#like in general but also with male characters

[markrosewater]

I want to speak out against the whole push towards DEI. I feel that ever since you made the push to make identity the forefront of a character it has hurt the stories you tell. Captain Sisay's race was never the focus of her character and she was a complete badass! And I fear if you did it over again Gerrard would be trans, black and disabled just because. It also cheapens the stories of world devastation when characters worry more about their gender than Bolas destroying everything.

The reason I started this blog is so we can have frank conversations about things, so please let’s talk about this.

Imagine if every time you turned on the TV or watched a movie, no one looked like you. For some of us, that’s never happened. We see ourselves constantly, so it’s hard to truly understand what not seeing yourself represented in media is like.

I do have a personal window to this experience. While I am white and male, there’s an area where I am the minority - my religion. Jews are just under two and a half percent of the US population. I have had many experiences where I’ve been in situations where everything is geared towards a group I do not belong to, and zero consideration is given that not everyone at that event is part of the majority.

You just feel invisible and like an outsider. It’s not a great feeling. And I just experience it a tiny portion of time, only things that are geared specifically towards something religious. Most minorities have this feeling all the time, whenever they’re outside their personal community.

Now imagine, after years of not seeing yourself ever, you finally see someone that looks like you, but nothing about the character rings remotely true. They don’t sound like you, they don’t act like you, the facts about their day-to-day life are just wrong. It’s clear whoever wrote the character didn’t truly understand the lived experience of the character, so the character feels fake.

You bring up Sisay. Michael Ryan and I didn’t technically create Sisay (she played a small role in the Mirage story), but we did do a lot to flesh out her character as the creators of the Weatherlight Saga. We turned her from a minor character into a major one.

And while I’m proud, in general, of our work on the Weatherlight Saga, I don’t think we did justice to Sisay as a character. Neither Michael nor I have any knowledge of what it’s like to be a black woman. Nor did we ever talk to someone who did.

And if you’re someone like us that has no knowledge of that experience, you probably didn’t notice. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.

Imagine if we made a movie about your life, and we just made everything up. We invented people you never knew, we gave you a job you never had, and we had you say things you’d never say. The movie might even be a good movie, but your response would be, but that’s not my life - that’s not me.

Now imagine we put the movie out, and people that never met you assumed that was what you were like. When people met you for the first time, they assumed things, because, you know, they’d seen the movie.

That’s what misrepresenting people does. It not only makes them feel not seen, it falsely represents them, spreading lies, often stereotypes, making people believe things about them that aren’t true.

Our move towards diversity is just us trying to better reflect the world and the people in it. We’re trying to do to everyone else what a certain portion of people get every day without ever having to think about it.

But why are we “making it the forefront of their character”? We’re not. We’re making it a part of their character. But in a world where you’re not used to ever seeing it, it feels louder than it is. Things that are a natural part of the world that you’re used to feel like the background of the story because you understand the context to it.

If a man kisses his wife before going off to a battle, that’s not a big deal. It’s just a thing a husband might do to his wife when he leaves. It’s not the forefront of his character. It’s just part of his life. But you’ve seen it hundreds of times, so it feels normal.

When someone does something that isn’t your lived experience it pulls focus. It seems like a big deal, but only because it’s new to you. It’s just as mundane a thing to that character as the man kissing his wife is to him.

Even the turn “pushing” implies that it’s unnaturally here, that we’re forcing something that naturally shouldn’t be. But why? That thing exists naturally in the real world, and it doesn’t make the real world any less. Maybe you’re less aware of it, but is making you aware of how others live their life “pushing” something on you?

How you live your life is represented constantly, everywhere. Why isn’t over-representing your experience at the expense of everyone else’s “pushing” it? Why is media only being the experience of those in power the “proper way”?

Having more depth and variety doesn’t lessen stories. It makes them deeper, more rich, more nuanced. In short, it makes them better stories. In my former life, I was a professional writer. I took a lot of writing classes. One of the truism of writing is “speaking truth leads to better stories”.

There’s another famous quote: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” You’re used to being over-represented, so being a little less over-represented feels like something has been taken from you. But really it hasn’t. Having a better sense of the rest of the world comes with a lot of benefits.

I’ll use food as an example. Let’s say all you were ever exposed to was the food of your heritage. Yeah, that food is really good, but sometimes isn’t it nice to eat foods of other nationalities? Isn’t your life better that you have a choice? Isn’t your exposure and access to the food of other nationalities a positive in your life?

Exposure to variety is a positive. It allows you to learn about things you didn’t know, experience things things you’ve never experienced, and get a better sense of understanding of your friends and neighbors.

Our actions are not to harm anyone, and if you think that’s what we’re doing, please take a minute to actually absorb what I’m saying. You’ve spent your whole life metaphorically eating one type of food, and we’re just trying to show you how much you’ve missed out on.

And while this might not impact you directly, we’re making a whole bunch of people felt seen. We’re bringing joy. Think of it this way. We make a lot of cards. Not every card is for you. But if it makes someone else happy, if they get to include it in a deck, and it makes Magic better for them, how is it harming you that we include it? You have so many cards that you can play.

To this poster or people that share their viewpoint, the narrative that a gain for someone else is an attack on you is just not true. As I just pointed out above, you play a game all about personal choice, about players getting to choose how they play and enjoy the game. Why should life be any different than Magic?

Thanks for reading.

[mirrorofliterature]

I know I don't like the rako hardeen arc as done in TCW and it was a Cruel Thing for Obi-Wan to do but.

fics where anakin goes undercover instead go hard

I think in part because anakin would have been following orders of the council whereas obi-wan personally suggested not telling anakin

but also it acts as an accidental fix it because obi-wan grieves anakin and anakin is like: I didn't think you would care

anyway

but THIS one is the saddest one by far because ANAKIN ACTUALLY DIES because he gets shot instead of obi-wan [ouch]:

[ventique18]

Warning: a bit of a rant and more twst worship lol

Me: *glazes twst*

Someone: "well your point is invalid because this one specific character from an obscure game dresses in socially defined feminine clothes. Therefore joseimuke games in general are just as good as twst." (<- Referring to a game where there's literally just one crossdressing character)

Well good for him! 👍 Doesn't take away from the fact that Twisted Wonderland is one of the better games out there though, considering the majority of mainstream joseimuke and otome games out there that majority of the population plays-- ARE rigid when it comes to fashion expression.

Representation is important, yes, so it's very much appreciated for one such character to be present. But the thing is, twst takes it one step further by normalizing that most men in their universe don't assign gender to clothes and just wear whatever the fuck they want. I think that's more important than having one character as "unique" while everyone else is made from the same socially conforming mold.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. There are plenty of characters in twst that prefer to be traditional most of the time. But the good thing about that is that they will wear something outside of their usual preference when they need to. They don't find that weird.

