#most people dont want to and shouldn't have to do that

[fae-morrigan]

Someone put a post (where they admit they straight up dont know these characters lol, and also spell damian as 'damien' so like. yknow.) in the tags saying that if you're a fan of Jon & Jay, you shouldn't buy super son. Well, as the crowned CEO of Jay & Jon, I'm here to tell you guys that you absolutely should.

Super Son did the amazing thing of hitting several marks that I predicted while still managing to surprise me in how they hit them. Which is high praise for any story: A great narrative should be able to both meet reasonable audience expectations (i.e, staying in character, setup payoff) WHILE STILL throwing in curveballs that tell you something new.

There's a lot I want to analyze and get into, namely how I think the rooftop conversation between Jon & Nia is really brilliantly done in what it says about both characters, but mainly I've been thinking a lot about how great those last few pages were and how I think Sina absolutely nails how Jon & Jay's specific issues interact with each other.

Jay's always been a blunt person. From their first meeting back in SOKE 2, hes said what he thinks, and rarely does he try and soften himself. More than that, his bluntness is often a shield from vulnerability, which Jay struggles with the whole scene. It makes total sense, after what hes experienced (re-traumatization at the hands of a friend) that he's displaying that trait again.

Jon, however, is immediately vulnerable. This is the most poignant confession of the issue: Not even in the amazing sequence of Nia helping him make a place in the darkness (look, its back, thanks isabel!) do we get this admission of fear.

And Jay, like always, embraces him. Sidenote, LOVE how they got in the thing Jon does where he's constantly tucking his face in people's shoulders during hugs.

But the moment ends, and we get here. First of all, cold af. I could feel the aura before I turned the page.

Second of all: Jay is totally valid in feeling this way. And it makes perfect sense that he would.

Sara was his everything. Getting her back was one of his main motivations in SOKE. Because of Nia's actions, she died horribly (do you know what happens to a person when they fall from that sort of height? I do. Its AWFUL.) for an unjust cause. Of course he's glad she can't hurt anyone else!

And that's when we get to my FAVORITE PART! Oh how I love this bit. Because like. You understand why Jon's angry- Its a harsh thing for Jay to say! Nia was the one who kept him sane while he was trapped in his own mind! But Jay, like always, is RIGHT: Jon DOESN'T get it. How could he?

Jon Kent will NEVER, ever, be put in this position. Out of universe, his parents are Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They'll ALWAYS come back. Hell, the fact they'll always come back is something Ma LITERALLY says to Jon in SOKE. He will never, ever have to know this pain.

In universe, Jon's a white american. Despite being queer, despite being an alien, he'll never know what its like to be this kind of collateral, delegated as pawns in a greater war for 'freedom'. That is what killed Sara at the end of the day: imperialism.

This next bit hurts my heart. Great job, guys!

For one: Jon claims he's not excusing the mistakes Nia made, but by downplaying it like this... yes he is. But did you catch that part? Right at the start of that bubble?

"I'm going to fight every day to make up for my own part in this."

That's where it clicked for me. Something I had been hoping for since Nicole first called them twin flames.

He's projecting.

Of COURSE he's defending Nia. Of COURSE he wants Jay to forgive her. It isn't just about the fact that she gave him support, it isn't just the dreams, its the fact that... well. If Jay can't forgive her... how could he EVER forgive HIM?

THIS is where the fact that Jon and Nia are so similar as character SINGS. They become mirrors to each other, evaluating their own self worth through the other, at the unintentional expense of the people they've hurt.

Jay's right, though. Again. Its almost like he's the embodiment of the truth or something. He doesn't HAVE to do anything.

When he starts crying though, I immediately was RUINED. This is the first time we have EVER seen him cry before during his entire existence of a character. And its not really even because his mom is dead (though yes, that) and its not even because of the argument. Its because Jay fundamentally wants to be understood, and he's not getting that.

Which is important for the next bit:

I want to first backtrack a bit to Son of Kal El again, specifically, issue fourteen, right here.

