a vis self-perception, self-compassion and the extemely subjective way one usually sees themselves! i just think it'd be interesting to see an angle of this where sif like. remains as they were in act 1 instead of being put in the torment nexus and how that'd influence the rship.

there's no way loop WOULDN'T feel extremely bitter about the difference in their circumstances! i'm 50/50 as to whether theyd direct that towards sif as is at first (why does HE get to not suffer?! Why did THEY have to suffer where he didn't! it's not fair!). or if they'd instead direct it to like, the universe at large? in the 2hats fight they say they hate their country, the universe, the stars, but notably (to ME!) they never say they hate siffrin.

tbh i think either way they'd end up kind of hot and cold, both bitter and protective. prolly v possessive either way bc like that is LITERALLY who they were as a person before the timeloops tore away their personality and body! it's THEM. they're ALL that remains of the "original" siffrin. so if anyone gets to have him, to keep him, it should be loop! they went through hell, then had to do it AGAIN in a different flavor by watching one of their family members go through the Torment Nexus. and break out of it where they couldn't. and of realizing the reason the Torment Nexus existed, that both loop and one of their family members were pushed to the brink in a hell of repetition is bc of a Wish they accidentally made. they lost EVERYTHING. so. SOO! they deserve to have this at the very least (as a treat).

toxic yuri aside, i think non-looperrrrr siffrin's company would be unexpectedly comfortable & comforting to loop bc like. they know exactly how siffrin thinks bc you know. they used to be siffrin. esp since this siffrin isn't changed by the timeloop experience. so there's no anxiety over what he may be thinking of them (be it negative or positive) or if they secretly hate loop, because they can tell very easily! so hanging out with this siffrin would be like... reading a book you've read a million times, watching a play you've watched so many times you know every beat, or like comfort food. i knowww they'd do the equivalent of when cats act like them laying on your lap and purring is totally a coincidence, incidental, circumstancial, and does not indicate anything, you mean nothing to me, what do you mean you're going to the kitchen come BACK DONT LEAVE ME. fun for the whole family!

ok wait you know what'd be interesting and more importantly hilarious. sifloop, but in an au where someone else from the party is looping. can you fucking imagine

[fordtato]

I watched the new Ford vid and I wanted to share some thoughts I had on some of the points in your video. Before anything else, I want to say how much I absolutely fucking love everything you do and that, in my opinion, this video is especially spectacular. My intention here is to show my appreciation for your work by demonstrating how I’ve paid attention to it and thought about it, because I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t care, but I’m definitely not trying to criticize or anything. So, keeping that in mind, I’d like to add some thoughts to a couple points that I feel could’ve been expanded upon, even though the video was already five hours long.

First off, when it comes to the science fair thing, the only point where I do kind of blame Ford is that perpetual motion machines are physically impossible and also delicate. I just think he should’ve made something else and, at the very least, checked on it the morning of the fair and I actually think it’s a little ooc that he put all that effort into making it and was so invested in the fair but then didn’t bother to even look at it before the fair itself. There’s also never any recognition of the fact that something like a perpetual motion machine could literally stop at any point for any number of reasons that wouldn’t require external interference. I don’t think it’s a sin or moral failing like some of the other things people said on the topic of the science fair, but I do think there is some responsibility there on Ford’s end that doesn’t get discussed as much.

The second thing is that I just think that the Book of Bill is pretty openly interpretable in terms of whether it’s fully accurate and canon or not, since it’s made by such a flagrant liar. I respect and appreciate that you view the lost journal pages as canon material that, in universe, was written by Ford, but I also feel like it’s important to acknowledge that we don’t really know for sure one way or another unlike with Journal 3.

My next point is that, on the topic of Ford wanting his house back, it’s everything you said and I would add that Stan staying in the house would require their reconciliation. At the time Ford said that, they were actively in conflict with each other after being in separation for 30 years, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t want Stan to keep living with him given all the tension and unresolved resentment. Especially in tandem with the other things you pointed out, I think it makes complete sense that Ford wouldn’t want Stan to keep living there.

So then, when it comes to Ford being upset with Stan because of how Stan ignored all his warnings and opened the portal anyway, my biggest issue has always been Ford’s hypocrisy here. I can appreciate that, even though everything turned out alright, Stan’s choice to open the portal was objectively bad and Ford is valid for being upset, but he’s the one who ignored all the warnings when he summoned Bill in the first place. While I’d never blame him for being a victim of Bill’s abuse, I do 100% blame him for blowing past all the warnings and reading that incantation in the cave, and it’s hypocritical for him to be mad at Stan for doing the same thing.