And of course, there are also a lot of games out there as explorative as twst and that's great! Posts appreciating a game for doing something right while criticizing the genre in general just means that there're not enough titles that empower this idea. I think games are a good way to normalize the message that everyone should be allowed to wear what they want, and it's up to them, not society, to define beauty.

Men can be handsome and powerful while wearing makeup everyday; Vil and Malleus show us this. At the same time, you can be a woman who likes dresses but is stronger than anyone else, like how Maleanor presents herself. But that doesn't mean that women are required to pretty herself up; you can be a cool woman in a male dominated field, like Dylla Spade is.

Tldr while twst is not perfect, it's surprisingly excellent at breaking social norms and presenting how beautiful individual preferences are. There are other games good at this too, of course, but one look at popular games makes it obvious that we still have a long way to go. Twst being so open about this topic is a great step forward for the industry in general.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

you're so right about harlivy and can i be honest? the way the riddler story made him a shy virgin who doesn't know what flirting is was so boring too? it felt weirdly infantilizing to me (not being a virgin per se, ofc, but the way it was written) and like it also tried to erase the character's edges (no care for personal boundaries, too forward, the whole canon masochist fequenter of bdsm clubs thing) just like the harlivy story in favor of doing the played out awkward virgin nerd thing? also no 'canon' bisexuality acknowledgement but that was expected

the way that the story was going I genuinely thought they were building up to Eddie having a very special episode moment where he learns about demisexuality or being aroace or something, but it wasn't even that? he just annoys two women (couldn't even pull off a rule of three???) and then goes "oh well! at least I have my true love, Gotham City!"

which is like. okay. historically the Riddler's exact motivations and personality fluctuate as much as any other character, sure, but he's generally not in the game for a love of Gotham??? like he does this because he wants attention and money and to feel like smartest specialist little boy. if he's juvenile it's generally in the way he's self-centered and overconfident and prone to tantrums when he doesn't get his way, not because he's a sixth grader who's just learning that the other kids have crushes for the first time.

and like you alluded to, yeah, there are MULTIPLE iterations of the Riddler where he has clear Issues With Women not in the "uwu Eddie can't talk to girls because he's shy and awkward" way but in the "Eddie can't talk to girls because he's a fucking creep" way. particularly in recent years, several writers have been a very deliberate choice to give him traits lifted straight from pickup artist and incel circles to emphasize the their take on the character sucks in a way that's inseparable from misogyny.

which isn't to say every Riddler is on reddit crytyping about looksmaxing, of course, but those ones are certainly indicative of a persistent trend.

a couple of people had sent me asks about this story to ask if I'd read it, known Riddler enjoyer that I am, and included a quick description. I replied to one and said, mostly as a joke, that this is blowback from DC editorial against a valentine's story by Ram V published a few years ago, in which Eddie sends Batman on a valentine's-themed chase that introduced Batman to several of Eddie's past crushes and romances—including a male friend from college, which is presented as being as straightforward and unsurprising as any of the others. the story ends how you think it does: Batman lured to a romantic rooftop dinner with the Riddler, who complains about being unable to approach an attractive woman but is still very much on a date with Batman after casually peppering in that he's bisexual. I don't this there's ACTUALLY any kind of editorial mandate to quash the notion that the Riddler has a messy romantic history and maybe fucks guys sometimes, but man. how far we've fallen in just a few years.

[quibbs126]

So maybe I spent too long doing this, my iPad’s at 15% right now and it’s somehow 10:30. But uh, I drew this

I said I wanted to practice drawing TFA Elita, so I did, and drawing Optimus again since it’s been a fair bit since I have (and also Sentinel already got his turn)

I admit, Optimus at the bottom especially looks rough, though I think some of that came from me drawing his face at too small of a distance for me to make it look right, but whatever

Honestly, Elita came out looking way better than I was expecting, and honestly I think the top Optimus doesn’t look half bad either. I think Elita ends up looking better because she doesn’t have as many details going on on the top of her head, but who knows?

Also I’m giving them their lips this time. Optimus doesn’t look right without them, even if I’m still not sure how to draw his lips at the moment

I’m also only noticing now that Elita’s yellow is probably because Blackarachnia has gold as a prominent secondary color. I don’t know, random thing to point out

Honestly, I don’t really have much to say, because this was supposed to be practice for the characters for later, because now I do want to draw those kids from the fanfic. I just think it turned out good

Unfortunately I work tomorrow, so I probably won’t get far in much art. Oh well

Oh yeah and one more thing I did want to mention, I don’t like how Elita, and also the other fembots, have such a different body shape to their male counterparts, being so slim and curvy and Elita here having blue in the rest of her body to emulate showing skin. I know Blackarachnia is supposed to be the femme fatale, the Catwoman to Optimus’ Batman, so like on some level I guess it can make sense for her/Elita specifically. But I just don’t really like it, why do they have to look so overly feminine and generally share similar body types (with some exceptions like Strika), when the male characters get so much body diversity, even just in our main cast? Well okay, I know why, but I can still be annoyed at it

Like again, Blackarachnia is the femme fatale, so her previous form having similar qualities can make sense. But Elita-1 was training to be an Autobot soldier, couldn’t she be a little more buff or armored or something? I don’t know

[luffysprincess]

Why You Should Play Wuthering Waves

an unofficial, unsponsored list of why you should join the wuwa world ᰔ

CHARACTERS

There’s so much eye candy it’s unreal.

(There are more characters ofc. I just can’t fit them all here but trust me. Or don’t trust me and look them all up!!)

Even the mcs are hot

Which speaking of MCs…

You’re able to switch from female to male Rover at any time you want!! There’s just a limit of one switch per every 24 hrs.

Also they actually talk a decent amount during dialogue cut scenes which makes things more interesting imo. I like their voice actors and enjoy hearing them!

EXPLORATION

Exploration is so damn fun and efficient!! You have unlimited stamina except for climbing, swimming, gliding and during battles. But when running around you can run forever without losing stamina.

Also climbing is so quick and easy. You basically run up the walls. And you know when you’re climbing in genshin and you get stuck bc there’s a ledge? Yeah that’s not an issue in wuwa bc the characters lift and swing over ledges like that.

The scenery is so beautiful.

There are also quite a lot of helpful devices that every character has access to at all times. Like the grappling hook, which is similar to genshin sumeru grappling hooks except there’s no limit to how far away you have to be to use it. Makes it faster to use when exploring.

YOU CAN FLY IN ONE OF THE REGIONS. like actually fly and very quickly too. It’s super fun.