Hello, two-panel sequence that succinctly describes these two as characters. How convenient you are for me, a guy analyzing a work that isn't written prose.

Jon isn't good at letting go, for better or for worse. The things he cares about stay with him, and when something or someone tries to exit his life, he clings to them with all his might.

Jay however, both selflessly and selfishly, is willing to let go first if he thinks its better for the other person. To me this line so effortlessly summarizes who Jay is- he's a person who's accustomed to not having things, and will leave before it hurts and he gets too attached.

And that thought is ALL over this scene. Jay, who begins to let go, Jon, who both literally and physically CLINGS to jay, practically begging him to stay.

(Sidenote. This is like, the third time Jay mentions breaking up when Jon starts acting up. Good for you king, keep that white boy on his toes, let him know he ain't all that.)

Every little detail of this four panel sequence is killing me. "My worst nightmare is not having a home with you in it." His greatest desire. The thing that kept tipping him off in every fake reality Nia constructed for him- Jay's absence. Him wiping the tear of Jay's cheek. Jay walking away from him.

But what really gets me is how on this page, Jon talks about them as 'we', while Jay is firmly stuck in 'I.'

This is what made me LOSE MY MARBLES at three in the morning. Just utterly fucking off my rocker in a straightjacket talking to myself.

Because this is what JON wants. But is it what JAY wants?

Jon never asks.

What about what Jay fears? What about the life that HE wants? What if he doesn't want San Francisco? What if the life he wants is the life he HAD before everything went wrong? Jon outright says he wants a fresh start. But Jay, Jay's someone with such deep connections to what he just lost, what he likely WANTS to get back. His country. His mother. His sense of self. But. He says yes.

(Sidenote. FIRST I LOVE YOU WOOOOOOOOOO) To quote my buddy Dami: Oh, the drama of needing a future with someone who can't get over the past.

It is left unclear, by the end, whether or not Jay is saying yes to this because he genuinely wants to, or if he's only saying yes because he doesn't want to lose Jon, too. Jon doesn't stop to question whether or not Jay's only reaching after him because Jon's walking away. We, the audience, are left to ponder that for ourselves.

How much of Jay saying yes is him just accepting that this is the best he's going to get? That he's never going to be understood because nobody wants to understand?

He's an afterthought to Nia, an obstacle at best, and to Jon he's a particularly handsome prop in this little fantasy he has of running away and starting new. He's either not thought of at all, or when he is thought about, it's in the context of how he can emotionally fulfill the other person And you get why Jon did this. He's desperate, he's hurting, he just got tangible evidence that the time he has with the people he loves isn't ever guaranteed. He's been needing space from Clark and Lois for MONTHS because god knows they haven't been fulfilling his emotional needs. In a very real sense, Jay is who he has.

But wanting someone to stay with you so much that you'll... Not even ignore, but just not ever consider what they may want. The intentional isolation, moving halfway across the country away from all support systems. The need to cling to someone.

It reminds me of... something. Someone.

Don't tell Jon I made this comparison. He'll kill himself. Jon and Ultraman ARE similar. They're both such deeply lonely people who cling very tightly and even though it manifests in different ways and even though they have different core thoughts about it. The effect at the end of the day is the same, isn't it?

Is loving Jay not a brutal act of destruction?

There's so many more details about this story I love. Jon & Nia's conversation being vague enough that you have no idea how Jon meant what he told her but you KNOW how NIA took it (girl you can do better hes literally ugly!). Jon breaking a pillar by bonking his head against it (LMFAO). The pretty lies vs ugly truth dichotomy of Jay vs Nia here.

But this one scene, man. This one fucking scene takes the cake. STELLAR work all around. Every panel counts.

This better lead into a full Superman & Gossamer run or SOMETHING or I'm going to have WORDS with DC's editorial staff.

[lostandbackagain]

NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE!

[wolfsbanesparks]

*politely raises hand* Ayo do you have any thoughts on if fear toxin is even anything to worry about in the face of the Courage of Achilles?

Like Billy Batson would obviously have a terrible time if he’s exposed to it but would Captain Marvel, setting aside the fact he doesn’t need to breathe, be fine?

