#my preferences are not universal but I don't like it when characters are in conflict solely because of misunderstandings

[agnesandhilda]

some final thoughts on iron widow: I wish the main throuple had either had longer to cook or that zetian and li shimin's relationship wasn't made romantic (as is it seems like zetian goes from hating and resenting him to completely forgiving him for the women he did kill, albeit incidentally, and accepting him as another boyfriend way too fast). I also wish that li shimin had actually done some of the bad things zetian believed he did at the start of the novel maybe

[benchspkmnirlhub]

A Guide to Pokemon IRL

Hello! Pokemon IRL has been getting more and more popular over the year and a half I've been in the community, and I'm seeing lots of people being confused by it.

So I'm making this guide, to hopefully help people understand it better, and perhaps join us in this wacky community.

Part 1: The Basics

Essentially, Pokemon IRL is a RP community centered on one single premise: Blogging as if you were in the Pokemon world. It's a hybrid of askblogs, RP blogs, and general tumblr blogs.

There's very few rules to it, other than just "don't be a jerk". There's all kinds of Pokemon IRL blogs, from regular OC trainers, to canon characters, to characters who are Pokemon themselves, to even Fallers from non-Pokemon media, and more!

The main thing is that 98% of Pokemon IRL operates on the multiverse. Blogs can have conflicting canons, since the multiverse exists, and the blogs can be from different universes. This also means that multiple people can RP the same character. I've lost count of the amount of Kieran and Silver blogs.

Why is Pokemon-world tumblr multiversal? Who knows! But that's the one generally accepted canon thing across almost all Pokemon IRL blogs.

Part 2: Glossary

I know glossaries are usually at the ends of books, but I figure it's important that I define some important terms before I get to the rest of this guide.

Rotomblr - The generally accepted name for Pokemon-world tumblr. I personally prefer to use the name Tacklr instead, but that's just my opinion.

Sapient Pokemon - Pokemon that are sapient. Typically refers to Pokemon that run blogs. Some blogs don't allow interactions with them. Some blogs love interacting with them, though, such as all my blogs!

Eebydeeby - A human that has been turned into a Pokemon. "Eeby" is short for it. "Sleeby" means "slow eeby", or a human that has been or is in the process of slowly turning into a Pokemon.

Hybrid - This has two meanings. The first is someone who's part human and part Pokemon. The second is a Pokemon that's part one species, part another species.

Pelipper Mail - This is a multiversal system of mail, powered via Pelipper! You can have Pelippers send items to other blogs with this. Can be enabled or disabled per blog. Same goes with the next five terms.

Pelipper Unmail - Instead of giving, this is taking. This steals something from another blog via Pelipper.

Pelipper Malice - Essentially, this is sending something to another blog that you know will hurt them.

Musharna Mail - It's like Pelipper Mail, but with dreams! This can be used to send dreams to other blogs.

Musharna Malice - Just like Musharna Mail, but it's nightmares instead of dreams.

Magic Anons - Essentially, this allows anons to do whatever they'd like to the characters on your blog. Use caution when enabling this, though, as it's suspected that some people fetish mine with these.

High Stakes - Basically, this refers to anything that can majorly injure many characters, or otherwise have lots of bad stuff happen. Many blogs don't like interacting with this stuff, so it's best to tag it.

Drama Stakes - Like High Stakes, but less. This is when stuff is happening that could lead to in-universe ruined relationships. Best to tag this too.

Ultra Stakes - Like High Stakes, but more. This is when things lead to potential death of many characters. Definitely best to tag this as well.

Chosen - Sometimes someone is a legendary's favorite special little person, and they get powers from it! That's essentially what a Chosen is.

Faller - Someone, usually from a non-Pokemon media, who falls into the Pokemon world. Essentialyl a way of writing a non-Pokemon character in Pokemon IRL.

Self-Insert Faller - An OOC blogrunner falls into the Pokemon world. Can get very meta.

Muse Mixup Madness - At the start of every month, there's an event where some blogs temporarily change their core concept for a day or a few. It's best to tag these, and to give warnings beforehand.

Part 3: Setting up your Blog

Setting up a Pokemon IRL blog is a lot like setting up a regular tumblr blog, just in-character.

The main thing you'll need is a pinned post explaining the premise of the blog. These are usually in-character, with an OOC section at the bottom.

It's best to warn for possible triggers that might pop up on the blog, as well as explaining your boundaries (i.e. if you don't want Pelipper Mail).

Feel free to theme your blog too, changing the header and icon, adjusting the theme colors, maybe even have a custom theme!

Once you have that all set, you're ready to interact!

Part 4: Interacting

I made a full guide on how to interact here, if you want to check it out!

The main thing is, don't be afraid to interact. Even with big blogs. Everyone's happy to receive interactions! Worst that can happen is that your interaction is ignored.

So don't be scared! Jump in, and start interacting!

Part 5: General Advice from my Friends

I asked around for any additional advice people wanted to add, and here's what some people had to say:

"uhhh ooc communication is super important, especially if youre trying to do a plot with someone or smth along those lines" - @espers-n-espurrs

"Uhhh "Do it scared" Like. If you're nervous about doing something but you wanna do it, do it even though you're scared!!!!! Also like. Have fun. People can tell when you're having fun. Be silly. Do what you want forever. Also that big blogs 9/10 don't mind interactions with smaller ones. I think I count as one and like. I am just as scared as interacting with new people as the smaller blogs who wanna interact with me" @chaos-cousins

"interact with people" - @justalileepguy

"The absolute worst thing that can happen if you send someone an ask is that they delete it. People like getting interaction, even if it's from a blog you don't follow. If you're having trouble interacting, find something your two characters have in common and point it out" - @fated-furret

Part 6: Miscellaneous Stuff

If there's anything I'm missing, feel free to let me know, or add it in a reblog! I've been in this community for a long time, but even I don't know absolutely everything.

If you've read this far, thank you! I hope this guide helps in some way. Reblogging it is appreciated, but not necessary.

And if you're thinking of joining the Pokemon IRL community, then I'm excited to help welcome you!

[ponett]

Whenever I complain about graphic or dark content in media I watch, I keep hearing people retort with this apparently very popular opinion that people who enjoy comfy, wholesome things are actually more likely to be raging assholes than people who love things like death metal and gore. As someone who seems to enjoy comfy, wholesome things yourself and likely met many others who enjoy similar such things, do you agree with this opinion? If so, why do you think this happens?

So I've been sitting on this ask for like a week, not knowing whether or not I wanted to touch it because it kind of feels like being handed a live grenade

For one, I don't like being pigeonholed as someone who just likes "comfy" or "wholesome" things. Yeah, I enjoy My Little Pony and Animal Crossing. I made a game with cute furry characters and lots of bright colors. I also enjoy things like Berserk and Chainsaw Man and Doom and violent crime dramas and punk rock with vulgar lyrics and porn. Variety is the spice of life

Anyway: I generally don't think it's a good idea to make sweeping statements about peoples' moral or intellectual character based on what genres of story they enjoy, regardless of what direction you're coming at it from. But this is a very leading question that kind of skirts around the root problems

There's frequent (perhaps a bit exaggerated) pushback these days against people who prefer their fiction to be a warm blanket, a form of escapism meant to distract you from the real world. In particular, the dreaded "person who only watches kids' cartoons" is a form of this that gets brought up a lot. I don't think the root problem here is what media people enjoy or don't personally enjoy - taste is subjective, and I don't think it's a moral obligation for everyone to have diverse tastes in TV shows - but I do think some folks should try to get out of their comfort zone a bit more. Sometimes stuff that seems like it won't be for you on a surface level will really end up speaking to you, but you won't know until you give it a shot. Trust me, I've been there many times