Next is the “bumbling leech” quote, and my thought here is just that it makes sense for Ford to tell himself that as like a coping mechanism. When he and Stan were in separation, I imagine it would’ve been easier to tell himself stuff like that and try to believe it and try to stay mad to keep his distance, especially once he was on the other side of the portal. After all, keeping a grudge is easier than reconciliation, especially when you and the other person have no emotional intelligence and limited communication skills.

Lastly, when it comes to pathologizing, I think it’s potentially relevant that Stan and Ford are twins so stuff like autism that’s autistic would be a shared trait that both of them have. I just think it could be interesting to get into the genetic components of some of the different diagnoses that have been proposed for Ford, especially NPD since it does have a genetic factor. If people want to act like Ford is a villain because he potentially has NPD, then those same people have to accept that that would mean Stan does to and tbh I’d love to explore how a cluster b disorder like that could potentially make sense with Stan’s character as well. Maybe then we could actually have a nuanced discussion about such things the way you suggested instead of continuing to demonize these disorders, their symptoms, and the people who have them.

Anyway, sorry this was so long but I just wanted to share and I look forward to seeing what else you come out with in the future 🩷

Well, thank you for sharing, though I do think we disagree on a couple of things. As far as a perpetual motion machine being impossible, like, I think that's the point? Like, the idea is "this is an impossible thing, and Ford, being brilliant, figured it out." The idea of "blaming" a 17-year-old for his physics-defying incredible demonstration of a principle that breaks the laws of physics being... not earthquake stable? Or not sturdy enough to survive a punch on the table? I don't know, guys. Like. Lots of marvels of scientific accomplishment are delicate instruments. I think the logic there is faulty. The science fair project falling apart is not Ford's fault. It WAS stable, then something broke. You can't blame him for making an easy-to-break machine. I've seen this argument floating around a lot recently, and I will be honest, it really annoys me. Would it have been smart for him to check under the sheet that Stan put there to hide it? Yeah, maybe. But it feels silly to say that makes him partly "responsible." I dunno. It's all semantics at some point, and it barely makes a difference, but that isn't how I would describe it.

As far as the Lost Journal pages being written by a liar, I did address this in my ATOTS video, and did not repeat myself in the Ford Defense video, but to summarize : I acknowledge that Bill could have lied in these pages, but for the sake of easily having a discussion about it, I do treat it at face value, simply because it would be annoying to need to add that caveat after every point.

(I also am not a personal fan of the theory that it was forged by Bill, but that's a separate topic altogether. No comment beyond that.)

As far as Ford's "hypocrisy" in warning Stan, I think we have different opinions here as well. Like, Ford does not think that Stan ignoring warnings is wrong, but HIM ignoring warnings is okay. He thinks him ignoring the warnings is the biggest mistake of his life and he's deeply angry at himself. If I burned myself on the stove, and then told someone else not to touch the stove because it is hot, I am not being a hypocrite. I am someone who learned something was dangerous.

Even if we disagree here, however, I appreciate you watching, and you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

[desperatelyneedcoffee]

TW: minor mention of rape

I always see hurt/comfort fics about Logan but not many about Wade when it comes to poolverine. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Also are there any fics centered around Logan interacting with Wade throughout Origins and random fight scenes. Then Logan sees Wade with his mouth sewn shut and made into a weapon, he like somehow manages to kidnap him or something and either figures out a way to cut his mouth back open without the scars being too bad or learning sign language with him? Because I literally can't find anything like that. Or even just angsty hurt/comfort (but Wade hurting and needing comfort) for origins. Because I spent a while looking on Ao3 but people tag things that are the quote relevant to their actual fic and I've only found 1 that even has origins related stuff. But that's more like Worst Wolverine is Origins Wolvie and thought he lost his Wade but then proceeds to get kidnapped from the bar by the normal Wade.

Idk just some good hurt/comfort but for Wade because I'm sick of not seeing enough about all his trauma. Even if it's not completely from the movies. Like it can expand on events from the comics like him getting raped or idk some made up event that contributes to his deeply traumatised character. And then Logan comforting him - either as a friend, situationship or established relationship.