I don’t have a penny to give but I request thy thoughts.

Hey there!

So my answer here is two fold:

Technically there have been canon comics where Captain Marvel is affected by fear toxin (Shazam #12 i believe), bringing his greatest fears as Billy to the surface despite him being powered up. There have also been other non fear toxin induced events to a similar effect.

But to be perfectly honest, the comic I'm thinking of largely included him being affected by fear toxin as an excuse for a more experienced Batman to save the day and highlight his own inexperienced fighting style.

So as with most things, Cap's immunity to toxins (including fear toxin) varies based on what the writers want to happen in their story.

Personally, I think that he should be immune to standard fear toxin or at the very least be able to power through the hallucinations because of the courage of Achilles. I mean what's the point of having supernatural courage as a power if you can't overcome a chemical to induce fear? Especially if perfectly ordinary human Batman can do it with sheer willpower?

Mostly I think a lot of people have the tendency to downplay Cap's abilities while at the same time hyping up Batman and his rogues. If Cap's powers are actually understood and respected by the writers there really shouldn't be much to worry about with fear toxin (unless there's a a team up with a magical villain enhancing it or Billy is caught in it before he can transform. Then we might have an interesting story).

So that's my two cents on the subject! I'd love to other people chime in!

[redysetdare]

Maybe instead of trying to convince people who don't want kids to have kids we should instead be trying to convince people who want kids to not have kids because some of them are definitely not ready to have kids or should not have kids.

[yuridovewing]

Yeah, as a nonbinary person who could get pregnant but never wants to, I find the way fans treat trans cats having litters really weird. Like as long as you depict it with respect because trans parents deserve it, it's not hurting anyone. Plus it's unfair to trans fans who want to have biokids. I saw a Warriors Roleplay outright ban trans cats from having children that werent adopted with the excuse of 'listening to trans voices'. Ok, well not every trans person is uncomfortable with the idea of having children and its unfair to act like thats the case. YOU can be uncomfortable with having kids and thats fine, but just because something makes you dysphoric doesnt mean nobody is allowed to do it.

ABSOLUTELY! Ohhh I have thoughts about that RP... "you can NEVER portray trans characters having bio kids, they HAVE to adopt because trans people having bio kids is wrong!! We're doing this because we love trans people and we know that not a single one has had or wants children! This is helpful!! We're helping!!"

This stuff does have an effect on the real world, too (maybe not our silly little cat headcanons, but the general discussion around this topic in a wider range) When you insist that you can't portray trans people having kids, to the point you ban it in an rp or lash out at trans creators who do so, how do you think that reflects onto trans people who not only want bio kids, but have already had bio kids? That people like them are so uncomfortable, it is an insult to other trans people to acknowledge they exist? That they are an Other, something abnormal, something the trans community should never accept?

I get it. There are a lot of trans people irl who don't want bio kids because of dysphoria, among several other factors. Anon and I are two of them! And there WERE some people genuinely being reductive about the topic and just making a single trans character in a gay ship trans for bio kids. But what trans people are you helping by banning the discussion altogether? We aren't a hivemind. We're all individuals with different needs and preferences. If your dysphoria is SO bad that you can't look at other trans people who haven't met your standard for whatever reason and you demand that they stay quiet and not exist for your comfort... it's time to work on yourself. And if you're not trans and you're saying this, please shut up, holy shit stop telling trans people how to write our own characters or how we should headcanon things.

And to be honest, I've grown kinda sick of being policed around what kind of trans characters we're allowed to write. This attitude extends to stuff like dysphoria, whether a character has taken steps to medically transition (and you'll get snapped at no matter what!), portraying GNC trans people, and more. It's not as prevalent in the warriors fandom, I think, but it's become so nitpicked that I'm exhausted.