It becomes a problem when people demand that media ONLY cater to that "warm blanket" attitude. And I think that's part of the reason why that stereotype you mentioned about fans of ""wholesome""" media being assholes exists. People who view dark or violent content as an inherent flaw because it's not what they like. People who yell at creators when they make bad things happen in their stories, because how dare you do this to my comfort characters? People who say movies should never have sex scenes. People who want "problematic" moral complexity stripped out in favor of black and white moral instruction. People who seem to hate any sort of interpersonal conflict in fiction at all

These attitudes can be the result of many different cultural factors, factors that can't all be traced back to Tumblr or what shows you like, but sometimes it's definitely because of that lack of broader perspective on media. You can tell when someone's opinions on The Right And Wrong Ways To Write Fiction were shaped almost entirely by, like, Steven Universe discourse. (Yes, this is a jab at Lily Orchard.) And when these people are very loud about their opinions, well, it becomes a trend people notice

Like. I don't know you. You sent this anonymously. But when you say you "complain about graphic or dark content in media you watch"... that could mean a few wildly different things! Maybe you're just venting about something that unexpectedly triggered you, and that's totally fine. But the wording could also imply that, like, you take issue with these things being present at all, and that you expect a person who likes "death metal and gore" to be more of a "raging asshole" than someone who likes the "wholesome" things you like. So... well, maybe you're more dismissive or judgmental of things outside your comfort zone than you realize?

Unfortunately, in case it's not already obvious, on the internet this shit quickly becomes a proxy battle over dozens of intersecting cultural issues at once where everyone is kinda just talking past each other. So it gets messy

For example, I have no reason to believe that the people who run the "Wholesome Games" showcases have anything against games that are dark or violent or contain adult themes. (They've outright said they don't. Many times!) But when you see people going "why is Spiritfarer allowed in the showcase? That's a game about DEATH and that's NOT WHOLESOME, why would you make me think about death?" or "Ugh, why does Disco Elysium have to be about a cop? Why can't we apply these systems to a game about a young witch who's trying to find a lost cat in an idyllic village instead?" it... Well, it makes me sympathetic towards the indies who don't feel comfortable with the "Wholesome Games" label and consider it limiting. But it also doesn't make me think that devs catering to a demand for more chill, nonviolent video games are categorically facilitating fascist censorship from the Christian right

It's complicated! The written word is imprecise and the internet is a nightmare

I've kind of gone off on multiple tangents here. Basically: I do think that people can kinda turn fans of "comfy" media or "adults who only watch Bluey" into an overblown boogeyman these days. I think people online generally have a habit of swinging too hard in one direction or another in their stances on certain things, overcompensating based on what group of people online are currently annoying them the most and turning said group into like The Main Problem With Society Today. But I also think that boogeyman only exists because of very real examples of people demanding that everything cater to their narrow comfort zone. Go like what you like, but also, y'know. Don't be that person

[necrotic-nephilim]

I started in DC by reading fanfics, but as I began to read actual comics, I started to be unable to read the actual fanfic that got me into it in the first place because it's so out of character.

But there are still some stories that I love to read because I love the found family trope so much, even if it isn't really accurate to the source material.

As a comics purist (sometimes), are there tropes that you like enough that you'll still enjoy a fic even if it's not accurate to canon?

oh my god this is SUCH a fun question. bc while i started with the comics, there were certain characters and/or character dynamics where i was exposed to the fanon before the canon (just bc it's hard to read everything when you start out just to read some fanfic) and so i've definitely experienced the fanon to canon transition. (*especially* with Jason Todd. i had only read 80s/90s stuff where he was already dead or the New-52 bc that was on-going when i got into comics and man. the fanon misunderstandings i had about him before i got frustrated and sat down to read all his pre-Flashpoint stuff were absolutely bonkers.) and aside from that, whilst i tend to prefer canon over fanon, i'm not past giving fanon its flowers for occasionally having really interesting insights. occasionally. so some of my fanon "guilty pleasure" tropes would probably be

Morally Grey Tim Drake - this is one where if you try to back it up with canon, i *will* get salty about it. of everyone in the Batfam aside from maybe Bruce and Cass, Tim has the *most* black and white morals. often his internal conflicts are routed in such an inability to compromise his moral views and it can cause him to clash with other characters. he's *very* stiff and rigid in his beliefs and is *rare* to compromise in even the smallest ways. i mean, DC has repeatedly used Tim Drake of Tomorrow/Savior/Gun Batman!Tim for a reason. it's to demonstrate that of everyone, Tim *cannot* have his morals compromised. there's no grey area for him. he's zero or a hundred, so if he tips over the edge of "too far" he tips *all the way*, and doing so is one of his worst fears, how he could go "too far" if he let himself. a couple panels out of context from Red Robin (2009) (which was a grief spiral for Tim to begin with) don't change that. now that said. if it's done *right*, i sort of love Tim being morally grey in fanfic. it takes a specific flavor for me, and it's incredibly important to include that mental spiral along with it, of him struggling to justify it. i don't have any interest in "Tim Drake is loosy goosy with Bruce's morals and has the highest kill count and no one knows teehee" bc it doesn't play with the interesting parts of making Tim morally grey, which are fracturing his psyche. but all in all, i think it's fun to put Tim in a morally grey area and i will read it in fanfic and i enjoy writing it a lot

Joker Junior!Tim Drake - i've not written it on this account (yet) but on my main ao3 account one of my biggest fics surrounds this concept. this is one of those "well *technically* it's canon but only in a specific very divorced from the comics universe and would not work at all in the main timeline" so, i categorize it as fanon in that 95% of fics exploring the concept are not doing so within the Batman Beyond universe, but the main timeline. i just love it. I'll take any excuse to whump Tim, but this concept is so fun. psychologically breaking Tim will always be my favorite pastime. there are so many ways to explore the long-term effects this could have on him, how it could affect the Batfam. i'm not a fan of it being used as a "gotcha" to Jason or Babs' trauma with the Joker to paint Tim as the Ultimate Victim, but it is fun to see how their relationships would be affected by being mutual victims of him. (i have a vague JayTim idea where TIm fully retires from being Robin after being Joker Junior and killing the Joker, making Steph Robin for most of his typical Robin era and Jason still tracks him down out of curiosity bc he wants to know what happened and all. very underbaked but i've got thoughts.)

Renegade/Apprentice of Slade!Dick Grayson - this is another one where yes, this happened *sort of* in canon, but i highly doubt most people writing Renegate!Dick have read or are actually pulling from Nightwing: Renegade. it's just an exploration fo the concept fo Dick being Slade's apprentice and i will always eat it up in any capacity. whether Dick grows up with Slade from a young age, or chooses Slade for whatever reason later in life. it's not anything that works in canon bc it compromises Dick morally (similar to the above with Tim) and therefore will always come across incredibly fanon in most fics. but i can't say i don't enjoy it. it's fun to make Dick a little morally fucked up and see what you can make him under Slade's tutelage.