Idk I just desperately need something

[sleepdepravity]

Started thinking about musical songs and also reigen and now I’m ruminating on reigen having bialystock energy……

[dotthings]

#very very cool character analysis#im still hesitant abt the way he was treated like he doesnt need to be uwu empathetic softie to deserve empathy from others#like this can all be true at the same time that we can be critical of how dean approached him#but yeah regardless great meta 10/10 bee unpacking via @bradycore

In my recent posts analyzing Dean and Cas for my late S7 rewatch, I literally said, several times, that Cas needs time and he needs compassion. I realize you might not have any way of knowing it but I'm pointing this out for a reason.

My argument was that Dean gave him time and compassion. Dean's harsh words don't wipe that out. My argument was that Dean kept trying and trying to get through to Cas, and he wasn't cruel or uncaring, no matter if you don't like how Dean speaks all the time.

Nobody in this discussion has said that dismantling the uwu softie fanonization of Cas means canon Cas doesn't need to be treated with compassion. Not one. Person. Has said that.

I think Dean did pretty good, actually, considering the pressure he's under, how little support network he has, how far gone Cas was in his traumatized state, how much Dean personally relies on him, the shock state Cas was in, the shock of dealing with Cas in that condition for Dean, and how hard Dean tries to get through to Cas. To speak gently. To talk to him. I pointed out how Dean sat down and tried to talk to Cas, multiple times. Until finally Cas was ready and Dean's words were able to get through to him.

Hesitant about the way Cas was treated? I'm not endorsing Team Free Will as the healthiest mental environment of all time. But guess what, that's affected Sam and affected Dean too. They also all try and do their best and care very much even if we don't always like how they handle a situation, how they treat each other.

So. That's some relevant context. Team Free Will sometimes don't know how to handle each other. This isn't news.

Cas with PTSD having a fixation on bees and gardens and making the perfect sandwich in late S7 somehow got absorbed into fanon to the point where people started to believe that’s canonical Cas. Bees Cas is a confused little meow meow who never did anything wrong. The things late S7 Cas fixates on are an amplification of his genuine fascination with life on earth, and one aspect of Cas is gentleness and appreciation, but those traits are not the whole picture, it’s what his brain uses as a buffer as he goes into shock and has a lengthy PTSD episode. PTSD Cas isn’t empathetic, he’s detached. He’s non-confrontational, non-violent, in that sense he is kind, but he’s not mentally or emotionally present for the people who need him most, who love him and who care, which isn’t empathy.

The arc gets used to mix fanon with canon, and the fanon version seeks a Cas who is an innocent meow meow who never did anything wrong ever (canon doesn’t do this. fanon does). Far too often that’s used to perpetuate the negative fanon of mean Dean, where Cas is his victim. The more innocent and soft and idealized the fanon on Cas becomes—and people believing that’s canon—the more that got weaponized to label Dean “the abuser” who is mean to ultra soft Cas who just wants to watch the bees.

Cas’s mental breakdown put him into a numb bubble, and that is the opposite of who Cas is. Cas feels too much all the time, and lacks context and experience to help him process all the feelings. Over time, we see him grow more comfortable in his own skin and with those emotions and expressing them in ways humans can comprehend instead of Cas just feeling and FEELING and trying to keep it locked down or running away from it.

[86future]

[ 2ND CHILDREN / 5TH CHILDREN ]

— The truth is, Unit 02 simply isn’t compatible with the other EVAs. (E14)

— I never imagined this boy could synchronize with Unit 02 without replacing its core. Quite astonishing. (E24)

Death & Rebirth Pamphlet / Cruel Angel’s Thesis OP / EVA-02 wiki / DEATH (TRUE ²) / E16 / E24 / DEATH (TRUE ²) / E22 / 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo Cover / E09 / The End of Evangelion / E09 / E24 / NGE Manga / The End of Evangelion

[claitea]

i was working on something else and out of nowhere i thought about zero, got Really annoyed about his outfit which i've always disliked, and couldnt work on the first thing without doing this alteration first. pay no attention to the top right side nothing is there its just infi

[atlasblue85]

ok as a raised catholic who is well acquainted with the list of popes wikipedia page i could not stop thinking about this so uh. here we go

some notes first:

-for the first nearly thousand years of the papacy, popes did not choose papal names, they just kept their own. John II was the first to choose a name (because his birth name was Mercurius and he felt it was not appropriate for a pope to have a name associated with a Roman god) but it wasn't until Gregory V in 996 that it became tradition.