Additionally, each region in a nation has different categories that make up its exploration and it will tell you how much of each you’ve completed. This makes it easy to complete exploration bc you can see what you’re missing and focus on that.

FIGHTING/BATTLES

Boss battles are so unique and fun. It’s very out of the box and unexpected and I’ve never had more fun fighting bosses then I have in wuwa.

The play styles between each character differed a whole lot and each and every one is so damn cool.

Not only do you have the ability to dodge and counterattack, but you can also parry. There are other opportunities to do more than normal damage during battles as well. You have the regular attack, enhanced skill attack, and then special skill attack like in other games such as genshin and hsr. But you also have an echo attack and intro/outro attack when you switch characters in battle.

WISHING

It’s very easy to collect astrite!! Astrite is the equivalent of primogems/stellar jade. The game is very generous and when it comes to wishing, it is very kind when pulling for your fave characters.

COMPANION STORIES

Companion stories are super fun. Sometimes the game style changes to a 2d view (think Mario bros) in certain domains for companion stories and it’s such a fun little twist.

MISCELLANEOUS

YOU CAN SKIP DIALOGUE!!! Dialogue can be skipped for any and every quest. For more important quests, they will give you a summary for the dialogue you’re about to skip. But for simple side quests, they will just skip the dialogue w/o a summary. This makes gameplay so much more efficient bc I hate when there’s too much dialogue.

There are tactical hologram enemies that are essentially pre-existing bosses that are made to be more difficult and have about six or seven versions. Each version is more difficult than the last and provide a fun challenge when it comes to fighting. Bc sometimes the game can feel a bit too easy when you level up your characters, but these holograms make you plan and rethink strategies when it comes to battling.

This is your travel companion. Look at how cute he is!!!

Your characters will heal not only at the bigger teleportation spots (the ones that unlock the map) but at ALL the teleportation spots. Makes it very convenient.

Did I mention that the characters are really hot?

We can be friends if you play :)

[letmereadinpeace4]

Thank you for discussing this. Like many of the people in the reblogs, I also only got interested in Helluva Boss when I heard about Stolitz. Initially, I watched Hazbin Hotel, but wasn't into the show enough to watch its sister series. Then I read somewhere that the main character had a male love interest who he had a complicated relationship with, and there began my interest.

As someone who is currently researching this stuff, I think a lot of the criticism "the show is bad now because it focuses on Stolitz" has to do with disdain for romance in general. In media spaces and even in fandom, there can be this hierarchy of ""worth"" in the themes focused on by the show and by the fandom, with romance being considered as silly, soap-opera like, not as interesting or worthwhile as other things. Of course, misogyny plays an important role in this mindset as well, since women have usually been the driving force behind romantic stories in interpretation, whether in media or in fandom, and have usually been mocked or criticized for it.

I am not going to criticize anyone who doesn't like romance. If it isn't your cup of tea, it just isn't. But to claim the show is objectively "bad" or "got worse" because it started focusing on the relationship between Blitø and Stolas is just false. Personally, I think the show is at its best when it focuses on interpersonal relationships.

People criticizing helluva boss for being focused on stolitz really do think their opinion is universal, and that EVERYONE would agree the show took a turn for the worse, when honestly me (and I guess other people as well) only really started gaining real interest in the show when the stolitz story picked up.

Not that I'm saying that's the only right direction they could have taken (since I don't have this weird desire to dictate what other creators do with their projects), but it just happened naturally for me. I've been watching the first few episodes (while trying to fill the void hazbin has left in my heart lol), generally enjoying but not too invested, and then gradually, the more Stolas and stolitz I got, it consumed me entirely.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, at the end of the day, it's about taste. My taste is maybe closer to the creators, I love romance, I love redemption, I love characters like Stolas (he very quickly became my favorite), and I'm completely okay with sacrificing some of the original premise of a murder business (as fun as it is) to focus on these elements.

And it's totally okay if some other people were disappointed and liked the beginning better. I don't understand being that aggressive about it, but oh well, that's their issue not mine 🤷‍♀️

[class1akids]

Not that I don't entirely agree with your take, but I kinda feel like you're over-exaggerating just how Uraraka's "good' treatment is and that it might mostly be misdirected anger?

Like sure her fight with Toga was one of the most well-treated moments of final arc and 431 was unnecessarily centered around her, which sucks because we had more important things to focus on, but honestly I don't think her having it kinda good at the very end of the story makes up for how her character was paid dust for the majority of the anime/manga and how she wasn't allowed to exist in any substantial way beside being the Female Lead™

Like I understand talking about lets say Bakugou or Endeavor (which you do a lot for the later and I respect that) in the way you do, but Uraraka? That poor girl isn't the first person that comes to mind when I think about characters receiving special treatment form the anime or Horikoshi.

Precisely because Uraraka's arc is such a nothingburger for most of the manga, I find it excrutiating how much the epilogue focuses on her so overwhelmingly. She has more panel time than Bakugo and Shoto added together. This is not only about 431. We didn't need 2 out of the 7 epilogue chapters focus on Uraraka. We didn't need more panel time dedicated to Uraraka's shoe in 431 than most Class A characters. We didn't need most of the Volume 42 corrections to be adding more fat to the Uraraka scenes - there were plenty of scenes that needed more corrections or additions. And we certainly didn't need 431 try to convince us how Uraraka is saving the world with a fluffy counselling program, while her higher ranked classmates are all uselessly dying out as a profession.

I also feel a certain meanness how Horikoshi tried to draw Uraraka extra beautiful in 431, while for example, Monoma who pushed her out of the Top 10 got a controversial adult design, along with other male characters (e.g. Shouto).

I think it's normal if fans who stayed around or supported the manga for other characters wanted to see more focused balance, wanted to see their fave succeed and not be used as a cheerleader for Uraraka-sama (like Tsuyu or the UA Big 3 are). It creates resentment and gives a bad impression of Horikoshi, who just decides that now at the end, he can throw away the popular characters who contributed so much the popularity of the franchise.

The anime also gives Uraraka special treatment. I mentioned the OP of S6, but as a Shouto fan I will never forgive bones for cutting scenes from Shouto's climax and cutting the Rising title, while at the same time adding anime-only scenes to the Togachako fight, with the director admitted that she sabotaged Shouto's episode so the emotional emphasis can be on Uraraka, instead of adapting both contents with honesty and let the fans decide. That's not her place.

And yes, I'm angry for all the crappy merch where they insert Uraraka into Shouto-merch to push her, where they force blind merch on fans because she doesn't sell that well. I do feel that Horikoshi was resenting the fandom for not liking Uraraka as much as he does and the epilogue is his pettiness on display as he denies the content fans wanted (like bkdk talk, Shouto getting comfort or hugs from his family, the only hero agency we see is Uraraka's, etc.) for the end.