Jason & Damian Meeting in the League -there's no world where i believe this could work in the canon comics. (maybe in the Young Justice cartoon i suppose, but even then i think it's iffy) i would go as far to say it's wildly unrealistic. i don't see a world where Ra's would let Jason anywhere *near* Damian, bc Jason was Talia's pet project that he didn't approve of. that all said, there's something very interesting about how they *could've* met and them potentially bonding during that timeframe. them being somewhat brotherly during this time because Jason sees Bruce in Damian and sort of latches onto the kid and Damian is full of wonder hearing real stories about Batman and Robin, then that getting violently ripped away by Jason leaving the League is fun to me. it's fun how that could affect them within the Batfam and all. it's super fanon to me, but i do not care. i will eat it up

Bad Dad Clark Kent/Good Dad Lex Luthor - i will admit as a late, i've been less and less kind to this particular fanon bc of everything i've argued with people about, *this* one seems the most pervasive as misunderstood fanon. i don't mind when fanon exists, my gripe is when ppl try to claim it's canon. and the *arguments* i've had over this with people who can never seem to cite an actual comic are... frustrating. but that said, i think there is something fun to this strictly in fanon. the duality of who you expect to accept Kon and who you expect to hurt him being flipped is just sort of fun for the occasional guilty pleasure fic. it can make Kon's internal conflict a bit more interesting. the same goes for the Jon favoritism from Clark, it's not a canon thing (and i rlly wish ppl understood how complicated the timeline of Kon and Jon is and any distance from Clark toward Kon isn't malice, it's that Kon is from a timeline that Clark does not remember in the current canon so Clark just straight up doesn't know the poor kid.) but it's sort of fun to give Kon that complex of being overlooked and forgotten sometimes. making Kon just a *bit* more Luthor than Kent will *always* appeal to me in fanfic, especially if he *knows* it's wrong but craves approval from anyone who will give it.

Good Dad Bruce Wayne - i'll die on the hill Bruce is canonically a shitty father. maybe not to the extreme some people write him as, but he's not great at it. that said, i enjoy it in fanfiction. sometimes, i just want silly fluff or hurt/comfort where Bruce finally gets it right and manages to comfort whatever Batkid is in the fic. one of my favorite fics of all time is hinged on Bruce being a good dad, so i think it's just fun to explore how good the relationships *could* be, if Bruce was slightly less of an asshole. i usually prefer him as an asshole, but there are times i want low stakes nonsense.

Gotham Rogues Having Soft Spots for Robin(s) - just about every Rogue in Gotham has done something absolutely irredeemable, and most of them don't like or care about anyone in the Batfamily. but if there's a fic where one of the Robins inexplicably is sort of close with a Rogue and they have a cute silly relationship out of it? I'll eat it up i fear. Steph and the Riddler are besties? I'll believe it. Tim and Scarecrow get along pretty well? give me ten of these. Rogues protecting Robins just hits a spot. the unexpected nature of the relationship, as well as the fact they see each other regularly, can make a lot of good fodder.

[blorbobutworse]

Character Interpretation: Wolverine

More info under the cut! I did this because, at least on my phone, it looks like I wrote....a lot.

I actually have two ideas for him!! Because he contains Multitudes and also I don't want him being horny for highschoolers.

First is what characteristics they share, and then what makes them separate versions.

Born : 1875 ~1900

Comic sized!!! 280 lbs and 5’3"

Amnesiac, has flashbacks/nightmares, does not remember anything up to 20 years before Joining the X-Men.

He forgets recent memories when his head has been severely damaged. The more damage, the longer the amnesia

Animalistic, almost feral communication methods, on high stress situations and when he first joined the x-men.

Secretly cuddly but refuses to admit it. (Touch starved)

Like a real wolverine: a scavenger, does have bite to back up his bark but would prefer not to use it, at least when he has some of his memories.

Loves playfighting but refuses to ask

Canon alchohol/cigar/addiction issues.

Parental towards Kitty Pryde and Jubilee

Have Something going on with Kurt (I prefer Kurt Older, though I might decide to do a teenager a la X-men Evolution eventually…but even then I want fun gay uncle Kurt not baby. personally.)

Good trio with colossus + Kurt

Has persistant guilt and was/is forced to kill people the X-men aren't willing to take out

Essentially, everything already written in my page!!!!

Wolverine #1: Teacher/Dad/Big Brother

X-Men Evolution (No attraction to Minors <3)/Wolverine (1982) Comic/ Uncanny x-men

Brave, Protective, sassy old man

Parental towards all the kids, gentle with them and even reads them stories sometimes,it's a running joke with the toddlers that He Can't Read (he does it to make them feel smart and learn)

More into talking/fighting about his feelings/crying

Leans on Charles/Kurt to hold him back because he doesn't want to put that responsibility on Scott, because although he's team leader he's still A Child

Often argues with Xavier about having Child Soldiers, consistent point of conflict

Wolverine #2: Dilf Whore

Was NOT a teacher to the original X-men Xaviour raised: Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Iceman, just joined up with the X men when they were already adults, sort of similar to X-Men 1 (movie) or the original X-men comic run.

Slut <3

I rotate him between Jean, Cyclopes, Kurt, and a lovely enemies with Benefits with Sabretooth(NOT SIBLINGS IN ANY OF MY UNIVERSES!!!), but he’s essentially free use within the team :)

Oh! And hes in like a FWB thing with Gamit and Rougue <33333

More Touch Starved

Emotional Issues !!

Basically a horny hot mess trying to deal with his issues in the worst way possible. Just the PE and art teacher bc if he was given anymore responsibility he would Traumatize the Children.

Different fanfics will just have like. A little note telling you because, again,I don’t enjoy Logan flirting with underage girls while also being a girl dad, that feels….gross.

Batman' analysis will hopefully be out sometime tommorow my friends 💕

[daryfromthefuture]

i'm on the train and bored and still have an hour to go, so TIME TO RANT ✨️

and i'm choosing to make a list of bttf scenes i would have done differently/things i would have added because i like disagreeing with bob gale as if i owned this franchise

this is maybe an unnecessary change, but personally, i would have preferred if there were more instances of marty trying to warn doc about his death in part 1. we see it when doc demonstrates the model and then later twice on november 12 (before he writes the letter and then before marty has to leave), but i feel like it would have been more emotionally impactful if he had tried it more than that and only at the very end given up and written that letter.

SHOW DOC PLAY SAX. LIKE BRO. they could have had a concert 😭 imagine doc crashing the dance and playing sax with marty on stage (take this bullet point with a grain of salt, i'm only half serious. but still seeing doc play sax would have been badass)

the most obvious point of all obvious points, add the goddamn lone pine mall hug. the entire fandom agrees it's canon, and i remember a post going around speculating that they did indeed record a hug and keep the secret footage somewhere at universal lmao. but all jokes aside, this hug was SO necessary. every sane person would be waiting for it when watching the movie. marty is literally on the ground, bawling his eyes out, thinking his friend is gone, and us heartbroken audience members don't even get a hug to soothe our souls. i haven't paid much mind to doc and marty's relationship when i first watched bttf, but even past me was expecting a hug. good thing bobby fixed it in the musical

MORE JENNIFER. don't knock that girl out for 75% of the movie, please. she deserved better, and i wish bttf 2 would have put more emphasis on her as a character and how she's like and stuff. i hate to see it, but she's such a surface character that we barely know anything about (in my opinion), and that's just sad. she could very well have gone to the cafe 80s with marty and kept him grounded and stuff.

honestly, i maybe even would have kept that deleted 1985a scene with dave. we don't get to see marty's siblings at all in that timeline aside from a mention from biff, and it would have been interesting to see.

this is quite a jump in time, but i wish bob gale would have expanded on the scene in bttf 3 in which doc tells marty that he wants to stay behind in 1885 because of clara. this might be my fanfic brain speaking, but i see so much conflict potential. it would have been wild to see doc and marty argue, maybe even fight for the first time in the trilogy, and picture the emotional turmoil both of them were going through. if i had been marty, i would have snapped, not gonna lie. like, yeah, i get that doc found the love of his life but after all the lectures he'd given marty and after all those times marty was willing to rip apart the fabric of time just to keep doc alive, that man just goes "sorry marty, i met a woman i fell in love with, thanks for saving my life so i can live it out HERE. you go back home and idk clean my lab" >:(. this will forever be a pet peeve hahahaha

WHY does doc just FLY OFF on that DAMN TRAIN? i have to admit, it is an epic ending and feels sort of celebratory, but how can he say that he had to get his dog BEFORE even MENTIONING marty, giving him a photo, shake his hand as if they were work colleagues and nothing more, and then LEAVE? WHAT??? at least talk to him for a bit longer, tell your best friend where you've been, whether he will see you again and that you cherish him for god's sake. if you already had to give him false hopes by getting on the train only to fly off on the hoverboard later 🙄