-i've only seen the movie (and only once at that) and not read the book, but it seemed implied to me that the recent history of popes deviated from reality, which isn't super relevant but just to note that I'm kind of operating on every pope from like WWII onward not existing in movie canon. at the very least JPII onward.

gonna start with the ones we know

-Cardinal Lawrence - John - of course he would choose John, of COURSE. John has been used as a papal name more than any other name, of course Lawrence would choose that. He does not see himself as special or unique, he's just one more in a long line of servants of god. He would be proud to carry the same name as so many before him. Also, considering what I mentioned above about John II, I think he would definitely have taken that into consideration and would be honored to carry on the tradition of giving up his birth name, especially considering the implications of his name (there has never been a pope Thomas). (Popes John fun fact: the numbering of the popes John is messed up due to a few errors hundreds of years ago, so although there have only been 21 popes John the count is at 23.)

-Cardinal Benitez aka Pope Innocent - I mean. what a name to choose. He's portrayed as fairly apolitical in the movie, but he knows the truth about him will be revealed once he becomes Pope so like, talk about getting ahead of the allegations. It's such a good, smart choice and I love it. There have been 13 prior popes Innocent, the last being in 1724, and all but 2 of them (French) were Italian, which is also so significant considering Benitez's main rival. Just love this choice.

to the rest of them

-Cardinal Bellini - I feel like we know the least about him actually, aside from that he's extremely liberal in Catholic terms, but it's not like the papacy is known for being liberal so there's not a precedent for him to follow name-wise. it's tempting to say that he'd pick Thomas or Lawrence lol, but actually? I don't think he'd pick a name that has never been used, he wouldn't have the conviction for that (which is ultimately why he didn't become pope....). But I could definitely see him choosing Adrian as a way to still give a subtle shout out to his bestie, as Adrian IV (1154-59) has been, to date, the only English pope. It's also a fairly innocuous name which I think would be appealing to him.

-Cardinal Adeyemi - believe it or not there have actually been 3 popes from Africa - Victor I (189-199), Miltiades (311-314), and Gelasius I (492-496). All were from North Africa, much of which was part of the Roman empire for many hundreds of years. Victor was the most significant of these 3 and is also known to be of Berber descent, though he is usually (unsurprisingly) depicted as white. While Adeyemi is Nigerian, where there is not a significant Berber population, I think he would nevertheless want to acknowledge and highlight the actual first African pope, as well as subtly call out the hypocrisy of the church. There were two other popes Victor, both in the 1000s, so he would be Victor IV.

-Cardinal Tremblay - there's a tweet/post saying it's tradition for no one to choose Peter as their papal name out of respect even though there's no law against it but Tremblay would do it and like. yeah he would. or at the very least he would want to, but I don't know that he would actually go through with it because it would be wildly controversial and he wants popularity above all else. So what else might he pick? My first instinct is to say he'd choose a name from a pope that was extremely popular and well liked, so the most obvious choices would be Leo and Sylvester. However, there have been 13 popes Leo (last in 1903) and only 3 popes Sylvester (last in 1045), so that would make me lean toward Sylvester because I think he'd want a less common name. But I also think it would irk him to not come after Sylvester II and could see him going a Pope Francis route and picking a totally new name. Seeing as popularity is important to him, I think it would fit that he'd take the name of one of the twelve Apostles. Other than John and Peter, most of the apostles' names have never been used as papal names, which is appealing to him. So if he's not choosing Peter II and he's choosing one of the apostles' names, the natural choice is, of course, Peter's brother, Andrew. that's my final answer.

-Cardinal Tedesco - no way that man isn't choosing Pius

[girlwiththegreenhat]

i am never going to recover from the death shroud radio play actually

[heir-of-the-chair]

Lowkey hyperfixating now and I’ve come to the devastating conclusion that Jacob the main character of Water For Elephants… doesn’t really have a character arc

[fate-defiant]

POV you're the jarchivist and you cannot for the life of you tell if this German kid that claims he has reality-warping superpowers is pulling your leg or not(also he literally named his pet duck "Duck" who fucking does that)

[beneath-the-willow-tree]

Louis is a great character, but it's clear that some people can't stomach him unless they view him as the narrative's token Good Person who is wronged by the Bad People and convince themselves that every cruel thing he does is mere retaliation against being wronged and not evidence of his own capacity to wrong people. Not only does this miss the point of the gothic horror genre, but it also reduces his entire character to basically... a consequence of Lestat. Except he was capable of cruelty before Lestat and would have been capable of cruelty if he had never met Lestat. And that's part of what makes him multi-dimensional and compelling. Their relationship obviously impacted him, but Lestat is not responsible for everything he is. Louis had a life before Lestat. Louis hurt people before Lestat. Louis has always been more than a product of Lestat's actions.