I compare this with the ending of Haikyuu, where Furadate made sure to give us little glimpses of all the characters post-timeskip, gave all the main ones dedicated chapters and most importantly made everyone feel valid and important for the choices they made.

I feel like Horikoshi is only paying lip service to being grateful to his fans and was not at all interested in giving an uplifting good-bye to his fans in general, only certain fans. And Act 3 Uraraka is the embodiment of this attitude.

The truth is, it's his fault to never committing a theme to Uraraka's character, never making an actual arc for her - always just putting her on unearned pedestals, with fluffy content. Pushing her character so hard in the end just leads to resentment and a feeling of betrayal.

[synchodai]

"Mystra groomed Gale" takes rustle my jimmies like no other. I get how some people who don't know much about her beyond BG3 may have this interpretation, but if you're like me, a woman who's been playing since the days of AD&D, you'd understand why accusing Mystra of being the bad person in this scenario may hit a nerve.

TL;DR: Did Mystra take advantage of Gale's devotion to her as his goddess? Definitely, she's a Faerûnian deity — they subsist on worship and adulation. Does that make her his abuser? Eh... man, maybe it's high time that a lot of us learn different terminology for unhealthy relationship dynamics other than abuser-victim. I've seen a couple of posts that are really gung-ho about forcing every companion character to be some sort of abuse victim, because that's what they've decided the game is about. I mean, they're free to interpret the game that way, but damn, we're really out here flattening god, the very concept of magic itself, into the role of an abusive ex, huh? A fantastical, nuanced relationship between mortal and immortal set against the backdrop of a rich palimpsest multiverse digested like a YouTube drama video.

Let me try to explain my perspective by going through the history of Mystra, how she's utilized in Forgotten Realms lore, and treated within D&D games in general.

MYSTRA THE MAN-EATER

Since her creation, she has always been depicted as the sexy goddess whose main purpose was to be a wizard player's muse as well as their patron. Back then, D&D (and TTRPGs in general) was a heavily male-dominated hobby, so Mystra (and Mystryl, her avatars, and all her other incarnations) was catered and shaped by that demographic.

Because it's the player characters and Wizards of the Coast who have narrative agency and many of them want to fuck a goddess, they make stories where Mystra comes on to them because their character is just so good at magic. They designed Mystra to be a mysterious, beautiful love interest because they wanted to use her as the crown jewel of their power fantasy of being a super cool and powerful magic man. You can pretty much see this in the Elminster books and the Avatar series with Midnight (one of Mystra's avatars). Gale himself seems to be an exploration of this typical kind of wizard character.

As far as power fantasies go, making the goddess of magic have an intimate relationship with a mortal character is fine. It's the ultimate validation for a burger-flipper when the god and all source of burger-flipping is head over heels in love with them. It also doesn't have to have a sexual component to have "magic" and the magic system itself enamored with a character — depending on the game and DM, Mystra's favor can be entirely symbolic and metaphorical. A fine power fantasy in the power fantasy generation game.

So because everyone literally wants a piece of her, you end up with Mystra having more Chosen running around than any other god. Understandable given what she has to do to maintain her massive portfolio. It fits her as the personification of magic — someone who entices ambitious young spellcasters but burns them out through obsession and overreaching. Consume any Forgotten Realms-related media, and you've probably come across at least one campaign, novelization, or character backstory that use Mystra for the role of sexy sorceress goddess that's the alluring (yet often demanding) patron of some magic man. Whomst amongst our wizards haven't been visited by Mystra in the night ordering him to do plot point, he rolls to seduce her, and she has no choice but to admit that she's actually attracted to him because the dice said so? It was a community inside joke passed around tables: Mystra the Man-eater.

But then some BG3 fans started taking the joke seriously...

MYSTRA THE GROOMER AND WHORE

This piece of dialogue has done so much irrevocable damage.

Some (Galemancers specifically) have interpreted this to mean that Mystra is known to go after young men. She does not. She has more documented Chosen than other gods due to her massive portfolio and power level, but there are just as many female Chosen as there are male Chosen. Minsc, like most of us in this fandom, is speculating and doing so in a way that uplifts Gale at the cost of taking a bit of a jab at Mystra.

"Mystra's a whore. She boned Kelemvor and Elminster and so many of her Chosen, taking advantage of them as a goddess," they say as if she didn't have her romantic relationships all as different people and in different bodies. Her avatar Dasumia was the one who had an intimate relationship with Elminster, and it was the human Midnight (who later ascended to become Mystra) who was Kelemvor's lover (who himself was a mortal adventurer at the time).

This is why Mystra is, how other people put it, "a whore." Because WotC canonized a handful of those stories where different sexy female mage love interests whom otherwise have nothing in common are slapped with the Mystra label for one reason or another. Sometimes they're mere avatars or magical projections, sometimes they're actual people possessed by Mystra, and sometimes they're destined to be the new Mystra but don't know it yet. But those sort of nuances are lost to people who learn their lore secondhand from deliberately provocative tweets and reddit posts, flattening extremely fantastical relationships to clumsily fit a more relatable framing that'll net them more online engagement.

I don't want to argue what is and isn't grooming. But I have encountered arguments taking Gale's mentions that he was "a young man" to mean Mystra groomed him as a child. But I doubt he would have said "young man" if he meant child...

Mystra took off the gossamer veils from her body to fully reveal herself to him — or whatever romanticized way Gale tells you that they were intimate. The man speaks in half-abstraction and metaphors because it's revealed later on in the romance that all their love-making happened outside the Material Plane. They were very intimate, but never physically had sex (or had any physical contact at all because gods are only allowed to interact with mortals through their avatars or projections). If Mystra "groomed" Gale, so did every other god who revealed themselves and made themselves vulnerable to their followers. Shar grooms her justiciars when she brings them into her dark embrace. Umberlee grooms her clerics when she swallows them up and gives them her wet kiss.

MYSTRA IS A FAIR GOD ACTUALLY

Look, gods in D&D-verses are, more often than not, dicks. They have to be or else there would be no need for adventurers to fix wrong-doings if the gods weren't so detached to the suffering of mortals and regularly making earth-shattering calamities.

Mystra, as a patron, is actually one of the more fair and hands-on dieties. She's one of the few gods who rewards benevolent ambition and punishes destructive hubris, knowing the line between the two. In the Elminster series, she (or one of her avatars) assists Elminster in taking down one of her rebel Chosen who has abused her blessing to become a tyrant. Azuth, one of her Chosen, has achieved godhood through her. In fact, she is divinely obliged — forced against her will, some might say — to help mortals she would personally rather smite. There have been so many instances where Mystra has to be the bigger person. As far as gods abusing their followers go, Mystra is low on that list.