[tenshi-agerasia]

who would the minions serve in the ensemble stars universe

the ensemble stars x minions analysis that nobody asked for, under the cut

okay so minions want to serve the most powerful (and evil) guy in the area/time they're in

if they enrolled at yumenosaki prior to the ! era they'd have been looking for a master and might've even worked under shu/valkyrie, who was the top unit at that time

"Imagining shu leading the fucking minions is horrifying"

[shu voice] come, my brethren, and let us engage in performance arts

nazuna and mika are very confused

actually mika would like them i think

but when the first revolution/war began, the minions would've caught sight of exfine and eichi

as exfine rose through the ranks and defeated the eccentrics eichi became immensely famous, and i think at least a third of the minions would serve him just because of this

eichi is easily entertained by them

they piss off keito

hiyori is very biased and can tell each minion apart

he names them things like Flowery One and Revolting One

nagisa does not understand what a minion is

tsumugi can fucking communicate in minionese

that's part of the reason natsume hates him so much. he can understand them and talk to them and it's horrifying

if the minions were to see eichi's actual plans on the surface level, that would be enough for them to see as evil

there's also the possibility that some minions might see eichi as "good" and exfine as heroes so they'd turn to serve the eccentrics instead

the minions don't harass rei because he scares them

they think he'd eat them

natsume does not like these little freaks

kanata has fun with them because i'm pretty sure they can't drown

if they can. well rip

chiaki hypes them up :)

but as far as i've seen in the minions franchise they prefer more powerful figures, and the eccentrics at that time were ostracized

and during the ! era trickstar revolution, eichi is definitely more of a villain character so the minions would attempt to help him

and then accidentally screw him over

wataru would love the minions

they're like tomoyas and little watarus to him

tori would absolutely hate them

he punts one when eichi isn't looking

yuzuru is indifferent but he likes having some help

trickstar is Very Conflicted

subaru and the minions would love each other

hokuto despises everything that they stand for

mao is like. huh. ok.

makoto "eek!"s at the sight of one

in !! era, eichi is less of a hero/villain/morally grey guy and just A Girl . at this point the remaining minions under him would either stay or find a new master, possibly gatekeeper

the minions piss him off very effectively

after kohaku beats up gatekeeper or whatever they start to follow him instead

"i imagine [kohaku] showing rinne and rinne shakes one to death or something"

niki would absolutely wonder what they taste like

himeru talks to the minions

"himeru is confused" "bwahaha!! barosoeflksernuina" "himeru does not like you very much"

yknow how ibara has mouse drones and mayoi keeps destroying them. yeah. that with the minions

ibara's upset that his spies are disappearing and he barges into mayoi's house and there's just a giant nest of minions

after meeting a minion midori's attempted murder count rises from 2 to 25

leo says he "feels inspired" by the minions and then composes the most shit song known to man

[tobiasdrake]

We go from the best fight in the X-Men filmography thus far straight to Charles Xavier sitting in a room, looking into the camera and explaining the plot. Okay guys. XD

One of the main jobs this film has is to bridge First Class, which became more or less a reboot, with the original trilogy. So they can go in new directions and do different things with the characters without outright saying, "The original movies up through Origins: Wolverine aren't canon anymore, sorry."

Days of Future Past is what's commonly referred to as a soft reboot, where continuity gets to start over from scratch but with an explanation offered in-universe that connects it to the previous continuity.

Time travel and multiverse shenanigans are often the go-to for carrying out soft reboots. The Chris Pine Star Trek films, for instance, take place in an alternate timeline created when Spock and a bad guy traveled back in time and messed up the series canon.

The Marvel multiverse is basically designed to allow Marvel writers to make continuity-free re-imaginings of the Marvel universe and then go "That one is Universe 42069, it has its own canon somewhere out there in the multiverse unrelated to the mainline comics."

DOFP intends to do that for the Foxverse, liberating the cast of the newer X-films from the shackles of the old canon and letting them spin out in a new direction.

But before we can do that, Charlie Boy needs to explain the plot that will get us there.

Magneto chimes in to explain Mystique's powers, like Bobby and Kitty don't already know her. XD

Actually, come to think of it, Kitty only formally became one of the X-Men in Last Stand, the movie that took Mystique's powers away. And Bobby wasn't really an X-Men X-Man until that same movie, despite being present for the whole trilogy. They actually might not know who Mystique is.

Huh. Objection retracted.

Then again, Colossus recognizes her. And he was no more involved in X-Men Stuff than Kitty was.

Xavier goes on to assert that he, too, has watched First Class and thought it was pretty sweet. Don't let the face of Patrick Stewart fool you; Despite this personal history having never come up in the original trilogy, it is still an important part of the two characters' relationships with one another.

As an artistic note, I love how she shapeshifts into a human form when he says, "I knew her as Raven." A subtle call-out to their conflict from First Class - or, at least, what it was supposed to be in First Class even though the film doesn't convey it well.

We're told, in the film, that Xavier never appreciated her natural mutant self and preferred that she try to pass as human. They kinda botched their attempts to show it, but it was the clear intent. In a subtle reference to it here, when Magneto talks about her we see her in her true form, but when Xavier reminisces on how fondly he remembers her, she shifts into her human guise.

These two men both fondly remember Mystique, but they have very different memories of who she was.

(Where is she, anyway? Did the Sentinels get her? Is she still mutant-cured?)

Yeah, Xavier's good at that. Remember that time he was losing a tense negotiation with Magneto and Jean so he just started throwing punches, basically forfeiting the argument and pushing Jean into Magneto's arms as hard as humanly possible? Not so different from what happened with Mystique when you think about it.

Xavier offers a sanctuary for mutants on the run from the dangers of the world, and that's great. But his powers of persuasion leave much to be desired.

Logan gets all sad and grimly reports that Mystique killed again after that. Bit of a weird moment. Like, it's performed as if he's referencing the death of another character that was important to him. Something we would instantly recognize and be like, "Oh, fuck, my heartstrings."

I have no idea who that might be, though. He didn't even know her in her youth to be sad about who she became. One time she beat him up and then he stabbed her, and then another time she tried to trick him into having sex with her under false pretenses. That is the entire extent of their relationship.

Why are you so sad about Mystique killing people, Logan? Who did she ever kill that could be haunting you like this? Don't you have enough ghosts already? Do you really need to borrow Charlie's?

The Sentinels are using Mystique's powers to acquire Sunspot's heat powers and Colossus's steel plating and Iceman's cryokinesis.

Meanwhile, poor Mystique can't do any of that. It sucks when people steal your powers and then get whole new abilities you didn't possess out of them.

You know, you'd think in the decades she was hanging out with Magneto, the two of them would have done something about this. Did the fact that humans captured her and performed invasive experiments to steal her powers just... slip Mystique's mind?

"Less than 50 years." My dude, that is a long-ass time to be working on one project. XD These things were in production hell for half a century.

Xavier's like, "When Mystique killed Trask, it convinced the world that they needed his program. And then the humans stayed mad about it for FIFTY YEARS."

FIFTY YEARS. Two generations later, it was still just Trask that they were mad about. Nothing else that happened in that time, nothing in the entire original X-Men trilogy, ever moved the needle one way or the other. It was always about Trask. They were very slowly building the Sentinels the entire time and nothing else mattered.

Senator Kelly's entire anti-mutant career was pointless because humanity already had made up its mind to kill mutants with Sentinels. Trask is the one and only bullet point of history that matters. XD

I understand why this is so janky. Stopping the assassination of Trask is meant to be the emotional goal of the film. We have to stop Mystique from becoming a murderer, because that sets her down the road to being evil.