[a-vicious-faithless-angel]

Originally i wasn't gonna post this, n was just gonna keep it to myself but it's insane to me how much fandoms or just people in general cannot seem to fathom anything outside of what they know. They've placed themselves into a box of what they know, what makes them comfortable and what's understandable to them. Anything past that is met with hatred and dislike for xyz. You can't have a morally grey character [ESP FEMALE.] Without accusations of abuse of any of fucking being terrorist [Looks at what people say about Mia Winters.] Fiction is not supposed to always be made for YOU. It's made for anyone, they're not nor SHOULDN'T be limited to yourself. This idea that things cannot be bad or gruesome without backlash destroys so much of what sm media is built on... If a ship between 2 characters can be seen as horrible and disgusting when theres no actual evidence of it being that way yet theres still a push when in all actuality you are allowed to write shitty relationships, its okay to write about the relationships that arent squeaky clean!!!! This idea that if you ship it, it immediately means you support it, has gone so far, when i talk about 4525 [David x Simon] or hell Woods x Hackett. Its not to bring this idea that i want real relationships to fucking be like this, its just an interesting viewing of 2 people trying to make something work. They're fictional characters. They are not real. They're little dolls you play around with, to push n do whatever with. A limit of which is okay and isn't should be there, but we've crossed it so much that, the line isn't even there anymore. Like any difficult subject you handle it with care but it doesn't automatically mean you cant ever talk about it or want to talk about it! Just like how real life is not pure, not all media will be pure and that's FINE. You should talk about villainous characters and their complexity and not be harassed for just liking them. <3333

[diningpageantry]

by fuck i WILL make my own AO3 wrapped this year

[snow-and-saltea]

yesterday i spent 45 minutes of my life watching a video essay criticising the use of cheap shock values and crossing of taboos for a video game and i went from "he has a point even if he's explaining it in a really inflammatory way" to "oh umm... i can see how he thinks that way even if i don't agree" to "oh this guy's just straight up using people on tumblr as material for an audience to get mad at like other outdated people on the internet. nvm he's just an asshole"

[froshele]

today in the wild I came across a phrase to the effect "...And this [pair of ethical axioms about what constitutes quality of life for purposes of discussion about disability and coma prognosis, based on the opinion of one person who has not ever been in a coma or disabled thereafter] suggests that maybe, just maybe, [relevantly comatose or recovering or disabled] people may have quality of life sufficient to make them ethically relevant"

that's ... not, um, normally considered to be what makes people "ethically relevant" in the world where all the people are and there's sunshine and grass and things, but, you know what, ok jennifer, A for effort! :) gold star for you, philosopher extraordinaire, moral lodestar for people unsure what to do with granny, paragon of ethical conduct!

[skitskatdacat63]

Why do I say things like this. Like what was the need. Why do I feel the need to jinx myself. What was the reason.

[kulemii]

yall can call it a bad take all you want but my own personal belief is this: the sooner you take these celebrities and demote them from the pedestals you place them on then look at them as no more than people who are providing you with a service, you will stop being so distraught when it comes out that they're not as good of a person as you thought they were. when i go to starbucks, you think i give a flying fuck what susie sara tweets about during her breaks? no, as long as my white mocha comes with almond milk, extra whip, we all g and i'll see her tomorrow.

that's the same way i look at these celebrities. they're an actor? cool, can't wait to see their next project but when it comes out that they've tweeted something unsavory, guess what? i couldn't give a flying fuck if i tried but im just there for the movies. what they do in their free time does not affect me. and yeah, many of you might are you "well they have a platform! they're harmful to blah blah blah blah" you know why that is? because yall care too goddamn much! yall give too much of a FUCK what these bitches gotta say and that's yall's problem.

so when it comes out and you're sitting there gagging and crying and throwing up over something that some person that doesn't know you even exist has said, remember how much power YOU are giving them over your life. sit with that. then decide if it's worth continuing or not because i can tell you right now? for me? as a grown adult woman with bills to pay? it's not- their stupid statements aren't going to affect my credit score so why should i let it affect my emotional state?

[artemisaed]

[elytrafemme]

sometimes i think about the way i act in therapy, and the way everyone else i’ve ever known who’s spoken about therapy talks about it, and i wonder if i’m the most difficult patient in the fucking world. 