There are barely any stories of magic abusing spellcasters, but there are cautionary tales aplenty of spellcasters abusing magic.

ON GALE SPECIFICALLY: HOW IS MYSTRA THE BAD GUY HERE?

Gale is the first to tell you that he "violated her boundaries." Mystra told him not to mess with the Tome of Netheril and he did it anyway, so he's fully aware that the orb in his chest and his fall from grace is his own fault. Mystra didn't cast him aside just because she felt like he was getting too big for his britches. His actions actively endangered her and the Weave.

(Mystra is wrong about certain details on the Karsite Weave if we're going by Forgotten Realms lore, but she's not wrong about its existence being a danger. BG3 takes a lot of liberties with the world Faerûn, so I can't definitively say whether Mystra being wrong was her lying, Larian rewriting canon, or this incarnation of Mystra not knowing the true nature of the Fall of Netheril. I could go on about what effects the Karsite Weave actually would have on magic, but this post is already long enough. )

Gale only starts to resent Mystra when she asks him to detonate himself. Elminster makes it sound like an order, but from the way she doesn't punish him in the epilogue if he chooses to keep the orb, it feels more like a suggestion. If Mystra wanted Gale well and truly dead, she has so many options.

Throughout Faerûn's history, Mystra herself has constantly been betrayed and taken advantage of — her power coveted by ambitious men who claim to worship and love her. Honestly, as far as goddesses with traumatic histories of being killed by ambitious men go, she's pretty chill about Gale. The fact that she allows him to become the god of ambition in the end if you choose that path? Well... let's just say she's not the one who looks like the evil ex who was only with their partner to take advantage of them in this scenario.

CONCLUSION

Mystra isn't the only goddess to have romantic relationships with her followers. I've already yapped on about how Forgotten Realms writers and D&D players love to make goddesses fuck their heroes, and all that pearl-clutching over "power imbalance" and "consent" is moot when the mortal party is actively rolling to seduce the divine entity.

But notice how the male gods rarely have intimate relations with their mortal charges? It's almost as if Mystra was objectified for years by horny nerds to be the sexy sorceress who validates the more important male hero. Fast forward years later, she's now being slut-shamed for all the lore of her sleeping with the more important male hero by a new crop of fans who would love to think they're more progressive than the horny nerds of the 80s, but fall into the same trap. Mystra has so much potential for complexity, but they choose to flatten her because they ultimately don't care about making stories involving complex female characters.

Instead, one of the most powerful beings in Faerûn has no bigger role in this universe than to be your girlfriend or your current boyfriend's evil ex. Wow, the realms of your creativity and respect for women truly know no bounds.

[reco-obsessed]

ok . short debrief on my thoughts on rekos feelings about men because id rather put it as its own post instead of ranting on the tags of that post . just this one time

i think a huge part of reko's harshness on men has a lot to do with possible history in the music industry as a child that gets glossed over a lot, both within the story and by the fandom. of course being sold out by her father is already setting up a poor foundation for her expectations of the men in her life, but even besides that- theres so much inherently about the child star environment thats conducive to her distrust in men.

because i think thats a key part of it. reko isnt just harsher on them for no reason; reko distrusts men.

ytts spoilers under the cut.

she has this interaction with professor mishima in ytts, and i think it explains a bit more of initial poor opinion of him. reko doesnt just think hes some weird guy, she thinks hes some weird creepy guy. which, to be fair, if i some some old professor showing up with a young woman as a pair id probably be suspicious, too.

this is also outright confirmation that reko has had personal experience with men in positions of power who used that to take advantage of young women. but back to the child star aspect of it.

i dont think reko was ever in dan schneider levels of concerning situations, but even if reko never experienced being taken advantage by creepy men directly within her time in the lime light, i cant imagine she didnt find out about others who did. with her father blinded by greed, from her perspective, it mustve seemed like a "near miss" situation even if it never ended up happening to her. theres also how being popular so early on wouldve exposed to her the public eye, and how very well a lot of creepy men couldve been making up the most intense of her fans before she actively rebelled so she could have some autonomy over not just the kind of music she was making, but to the kind of people she wouldve been appealing to with her music.

i think theres also a really important character trait of reko's that gets understated in these conversations: reko is someone who isnt willing to compromise or be pushed on her boundaries.

this interaction may seem innocuous ("of course she doesnt give away that kind of information, its a creepy question"), but it directly contrasts something we learn about the AI earlier:

so not only is this something shes not willing to trust with someone she generally trusts (sara), its also something that as an AI should technically go against her nature.

theres other examples as well- reko shutting down joes fanboying at the very beginning of the game by asking him if its really the time, and of course a lot of her interactions with her brother are shadowed by the fact shes not willing to hide the fact she wants nothing to do with him. then, theres this dialogue tree which hints at a weird interaction between keiji and reko offscreen:

which is again hinting at the idea that reko doesnt give in or try to handle people 'softly' should they cross a line with her. her mixture of self-respect, not worrying about coming off crass, and distrust of (and possible history with creepy) men means she comes off pretty harsh at times; at least compared to what specifically women are expected to behave like, though the majority of it is like more defensive than offensive.

lastly, theres also the perspective of reko as an extremely talented woman in a male-dominated genre. punk, and rock music in general, are both mostly led by men. there are a lot of people out there who discredit women in rock music and will claim they have no musical talent, only being there to serve as eye candy, especially if the other band members are men. its not impossible that she went from making shitty (probably pop music) she hated because of being a gifted kid, and then finally working with the sound she wanted, only to suddenly have people turn and try to claim she couldnt play for shit because she was a woman. and in that sense, her harshness could come from another place too- the fact that its a lot easier to get credit as a man automatically for what others have to work to prove. though this take is the one based most on speculation, both because we dont have direct evidence of reko personally feeling this way, experiencing this, and also because im a westerner and this is based on my knowledge of the western punk rock scene, though id be far from surprised to hear if similar precedents were set in japan.

if you reblogged this and am wondering why i havent mentioned her harshness on men having from originated from her father and brother its cause this rant was inspired by this post that already discusses that

[angelshizuka]

Me: *grew up loving "damsel in distress" type characters* (which was generally reserved for female characters back then)

Modern media: We're "woke" now, we've flipped the gender stereotype tables, because "girl power", we're such "feminists" despite shitting on "the wrong women" we don't like at the same time, and now male characters are the damsel in distress!

Also modern media when I generally like the male characters now, because I think "strong independent characters" are boring no matter the gender:

I love the damsel in distress trope (when done right) no matter the gender, I'll just take what I'm served and it's not my fault modern media is determined to only give it to guys, because giving it to girls is "not woke"... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ladybobofdoom]

Wow this is really uncanny. I‘ve went into this series with no expectations and I immediately shipped Li Rong and Su Ronghua from the go, not being much impressed for Pei Wenxuan; to an extend where I got the male chars confused right after the switch.