But "We have to stop her from killing the man making Genocide Machines" wouldn't be a compelling narrative on its own. Because. Like. Fuck that guy. Mystique did nothing wrong.

So the assassination also needs to be the apocalyptic cornerstone around which the fate of the universe revolves. Killing Trask has to directly cause the creation of the Sentinels, but the film also wants to be set in the 70's and has to account for the fact that none of this was a thing in the original trilogy.

So. The humans just. Stayed mad about Trask for fifty fucking years while working on the slowest weapons development project in the history of the arms race. Which has the knock-on effect of meaning that none of the mutant-human relations stuff from the original trilogy mattered, 'cause the humans were building the Sentinels behind the scenes that whole time.

That is an incredibly bleak revision. @_@

Nobody tell Charles, but if there was enough hatred towards mutants to sustain a fifty-year grudge over Trask's death, it wasn't really about Trask's death.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Struggling with Feedback That's Missing the Point

triplecreature asked: I'm in a creative writing course in university and we're doing workshops where we review each other's poems and short stories. I'm conflicted because I don't want to be closed-minded about constructive criticism, but sometimes I feel like the feedback I get is missing the point. For example, the instructor indiscriminately marks up any "abstract" line, even if it's emotional sentiment or would break the structure/line scheme to remove. She's also biased against heavier topics because they're too depressing and said I can't make poetry about characters/conversational perspective. My short story got negative feedback from my peers because my protagonist wasn't inherently good or bad. They felt it his grey morality "didn't make sense." I don't want to be arrogant so I feel bad for struggling with the criticism I get. How do you gracefully approach a situation where you feel uncertain or misunderstood by feedback you get?

Here's the thing...

Reading and writing is a very, very personal thing. We all develop very strong opinions about what we do and do not like, and sometimes people confuse their own preferences as being universal truths. Abstract poetry doesn't seem to resonate with your instructor, and unfortunately she's choosing to interpret that as a problem with abstract poetry rather than a personal preference.

Having said that, it's really important that we not take negative feedback too much to heart. It's always worth analyzing where the feedback is coming from and whether it's more likely to be feedback based on a personal preference or actually credible feedback.

When you get critical feedback from a single person or a few people that feels off to you, you can generally disregard it, especially if it conflicts with the majority feedback. For example, if three people says your morally gray protagonist makes no sense, but ten people don't have that issue, you can probably assume your protagonist is fine. If you give your story to six classmates, and all six of them feel the morally gray protagonist doesn't make sense, it's worth considering why all six out of six people feel that way. Are they saying it doesn't make sense because they expect a character to be either good or bad, or are they saying it doesn't make sense because something you laid out in the story is conflicting with the idea that this character is morally gray?

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether or not to listen to feedback, but especially in a creative writing class, I wouldn't take the negative feedback too much to heart. If it's one person's opinion, smile, nod, and thank them for their opinion. If it's five people with the same opinion, take some time to consider whether there could be some merit to what they're saying. In any case, don't take it personally. ♥

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[antispopausandstuff]

my SPOP universe pt. 1 - character bios ( very long, i'm sorry )

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disclaimer // note - it'll be SPOP-focused, but i do take a 'few' things from the original show and implement them here.

preferred style(s) - ATLA // LOK, ROTTMNT, LMK ( s1-s4 ), Spiderverse, or Kill la Kill

( part of the reason for these styles is the VFX, battle coordination, and creature // environmental design, esp with vibrant media like Spiderverse, ROTTMNT, and LMK )

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theme song - something akin to "The Call" by League of Legends or "The World That Ends in Three Days" by Koji Kondo, ROZEN, & Celica Soldream.

rating - PG-15 ( i'm not a writer for young children and don't handle things in a very kid-friendly way )

note - here's some gender // sexuality hcs of the characters, though it isn't all of them.

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established changes:

the runestones don't exist

the cast is 18+ unless stated otherwise

roles will be changed for plot relevance or sense ( for ex, neither perfuma, entrapta, scorpia, spinerella, or netossa are royals )

the first ones are not evil

mara and adora are the only she-ras

most ships will remain noncanon

there's no white people here, sorry

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cast ( pt. 1 ) . . .

Adora - Long Lost Princess of Eternia, Force Captain ( former ), Daughter of Hordak and Shadow Weaver, and She-Ra. 20 yrs old, 5'0, was abducted as an infant, from her home planet, and taught to be a solider for the Horde. raised by Shadow Weaver and Hordak ( it's separate care, not romantically coded ). unofficial caretaker of Catra.

she was raised to be very serious and no-nonsense like, always remaining calm and strategic in drastic situations to prevent the worst case scenario. due to this built-in stoicism, along with other factors, Adora struggles with interpersonal relationships and knowing her own sense of self, including what she is or isn't comfortable with ( such as unnecessary conflict ).

before She-Ra is even a possibility, the weight of the world was already bestowed upon her shoulders, and she sets on carrying out her duty to protect the world from those who wish to harm it.

beneath it all, however, Adora is a young woman who desires connection and peace. she secretly hopes for that to be her reward.

design would be inspired by Cal, Zav 1, Zav 2, Zav 3, and Fern ( blue guy ) by animatorroseoak, Midas by sleeepybacon, and with these details by me! outfit color palette would go from black and red to white, gold, and blue. just to clarify, though she is mythical, she'd still be afro-latino coded.

theme song - Song of Healing by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Glimmer - Princess of Brightmoon, Daughter of Queen Angella and King Micah, and Leader of the Rebellion. 19 yrs old, 5'6, was raised by her widowed mother ever since she was an infant. due to her lineage, she is a demigod and will likely live longer than the average Etherian.

ever since she was born, Glimmer's powers were too great for her body to handle, causing her to lose control very quickly, especially when her emotions were heightened. Angella brought her to Castaspella, her aunt and the greatest sorceress on Etheria, to teach her control and balance.

Glimmer has always been a bright mind with an even brighter personality, striving for excellence and success, and has never let her misfortunes, whether it be her powers going haywire or a plan not going through, weigh on her. at least, that's what she shows to her people and mother.

but, on the inside, she is actually very insecure over her lack of understanding of her own powers, what her mother thinks of her, and how she can handle being future Queen. afraid of change and what fate could hold for her, Glimmer is avoidant of talking about her upcoming role to Brightmoon, seeing Castaspella again ( they haven't talked in years ), or taking a break from her leadership in the Rebellion.

design would be inspired by Ube by kleahvii, Mika by kienan_lafferty, Marlowe & Buwa by sleeepybacon. high focus on the astral theming, with minor details of the angelic theme. i imagine her with either pinkish blonde hair or black hair with pink and blue ombre streaks. her species would be a hybrid of elf ( Micah ) and chimera ( Angella ).

theme song - Termina Field by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

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Bow - Guardian of Whispering Woods, Friend of Madame Razz, Best Friend of Princess Glimmer's, Son of George and Lance, and Co-Leader of the Rebellion. 20 yrs, 6'0, is a runaway from home after a particularly bad argument ensued between himself and his family. he is a pacifist and uses his archery to assist, not to cause harm ( or, at least, irreversible harm ).

his reasons for running away aren't exactly known, even to Glimmer herself, and he always gives half-truths or not-necessarily-lies to anyone who asks about his family and history. but he is very open about his beliefs, his current living situation ( currently resides in the Whispering Woods ), and how he feels.

as the Rebellion's mechanic and stealth strategist, Bow uses his technological intelligence and creativity to aid his allies. he's proven time and time again to be reliable, intuitive, and thinking of just about everything. whether or not that's a good thing.

in contrast to his secrecy, Bow is open-minded, well-meaning, and has a very strong belief in kindness. after living in the Whispering Woods on his own for a few years, and experiencing hardships unbeknownst to anyone else, he aims to be the example for others that people weren't for him.