[j-femmescoli]

i had my potential roommates fuck up and make us lose out on our (my dream) apartment by not filing their documents in time before another group swept in and got signed so i sent them a really long text explaining how disappointed i am and how i felt like i did most of the work for this apartment because i wanted to be moved in in like 2 weeks and now i have to find a place before school starts in, again, like 2 weeks and then saying that im gonna move on and look for a place without them because i dont want to go thru this again and now im worried that it's too aggressive.

[traumagenica]

.

[grapecaseschoices]

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer ok go

Top 5 ocs of yours? I'm so curious 👀👀

LMAO. yall so cute <3 so good for my ego and self-esteem.

I've been creating ocs since I was like 14? 15?, bb. That's a lot LMAO. And that doesn't include one off characters from shows/books that I made my own when I played panfandom games. And if I were to do a somewhat honest list [lmao bc top five is genuinely hard.] I'd have to add ocs yall don't know.

But let's see. Um. In no order.

Tai Aeothryn: I don't even remember her. Don't even ask me to say her last name, because I made that SHIT UP. Tai started from a self-insert that became more energetic and meddling and pushy and etc than me. I played her in a Dark Hunters [yes, by Sherrilyn Kenyon] group. Totally lied about my age to get in [DON'T DO THIS KIDS!] and her FC was that actress from Passions. ROFLMAO. This is so funny, because I DON'T remember a lot but so much is coming back to me. ROFLMAO. Psychic damage right now. Tai was 19. And partially Haitian. BECAUSE OF COURSE! [Even tho her FC wasn't.] She was short and mouthy and probably could've done with more fear. She was probably the prototype of a lot of my OCs. She had a few cute nicknames that I don't recall. I know one was 'the Meddler' and I think the other was 'imp'?

So, Ima admit. I very much had a HP phase. A lot of my rp time was HP. It wasn't where I started [see above] but it is where i did most of my writing/met a lot of the people I still write with. THAT. SAAAAID. One OC that ended up surviving That Time was Maxwell B. He had too many surnames, one being Bianchi. How do I solve a problem like Max? Max was charming. I don't usually like to call my characters charming because I feel it's a matter of perspective. If I can get you to feel a character I see/hope will be charming as charming, then job well done. But Max was CHARMING. I feel in an olden days, people would call Max a knave or a rapascallion, but in an 'oh, you!!' sort of way. But the thing is, the most important thing, is Max wasn't half as charming as HE believed himself to be. He was a silly guy. And he knew it. It was part of his personality but it was also on purpose. He was "lazy" and a bit of a prankster, and seemingly, didn't take a lot of thing seriously, so don't go taking him seriously. Which often lead to underestimation of his character and his values [both a matter of his fault and people not looking beyond the surface]; but he was a flirt who was very respectful of boundaries and other's relationships, he was extremely loyal, and while not entirely book smart he was very observant and intelligent. I miss Max a lot sometimes. [Max while not the prototype, he was the culmination of previous prototypes lmao. I haven't done a character like him in a minute tho. Amos and Ferryn are the closest but Amos is an asshole. And Ferryn is -- not a good person. And Max was GOOD. I also don't play either a lot, lmao.]

Andy Yasar.

Kendis [in all their variations]

I don't know who I would give the fifth spot to. There are OCs who I still roll in my head and who's dynamics and exploration still mean a lot to me [like Mason and Desiree, that I still tag. And Mason was proto-Irvin in a sense]. Others whose names I don't remember but who still gut punch me [I don't remembeer my own ocs names werw lmao. I don't remember any names]. However, I think I would have to give this to Spencer

Spencer, I've played in various forms. I loved her because she was basically my bitter, grizzled white man in a young woman's body. She had the daddy issues, the sarcasm, the dislike for socializing, the sharp brain. But she also CARED about her job and was SOFT with like the three [mostly one] people she cared about. She had scars physical and interal, but she still wanted to help people. She had a wicked sweet tooth, lmao. Lollipops were her cigarette. I kind of miss her. I want to write her somewhere but I can never quite get her to fit.