I was very sick while watching and read the subs a little dizzy. So, upon meeting them all in the past I got confused as to why she is unkind to her current lover at time of her death, when they all meet in the garden.

Here is what happend in my head: I assumed the narrative would focus on Su Ronghua and the protag finding back to eachother. I had to rewatch parts of EP2. I had to sit back and wrap my head around the fact that the main couple are the princess and her at that point as abusive portrait husband. Still, I made my peace with the main couple because the series is generally well written, with great female characters.

Also, like op sais, they string my boy Su Ronghua around like he is the secondary love interest with a genuine chance for whom I keep rooting. Dude got his balls cut off and his whole family killed and then dedicated his whole life to the protag. I mean how (on a narrative romantic hero level) could Pei Wenxuan even compete with such a compelling storry?? Having the impossible choice of rescuing his whole family or being with the women he loves and who loves him back? Chosing between power and love?? Li Rong (for me at that moment) wished with her last words to have a chance of spending her life with Su Ronghua; who obviously rememberes too.

I mean how can Pei Wenxuan even remotely compete with that, when his narrative is literally, gotta be nicer to me wife (which at EP9, where I‘m at, it‘s not really explained why he was’t nicer!!?). Plus, EP1 is even framed like he is the villain. There is never any indication of Su Ronghua and Li Rong having platonic love instead of romantic. Even if they don‘t clearify dude got his balls or whole cock‘n‘balls cut off. They still can have a meaningfull romantic and sexual relationship? Is it just implied because of his lack of genitals the relationship would be platonic?!? On an erotic level, giving them the chance to also have penetrative sex now, when they couldn’t before, holds such potential, too!

So, then I get to the wedding scene. When my boy is forced to hand the love of his life off to a man who in some form or another abused her in their last life. Baby gets shit faced to manage is how devastated he is. And I see this, and think. This is it. This is the single most cruel thing Pei Wenxuan could have done, even foreshadowing it with a ‚got a surpriiiise’. This has to be the tragic moment, where donno history repeats itself because this was a cruel thing to do on their wedding day; but he wanted to get rid of my boy for good that way. And protag MUST be so angry!! But then she is framed as happy and unbothered. And I think… wait a minute.

Which is when I wound this post. And I feel like what? (You may return to the beginning of the post. Just kidding. Nobody is reading this.)

I accidentally build a better narrative, what can I say? Not sure if I‘ll keep watching, honestly. They did my accidental head cannon baby dirty.

"But I have my reasons."

"So does every other sinner in the world."

It's been quite obvious from the drama for a while now that the Princess Royal screenwriter feels pity for Su Rongqing and considers him a tragic figure. I recall being asked early on if I thought the writers are trying to redeem him. And I said no, not exactly. And I still stand by that!

They didn't give him any out or excuse for his hand in the bloody end of their original timeline: the dirty secrets reveal scene does not soften his actions in any way or reduce Li Rong's disgust. Ronghua still rejects his grand-standing words and his refusal to see that the noble class can't continue like this. He gets his chance to tell his perception of past events but Pei Wenxuan also gets a chance to share competing observations. Li Rong and Su Rongqing still get their philosophical face-off in the throne room. No one is completely wrong or right. There were no heroes in the original timeline.

"Let's not deceive ourselves or others anymore. I understand your stubbornness. Your heart is with the light, yet you dwell in darkness. You refuse to acknowledge your identity, so you can only disort the truth."

We see Li Rong and his brother reach out a hand to him many times, telling him he can still turn back. Li Rong was never in love with him romantically but he accompanied her for years during a dark period for both of them; she's not a heartless person (that's the whole point!), so ofc she would take his hand and pull him back from the edge if he was just willing to grab it. She wants to reach him: that's what the whole throne room scene is about. But she cannot. His last moments in the drama have both Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong calling out to him.

He may be a poisonous snake, but he doesn't have to bite the frog when crossing the river.

He is given chances but he doesn't take him. That's why he's tragic: Because he is right about this ONE THING (Li Chuan isn't suited to be emperor), feeling desperately certain about it while it seems no one else understands the stakes and his heroic mission. But he's wrong about everything else.

This is a story about time travel and what if you could re-do your youth: better support a troubled sibling, stand up to toxic family, fix your marriage, widen your perspective... And Su Rongqing misses all his opportunities because he's not taking his chance to better connect with others, not using the wisdom of all those extra years to better understand the populace and the people around him, and handle his life & relationships with more grace. He just narrow-mindly focuses on the mission - he can't reset, can't let go of the past life and the current system.

So many other people in this tale have been shifted: Shangguan Ya, Su Ronghua, Li Chuan, Qin Zhen Zhen, even the fail emperor has a revelation about how crap he is.

His inflexibility and inability to seize the opportunity of a do-over in life and be a new Su Rongqing acts as a contrast to measure how much Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan have been growing & changing. And it shows us why they triumph and why they deserve their happy ending.

Tragic doesn't mean innocent. It doesn't mean he didn't have a hand in his own downfall.

I know not all readers found him compelling in the text, but I did think he was a neat character and tbh I think the novel would be diminished without him. I can see what the screenwriter was trying to do with him - all that dramatic music is his POV. We get glimpses of the good times & his good intentions that contrast with his failure to live up any of it. He's given narrative importance as their foil and the writers wanted him to be a full fledged 3rd time-traveler character that the audience is interested in (hoping, like Li Rong & his brother do, that he can be saved). The promise is there in the essential character, I can see it in the text. But in the drama they failed to create investment from the audience in the right way.

imo a big misstep is that the framing early on made viewers feel he was intended to be a valid love interest. In the drama, his romantic interest in her is overt while in the novel it was ambiguous for the first 60% of the story. Writers even added a couple moments that felt OOC where we are in his head and it seems like he is actually intending to win her back romantically (which is contradicted by his novel-compliant speech in ep 34 about how he knows they can't be together because as her betrayer he doesn't deserve it.)(now I'm curious to rewatch them, I am really wondering if it was intended to be a slight of hand where he is meaning her return/freedom/rise to power/the life he owes her and the audience is intended to misread as him saying he will become her bf again 🤔🤔) Regardless, in a romance narrative, this will make many viewers reflexively dislike him, protectively wanting him away from their otp. He is perceived as a real suitor who has a chance -- which hits different to a shipper.

The execution was flawed. I do think that casting a magnetic actor who can portray bottled up emotion & inner turmoil, such as Zhang Wanyi, would have made a big difference in mitigating the earlier mis-cues. But on the other hand, I'm fairly satisfied with his character handling from ep 30-40.