design would be inspired by Jequ and Agnes by dewfroq, and Earth-42 Miles Morales in Across The Spiderverse. i think i want to make him a cyborg-type of character.

theme song - Goron Lullaby by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Angella - Queen of Brightmoon, Mother of Princess Glimmer, Widowed Wife of King Micah, and Angel of Etheria. 47(?) yrs old, 7'5, her exact origins are unknown, even to her daughter. some speculate that she was born from a star or moon, others guess she is from a different dimension entirely. the only one who even had an idea was the late King Micah.

benevolent, calm, and wise, Angella has been Queen for longer than she has been anything else. in some ways, she considers that a blessing. in others, she considers it a curse. accepting her fate decades ago, the pain has dulled enough to be barely noticeable.

though most don't know it, she has lived way longer than almost any of the Etherians, having experienced more than the Horde's genocide and eventual war. maybe even the universe beyond Despondos.

her abilities align, though not rely on, with the moons and stars, especially with specific constellations. but, as Despondos has a lack of those constellations ( and there are much less stars in the sky ), Angella has not reached her full power in decades.

it's only to Glimmer that she shows her true self, the self that is curious, easily endeared, and overall heartful and passionate, which is a stark contrast to the all-knowing, mysterious, powerful being that is the Queen of Brightmoon. because of this, her daughter has a hard time explaining to others that her mother isn't as stonewalled as she appears.

design would be inspired by Lucifer by fourleafisland, Sera by idolomantises, and Lifegiver and Sold Adopt Design by sleeepybacon. she is a flight-based chimera that has a lot of astral and angel theming, with her facial features obscured by a secondary, smaller set of wings.

theme song - Song of Time by The St. Louis Ocarina Trio

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Hordak - Emperor of the Fright Zone, Father of Adora, The 'Big Boss'. 55 ( appearance wise ), 6'7, his origins are about as unknown as Angella's. it's unknown if he even likes or dislikes to discuss it, as no one has dared to ask him about his life before the Horde.

having brought Etheria to its knees decades ago, Hordak is easily bored or disinterested in his surroundings, often indulging himself in sadism for entertainment. however, he does have a soft spot for his children, Imp and Adora, and finds enjoyment in their company.

when She-Ra comes around, he isn't all that irritated. in the beginning, at least. in fact, he's rather riveted by the new challenge. discovering her identity, however, made all the difference. now, he constantly has to pick between being a father and being an Emperor.

design would be inspired by Fei by cronchy_baguette, Jacks by par0llel, Unnamed OC by crazycomet107, and Miguel O'Hara Illustration by sairasays. his design would definitely be a mix of cyborg and beast, lots of predator and prey metaphors.

theme song - Elegy of Emptiness by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

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Shadow Weaver - Sorceress of the Fright Zone, Second In Command, Mother of Adora and Catra. 50(?), 5'11, was raised in the Crimson Waste, but ran away and became a student in Mystacor at a young age. after obtaining the dark arts, however, she was banished and considered a freak of nature. soon after, she was found by Hordak.

the 'freak of nature' title didn't leave, however. rather, Shadow Weaver had to embrace it in order to become immune, using her dark magic to protect and provide for herself and whatever or whoever she needs to succeed or gain power.

she keeps most, if not all of her relationships at arms length, paranoia and trust issues running deep. though this doesn't exclude her daughters, Adora and Catra, it's less so with them. even if it's for separate reasons.

after Adora turned on the Horde, this instilled Shadow Weaver's already unstable mindset and kicked it into overdrive. obsessive, aggressive, and erratic in behavior, she eventually becomes a danger to herself and others.

design would be inspired by Peter Pan & Captain Hook Illustrations by sairasays, The Heads and The Witch by kelpible, and Arek ( 3rd form ) by sleeepybacon. her design would be parallel to her life as Light Spinner.

theme song - Midna's Theme by Monsalve

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Catra - Cadet of the Horde ( former ), Force Captain, Daughter of Shadow Weaver. 19 yrs, 5'7, was abducted as a toddler and taught to be a solider, though succession rates are varying. she was originally born in a Kingdom, but her memories are limited and she's rather uninterested ( or unmotivated, it's not clear ) in finding out where she's from.

as she was raised by Shadow Weaver, Catra became an odd mix of codependent, lazy, defiant and aggressive, borderline sadistic, obsessive, and jealous, driving away most people, which only solidified her unhealthy relationships.

once Adora left the Horde, she was no better than her mother, in terms of mental decline, and it was part of the reason why she became Force Captain. unofficially speaking.

design would be inspired by Eralisto by animatorroseoak, Bacon 1 and Bacon 2 by sleeepybacon, Cairo by cronchy_baguette, and Elliot by spam0_llel. i like to think her design becoming more and more feral // unhinged as she develops.

theme song - Majora's Mask by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

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Scorpia ( Lynda ) - Force Captain, Ex-Warrior of the Crimson Waste, Sister of Octavia, Harbinger of Poison. 21 yrs, 6'3, a fighter with a tough exterior, but a gentle soul. once she gets to know you, anyway. in her time in the Horde, she has formed a bond with Octavia and knew of Catra and Adora, but hadn't met them personally until Catra becam Force Captain.

after running away from the Crimson Waste after killing the leader, Scorpia was recruited by Hordak for her strength and poison // paralytic touch. though, it wasn't exactly like she had a choice.

when meeting Catra, the two were at arms-length for a while, with Scorpia being a little off-put by the other's intensity in bringing Adora back. but, somehow, they eventually become friends. as much as they could be, anyway, considering the circumstances.

design would be inspired by Gora ( tall, dark-haired goliath ) by pen.lilixeesketche and Tora and Gabu by par0llel. i read up the original character's details and decided to have kind of a 'mish-mash' of the original and reboot ( not quite, though ).

theme song - Bolero of Fire by Giulio Capone

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Entrapta ( Es'Tra ) - The Fae of Entanglement, Lady of Dryll, Heart of Technology. Late 40s ( forgot specific age ), 4'10, works for the Horde as their technician, isolated and muted, but finds comfort in the Emperor's company. when he has time for that.

no one really knows why or how she got there, but it's evident that she's chronically exhausted and has a habit of becoming hostile with those who don't respect her space ( it's how she met Catra one on one ). when she's in a better mood, however, she's more likely to talk, but not guaranteed, and shows to always have more knowledge than anyone would expect.

in the rare instances she's completely happy, Entrapta is very friendly, engaging, and there's an increased percentage she'll share technology // technological-know-how with you.

design would be inspired by Bitten Lady and Faubron by animatorroseoak, Eris by boots.oc, and Remi by par0llel. lots of plant cycle symbolism in her environments and hair.

theme song - Song of Storms by ROZEN

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Double Trouble ( Rebekk ) - Diamond of Mischief, Multi-Mask, Fae of Deceit. Early 20s ( exact age is unknown ), 5'11, a busybody that absolutely hates the Horde, which helps them not give a damn about anything more than bare minimum privacy, and who also happens to be Glimmer's cousin, adopted by Castaspella.

when they're not busying spying on the Horde, Double Trouble spends time working on their own plays and shows or trying to play around with their peers, being a generally needy person that craves attention and validation. it's not hard to make them happy, though. usually, a simple compliment makes their entire day.

none of their family knows of their work, though. and they'd like to keep it that way.

design would be inspired by Rue by lizard_b.rain, Thraniavas by spidertams, Cantaluse by animatorroseoaks, and Original Character Animation by kelapabiru. a random design tidbit that doesn't really matter, i like to think their hair is dyed blonde, but they have brown // black roots.

theme song - Minuet of Forest by Giulio Capone

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not all of the character biographies, not even close, but i'm currently working on pt. 2 as we speak, so that'll be out soon! probably will have a pt. 3 and pt. 4, though, there's a lot to go through.

thank you for reading! this and pt. 2 took forever.

[havendance]

Okay, I've read up to before the Night of the Owls crossover, so let's take a moment to look at my New 52 read so far:

Batman -- I think I liked the start of this arc the most, when it's laying out the mystery and feels full of potential. I'm just not a fan of the court of owls. The issue where he was in the labrinth and all the pages got flipped around was a cool concept, but an absolute pain to read digitally. Whenever I tried to rotate my tablet to read the textboxes, my device would go 'oh you're rotating! I know how to do that!' and flip the pages back -_- It probably worked better physically.

Batman and Robin -- I liked this. I liked seeing as Bruce tried to negotiate his relationship with Damian and I liked Nobody as an antagonist drawing on the history of the people who trained Batman.

Nightwing -- I started reading this and I was like 'yes, this is what a reboot should do. Bring back Haly's Circus after it was stupidly burned down previously.' and what does this comic do? Burn down Haly's Circus again!!! Can't have shit in Nightwing comics :/

Anyway, I loved seeing Nightwing try and negotiate his relationships as Nightwing as opposed to his friendships he made at the circus. I liked the push and pull between him and Babs and him and Raya. I think, in this universe where Dick was way older when he became Robin, it works really well, and while I obviously prefer Dick being like 8, I would say that this works well as it's own thing if it weren't for the elephant in the tent-- Haly's Circus being evil (boooooooooo!)

Like I said, can't have shit in Nightwing comics :|

I don't want Haly's Circus to be evil. I don't want them to be working for the court. If you really want the whole Nightwing was raised to be a living weapon thing, then idk, make it something none of them knew about, like some outsider that had been infiltrating and using the circus for their own ends. Don't have Mr Haly be the guy selling dick/that other guy out :(

Birds of Prey -- In contrast to Nightwing, this comic is just extremely mediocre. It's almost impressive how mid it is. I like Saiz' art but I'm struggling to find much else positive to say about it. It's fine. It gets the job done. It's missing that spark to do anything more interesting than girl team fights bad guys. On that same token, I'm having trouble coming up with much to criticize either. Like, obviously I think it would be better if Birds of Prey were still Oracles team, but like, other than the fact that I still think Katana's off (but I haven't read enough of her comics to articulate more), it's hard to find much to complain other than it's just mediocre and boring. Nightwing has high highs and low lows. This is like a flat line.

Batgirl -- I miss Oracle :'( But more seriously, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl has never been as intersting to me as her as Oracle. I liked the subplot of her trying to figure out how to have a new relationship with her mom--it was probably my favorite part and I liked seeing that new aspect of her. That being said, ugh, James Gordon Jr. I just do not like him as a character. He's too grim dark edgy for my tastes.

Another thing that goes into the 'I miss Oracle' category is her new dynamic with Bruce. She's over here caring about his opinion and everything and that's part of her getting aged down yet again, but also I miss when they were antagonistic and she didn't take his shit. As well as the whole question of 'why do we need to keep the killing joke in the first place?' You're rebooting the universe. Why do you need to rub taking Oracle away in our faces like this when you could've just had her never be shot. Though, I do appreciate how Simone is handling the internal conflict that Barbara is experiencing as a result of all of that.

[tallsc]

AvA Orange and Red: Character Dynamic Analysis

I would like to preface this analysis with recognizing that all of the Color Gang have a very close bond. Orange, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, each and every one of them care so much about each other and absolutely would sacrifice themselves to save the others, and this analysis doesn't make that any less true.

However, in that universal deep care and trust for each other, there are still some notable differences in the relationships between specific sticks. In this analysis, I would like to focus specifically on Orange's and Red's interactions throughout the show.

Also, some of these points I have also talked about in my Red Character Analysis, but I'm going to be explaining them through a different lens here.

Another disclaimer is that I'm not going to be addressing the possibility of a romantic relationship in this analysis since I don't think I'm very qualified to talk about that one, everyone can headcanon whatever ships or lack of ships you want XD

But now that that's out of the way, let's start the real analysis!

Red and Orange are, in a lot of ways, opposites. Orange appears to be the oldest, while Red is generally seen as the youngest. Orange is cautious and prefers calm, repetitive safety, while Red rushes into things and enjoys excitement despite the risks. When confronted with a choice between going somewhere new but dangerous and staying safe at home, Red will always choose the former and Orange will always choose the latter.

This has led to a sometimes strained relationship between them - particularly from Orange to Red. And, while this was most visible during the Lush Caves conflict, there are some details in their interactions before then that still indicate something being off in their relationship.

Prior to Lush Caves, especially seen in the non-Minecraft non-AvA episodes, there has been a strong tendency for Red to be the one always going out of their way to help out Orange with whatever they needed. Red's always the one pressing start, fullscreen, helping Orange out with little things, anything Orange asks of them, without question. And while yes, this indicates Red's speed of understanding what's needed from them, it also is definitely worth noting that all these cases is doing what Orange specifically needs. Red wants Orange's approval.

If this was reciprocated, this could easily be a sweet friendship/relationship/however you decide to interpret that dynamic. But, past the type of friendship Orange has with everyone in the CG, the helpfulness and the trust toward Red specifically doesn't seem to be there. Not for a while, at least.

Orange easily gets carried away in the moment, and can sometimes take their friends for granted. They still care about their friends, a lot, but they also often get frustrated with the others and can be lost in the moment - even to the degree of abandoning their friends in favor of going home or accidentally killing one of their friends in a fight. And even in less high-stakes scenarios, they often don't join the others and may do minor things to sabotage them - or at least not be very helpful. Kicking the boat away from Green in Parkour, or turning down the volume when their friends were playing music. It's not terrible by any means, but it's not very kind or healthy either if done too often.

But it's also noticeable that Red often gets the brunt of this apathy or hostility. Because again, they and Orange are opposites. Despite Red wanting to make Orange happy, Red's also impulsive, adventurous, a little chaotic - all traits that Orange rarely wants to deal with. All traits that pull Orange into dangerous and scary situations. And Red, being the stick that they are, never really seemed to catch on how much their behavior was upsetting Orange. Another flaw of their quickly made decisions.

But while it may not have been recognized, the actions that resulted still were clear. In PvP, Orange nearly stabbed Red with an actual sword when Red wasn't using real weapons. Orange would later use Red as a weapon to fight the witch - and I didn't see anyone else jumping on or kicking each other around as blocks. Or in Vs Arcade Games when they all fell out of the maze, Orange ran past Red to go catch Yellow. While yes, Yellow fell from higher, Orange could have at least gone and helped Red up afterward. And in building contests, which Orange is usually the judge of, the only prize Red ever got was from Yellow.

In all these cases, yes, a problem or imbalance existed already for the whole group. But it's always seemed to be consistently a little worse for Orange and Red. And that's why I'm not as surprised at what happened in Lush Caves. But also, why I am so happy with what happened afterward.

The episode itself was just a culmination of all the anger and resentment of everything going on finally coming to a head. Orange was sick of being dragged into danger by Red. Red was sick of being overlooked and their feelings ignored by Orange. That battle itself may not be all that surprising anymore given the prior animosity between the two.

This fight could have broken their friendship permanently. If either one refused to stop, if either one took the others' actions personally and refused to forgive, this could have marked the point where every little action got to be too much, and they could have broken that bond for good.

But this is the Color Gang. None of them can hold a permanent grudge against each other to save their lives. Especially not Orange, who would kill to save them even after only having known them a few minutes. And especially not Red, who doesn't have a hostile pixel in their body.

So they did stop. They did forgive. And more than that, they realized something was wrong. They realized that how they were acting, especially toward each other, was wrong. While this was more clearly shown for Orange, I think it was true for Red too.