[magicofrobin]

lyric analysis of wide eyes by badflower and how it fits jason todd's vibes. long post incoming. (tw: implied/referenced sa, character death)

starting with the pre-chorus and chorus rather than the lyrics from the verses because these are the most easy to understand.

PRE-CHORUS ANALYSIS.

my innocence was taken / i'll never be that boy again

the first line is the loss of his childhood. unlike other children he witness violence and addiction at home, as well as around his neighborhood. he took care of his mother and slowly watched her die because of her "illness". he lived on the streets after losing both of his parents (the grief for his mother was like a knife, the space where his father used to be was filled with relief). jason wasn't allowed to be a child, he grew up too fast because he had to. it was the only way for him to stay safe. for so long he lost that childlike innocence that tells you that the world is good and your parents will always love and protect you. he saw the world through the eyes of an adult when he shouldn't have had to; in an ideal world someone would've shielded him from this. from all of it.

it can also be used in the same context as the song, which has been interpreted as being about sa. in that sense his innocence was taken when talia manipulated him and brought him into her bed when he was under her care. in that sense it was about the blurred out faces and half remembered hands from his childhood.

the second line, to me, is about his death. he's not going to be who he was before, no matter how much he wants to. he can't go back. he's changed too much to be that boy anymore. he doesn't even view that boy as him anymore, it's easier to think of robin as someone else, as a ghost, than it is to admit it's him. jason todd and robin might be one and the same in reality but not through the lens of his trauma. this can even be seen in canon, when he's reliving his death and disassociating. he sees himself at fifteen, dying on the warehouse floor, being between to death, and he calls him robin, not jason. because it isn't him, not really.

i guess i'm only speculating / but there's no use in hearing the truth from a liar

this one is less specific but to me, it's about how he feels like the other bats don't trust him. mainly how bruce doesn't trust him. it feels like no matter what he says or how much he works with them, there will always be the sense that none of them trust him. if he says he won't kill then he's lying. if he says he's fine he's lying.

he has lied before. many times in fact. that was what red hood was in the beginning, a lie spun to hide his identity until he was ready.

CHORUS ANALYSIS.

true was the bride at the turn of our time

in the song the bride is referring to the catholic church, with that context, i think this line for jason's character is a bit hard to interpret.

but to me, it feels like it's about bruce's crusade and his time as robin. things were good and he believed in everything bruce stood for when he was robin. after his death nothing is the same, least of all him. he no longer believes in batman or his methods, the life he lived under bruce's roof is no longer true, it hasn't been since he ended up in that warehouse. it's almost like a loss of faith.

holding my, holding my / holding my life in your body

this one is obvious & not so obvious. there's different things it could mean but the most in your face one is: bruce finding his son's body in the wreckage and holding him, wishing that jason would open his eyes. it's so reminiscent of the every image of bruce finding his son in death in the family; jason’s limp body in his arms, him the picture of the devastated father.

its batman protecting his robin when they're out on patrol. jason's full trust in his dad to keep him safe. every night out as robin was a risk and bruce was always there beside him, pulling him back when it was too dangerous or picking him up when he was too hurt or too tired to carry on.

its jason holding a gun to the joker's head and demanding his dad make a choice: him or his murderer? one of them was going to die there and it was all in bruce's hands, whether he wanted it or not.

it was the way the batarang sliced his throat and sent him stumbling, releasing his murderer so he can grasp at his throat. a timer is about to go off and he's trying to stop the bleeding. this was his dad holding his life in his hands and choosing wrong. this was jason keeping himself alive, the only person he could depend on anymore.

in a meta sense it's the poll that killed him. his life hinged on the votes of fans. he would live or die based on whatever they called in and said. they held his life in their hands and voted against him. voted to see him dead. voted to see batman's world shatter with the loss of a child. they could've saved him.

i bottled up the pieces of the lie, of the lie

it's about putting his past behind him, or trying to. it's the distance between him and the rest of the bats. he's not part of them and his time with bruce was a lie, it wasn't real, that wasn't his family. he thinks he knows that now. he was replaced, they're happier without him. so he keeps his distance and he keeps all those feelings inside until they spill out and he's confronting a bat and it gets explosive. because he does want to be part of the family, he wants his old life back even if he can't have it.

its about all the things talia told him while he was healing and training. the whispered half truths that she used to manipulate him, so he would become a more willing pawn. she told him about tim and twisted it, told him that bruce never loved him, didn't even miss him. jason's body had barely been in ground before a new kid was going out in the colors that killed him. she doesnt tell him how his dad was self destructing, how tim thought he had to step in to keep bruce alive, how tim was just a kid taking responsibility for a man so lost in his grief he took it out on the world. she tells him how his death has gone unavenged because no one cared enough about him to avenge him.

she doesn't tell him how his dad almost killed the joker, he would've too. he was going to put his rules behind him and rid the world of his son's murderer. but superman stopped him (there might have been valid reasons but does it really matter?). she doesn't tell him how dick wanted the joker dead as soon as he heard about jason's death, how fucking outraged he was that bruce was letting him sit in arkham instead of six feet under. she doesn't tell him how dick beat the joker to death for him and tim and barbara and the only reason he's still alive is because bruce brought him back. she doesn't tell him that he was loved.

everything she's says is lies wrapped up in a thin layer of truth and he takes it as gospel because why would she lie to him? she's in charge of him, she saved him.. right? she should have no reason to lie to him.

who am i, who am i / to ever love you with wide eyes?

so much of this song is about his relationship with his dad and how it's changed since he came back to life. he's not the same kid he was, he's angry and wrong and he hates bruce for replacing him and for letting his murderer go on living. there should be no love left for him to give. but there is. there's enough left that it has him coming when his family calls and agreeing to nonlethal methods, anything to make his dad happy, to make his dad love him.

jason doesn't feel like he deserves to love anyone, least of all the family he doesn't fit into. he's the extra puzzle piece, one that came from another box and was so obviously out of place there was no mistaking it as part of the bigger picture. just like jason is with the family.

this line is him quite literally asking himself if he's allowed to love bruce now that he's broken all the rules. is he allowed to still think of him as his dad and want his love if he's not part of the family anymore, if he's not robin anymore.

going into the verses now, this part might be more select lines rather than the entire verse. we shall see.

VERSE ONE.

my love was only temporary / i aged, but kept the memory / and still it makes me shiver cold

this is all about losing the two most important parental relationships he's ever had and how it'll never stop being an open wound.

he had three years as robin, as bruce wayne's son, he knew it wouldn't last forever. he was so loved during those years, he wanted it to be forever, he wanted to know what it was like to grow up happy. but he died and he lost it. to him, the love he experienced then died with him. and now, as red hood, he knows it has. all he has left is memories of a time when he was happier and it's mostly his fault. it keeps him up some nights, nights where he's alone and nightmares won't let him sleep and he wakes up in a cold sweat wishing he could slip out of bed and walk the hall to his dad's room, seeking out comfort like he used to.

it's losing catherine when he was so young. it's the constant desire for more time with his mom that he'll never get to have. no matter how old he gets he'll always be that little boy shivering and laying beside his mom, hoping she'll wake up.

if i really wanted to, i could also tie it back to talia honestly. she made him feel loved so she could mold him into a pawn and then she betrayed him in the worst possible way. jason will never forget what she did and she will star in those nightmares that wake him up at night.

theres no place to hide the past we bury / so like the virgin mary / she lied to save the family

for the most part the latter part of this line is about catherine to me. it references how she tried to shield jason from the worst of things. she told him she was sick, not an addict. her drugs of choice were medicine to make her better, not the things actively killing her. she lied to him to spare him, to save him.

the first line is pretty on the nose to me. try as he might jason will never be able to run from his past – whether that's being robin or living on the street or being raised in an abusive household or his time spent with the league. nothing is gonna be able to hide it. even six feet of dirt wasn't enough for him to be rid of it.

VERSE TWO.

i am the dust behind the window / the darkness in the shadow / the stain under the pillow

the most standout line here is the darkness in the shadow because that's what he is, isn't it? he's the dark spot on the otherwise clean history of robin. (it means nothing that every robin has had their problems, none of them are innocent, but jason will bear the curse of that alone.) and when he was first starting as red hood, he was hiding in the dark and going through with his plan for revenge. no one knew, or could've known, that jason was back in gotham. he should've been dead, he should've been a ghost.

the first line is referring to his memorial in the cave. the suit he died in – that should've been destroyed, it never should've been kept, it just like robin should've ended with jason – is displayed behind glass. the suit is all that's left of a ghost.

and i'll be the perfect silent witness

this is a bit more of a loose interpretation than some of the other parts but this to me would be referencing the deal he makes with bruce about not killing in gotham. his attempts to repent and be the son bruce wants again.

i stink from all the bullshit / so feed me and i'll hold my tongue

the first part of this is similar to some of the things i've written about jason's internal monologue. where he's thinking about how he's not able to rid himself of where he grew up, like his neighborhood left a permanent stain on him. it's something he felt most intensely when he was attending gotham academy. he felt like the students and the teachers could smell the stink of crime alley on him, that they knew he was not from the same kind of people, that he was only there by chance – not by birth.

finally to finish up, here's the bridge which is so so fucking fitting.

BRIDGE.

rage! / i'm the bad guy, i'm the bad guy / i'm the cynical kid, i'm the rage

this is red hood. this is all red hood is. all of jason's anger wrapped up in a neat little bow and hidden under that helmet of his. he makes himself the villain in the family. he kills people even though he knows it breaks his dad's number one rule and it'll make it so he can never be part of that family again.

he comes back so disillusioned to bruce's methods because he knows! they don't work! gotham is still just as bad as ever! there's no way the city will ever get better if someone doesn't start cleaning up the streets and laying down rules and getting rid of the worst of the worst. which is what jason does.

as a kid he wasn't full of so much doubt. he genuinely believed he was making a difference but now he knows better.

i'm the big lie / i'm the goddamn shame of the goddamn pride!

jason todd was the good soldier! the plaque on his memorial says so! but that isn't true now is it? no, jason was the soldier who wouldn't listen in the end, who turned his back on the cause when he was shown the truth.

he was the angry one, wasn't he? that's what everyone wants to believe.

jason todd the good soldier. jason todd the angry robin. the robin who was always destined to go down the wrong path. it's true because bruce said it, isn't it?

his past is all hidden behind the lies of a man he still calls dad. he warps the memory of a dead boy to suit his needs, ignoring the truth of jason's life because it makes his death easier to deal with. it makes his return and his crimes easier to deal with.

because he's batman's greatest failure. his soldier, his fault.

he's the bat that makes them all look bad. he wears their symbol and he kills people. he thinks he's something that they're all ashamed of (and maybe they are. maybe he deserves that for what he's done.)

rage! / i'm the bad guy, i'm the nice try / i'm the typical bitch with the rage on my face!

pretty much the same as the first part of the bridge but i want to focus on the i'm the nice try part. because i feel like it reflects thoughts on his life and death. his time as robin was cut short but he did good during it, didn't he? he helped the people of gotham and he did so much good but it wasn't enough.

and then his death! it didn't stick! his resurrection is basically the universe's way of saying nice try! not even death could stop jason todd.

i'm the goddamn beast of the goddamn pride!

this!

jason is the member of the batfamily that's willing to go further, he's capable and ready to kill if it means protecting his city and his family. he's the violent one now and he accepts it. that's his role in the family now.

[welcometogrouchland]

my Stephanie Brown hot take is that she should get mad bitches now that she's single in comics. Yes yes shipping BUT the one time she had sex she was punished by the narrative via teen pregnancy. I think she should be allowed to have as much sex as she wants with zero consequences. Could be a lot of sex, could be a little. Point is she should get to do it without getting narratively baby trapped this time. she should get them pregnant, actually.

[infamouslydorky]

I feel as though casual misogyny in not having many favorite female characters over male characters and the fact that many female characters aren't written well and made to service male character development in most mainstream media are two ideas that can coexist

[sukibenders]

The Arcane fandom, especially on TikTok is never beating the allegations because why, now, some fans act like it's too inconceivable to imagine that Ambessa was, not only, pregnant twice but gave birth twice as well? And their reasoning for this is "She looks like the type to get a man pregnant instead" or "She's too tough for that, I just can't see someone like her going through that." There are layers to these statements because, for one, just because someone, especially a woman, is a dominant force doesn't mean that they can't get/don't want to become pregnant (do you believe overtly dominant men can't be fathers?) It's also very weird because the undertones of misogyny and misogynoir and the overt masculinization of black women are there because, not only are they viewing pregnancy and giving birth, in general, to be viewed as something "weak" (even though it's grueling hours of labor that results in tearing the body apart, sometimes even death) but also attempts to strip Ambessa of her nuance. Yes, she is strong and very dominant, but she also deeply loved her children, who she birthed, and when one was taken away from her it changed her deeply. It's very gross to view a character like her in this way because it also reflects how you view dominant women in real life, pregnancy, and childbirth as a whole. Like how are you going to praise Arcane for having such a wide and diverse ensemble of female characters, but then have misogynistic takes like this? Make it make sense.