Because when you look at their actions afterward, they change. For the rest of the series, Orange has put more focus into consistently helping, trusting, and supporting their friends - including Red. They stopped ignoring or arguing with their friends and stopped trying to solve everything themselves. Hey, Orange's primary role after their solo episode even became a support to the Warden. This doesn't seem like a role they would usually be as comfortable with beforehand.

And on Red's part, Red started being more careful to get others' agreement on their course of action. They let others take the lead when needed, and when they had a plan themselves they tried to make sure the others understood. They, too, recognized that they need support, they need to do things alongside their friends, not in spite of them.

Neither of them were perfect in this. Orange still has a tendency to want to do all the most important things themselves, and Red still struggles with acting too quickly before understanding others' feelings. But there's progress. They both recognize their mistakes, and they're both trying.

And most importantly...

They're finally doing it side by side.

Well, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, you thought of this topic in a new light, or at least found it interesting! This one's a subject I've been thinking about for a while but it took a while to put it into clearer words ^-^

I've done a few analyses like this before, and will likely do more, so keep an eye out for that! I linked the Red analysis up at the top, but here it is again and here is the Yellow Leadership analysis.

[silverwhittlingknife]

When people say that Dick “has a temper” what do they mean?  Is he the type to blow up over an inconvenience, be impatient, or rage-quit?

Ahhhh, I had a lot of fun with this. Thanks for the ask, anon. <3

My main feeling about Dick's temper is it's an important part of his characterization, and it's a fun part of his characterization, but I also try not to overemphasize it? A lot of my thoughts are here; also @theflyingwonder has some good panel collections here and here and here if you want to see what Dick generally looks like when he's grumpy about something.

General thoughts / caveats:

Anger is obviously not the only emotion Dick ever feels!! He feels many other emotions too!! The fact that he is capable of getting really angry sometimes does not mean that he is angry all the time!!

He's a person who feels emotions very deeply - anger, love, loyalty, etc. - but also has a very conflicted relationship with his emotions. He aspires to be perfectly controlled, like he imagines Bruce is, and he's ashamed of moments when he loses control. Because he's wound pretty tight and represses a lot, his emotions can be a bit explosive when he loses his grip on them.

I would never describe him as "an angry person." He doesn't walk around fuming at the world and looking for things to be mad about, y'know? He's a person who wants to be optimistic and tries to be optimistic. This very much includes when he's Robin.

He wouldn't blow up over an inconvenience unless he was already really upset about something more serious. But yeah, if he's upset about something important, sometimes he'll lash out at whatever's closest.

He's methodical and focused; he'll sometimes get impatient when he's, say, bored by his friends' TV preferences, and in general he gets restless and likes to be moving, but if he's got a challenging task to complete he's completely capable of hyper-focusing on it.

In his civilian life, he generally has a pretty good grip on the anger - so e.g. I don't remember him ever shouting at Clancy or civilian friends in general. When a reporter tries to get dirt on him by interviewing his neighbors at his apartment complex, they universally gush about how nice he is.

Meanwhile, in his vigilante life, he's got a rigid moral code and a rigid sense of duty. He cares a lot about helping people and protecting civilians, and he's emotionally-fulfilled by it, and he can be very kind. But he's also a super-intense person who takes his responsibilities seriously, and he'll get sharp with people that he feels aren't being serious enough. He only screws around when he's with people who are very serious themselves, like Bruce.

In an argument, Dick's generally direct and confrontational: he'll snap at you to your face, not sulk behind your back. Even when he's being a bit more passive-aggressive, he's not subtle about it. If Dick's annoyed with you, you'll know. If he doesn't like you, he makes it obvious.

Jean-Paul: I've seen you with Robin - you like Robin. Dick: You got a problem with Robin? Jean-Paul: No! I like Robin, too. He's an exceptional young man. I just mean... it's obvious when you like someone. And equally obvious that you don't like me. (GK 14)

Dick's just a very dynamic character in general, rather than a static one. When he's relaxed, he can be very easygoing and friendly; if you get off on the wrong foot with him, he's prickly and often harsh. He's got a very serious core, a strong sense of principle, and a passionate sense of loyalty to the people he cares about. Here's a light-hearted moment with Dick and Tim fooling around playing tag:

Dick (grabbing Tim from above): Gotcha! Tim: Augh! (B: Transference)

This is from the exact same arc as the panel at the top - but before Hugo Strange almost kills Bruce. And just in general I think this panel is a good reminder that Dick does all kinds of things that are not about being angry, that he's also the person who keeps Tim fed and repeatedly saves him from falling, that sometimes he'll pour his heart out to Bruce, that he really really really loves his friends, and so on.

Now, all that said, if you would like an extensive deep dive into Dick yelling at people (and really, who wouldn't? yelling is fun!), I've collected a super-long list of quotes which I've attempted to corral into organization. Below the cut:

Dick vs. criminals

Dick vs. Bruce

Dick + list of reasons he gets upset

Dick + annoyance at friends/teammates

Dick + lashing out at loved ones (rare! but, uh, very memorable)

Dick + first meetings with future siblings (+Steph)

In conclusion

Anger at Criminals

Dick's temper is an important part of how he thinks of himself: he's intensely self-aware about his temper and also conflicted about it. It comes up most often when he's fighting criminals, especially when they're threatening people he loves:

Dick (internally): At first, I couldn't believe what they were saying… but as the truth sank in, I felt a rage growing so great inside me - that it felt like I was just a part of the anger, instead of it being a part of me. Kid!Dick: Those animals! They murdered my mother and father! I'm going to the police! Bruce: No... not yet. (Secret Origins 13) Deathwing: You've been so angry for so long, Dick. Learn to accept it because you have no choice. You will become me, Dick, and I know because I am your worst nightmare! I am you! Dick: Never! I'm not you and I'll never be you! Yeah, I get angry. Sometimes I get so pissed I want to break everything in sight. But everyone gets mad. Everyone gets frustrated. But I don't fight out of anger! I fight when there's something wrong that needs to be stopped! And that's why I'll never be you! I don't fight to kill - I fight to protect! And what you said about Batman - well, pal, screw you. He's the best mentor anyone ever had! (NT 100) Dick (internally): I hit him harder than I should. Not sure why. It worries me that it feels so right. (N 2) Dick: I thought I was more in control than that. But I lost it. Tim: It was made right, Dick. The Joker is alive and not well in a maximum security cell. Dick: It’s not right with me. I never thought I could be a killer. I’m wrong. There’s a part of me I never saw before. The rage. I never felt anger like that. I feel like it clawed me up inside. (N 64) Dick (internally): Nothing Jason says can be taken for truth. He says Tim is dead. I'll need more proof than his word and an empty cowl. Because right now, I need to keep that hope alive. If for nothing else, then to keep me from losing control… and I won't let that happen. Can't let that happen. Can't. Dick (punching Jason): WHERE IS HE, JASON? Jason: Depends on what kind of life he led. Dick (breaking Jason's nose, then internally): There goes his nose. Control your anger. (BftC 3) Jason (internally): Dick is different from Bruce. In the way he fights. In the way he thinks. And the way he feels. And he gets angry. Really angry. That anger, it'd make him a great Batman, if he'd let it. He's trying too much to be like him.  The good son. Man, I hate him.  (B&R 25)

So something you'll notice about all of these moments is that Dick isn't proud of his anger. He doesn't experience it as cathartic, and he isn't proud of the things he does when he's angry. His anger is an enemy; it's the person he doesn't want to be, to the extent that after the fact being angry almost feels like an out-of-body experience, because in the burn of anger he'll do things that his conscious mind rejects.

I tend to think of anger for Dick as akin to a temptation. He's strong and talented and smart. He's capable of really hurting people. He also believes - viscerally, fiercely - that it's wrong to do so.

Worth remembering: Dick's big confrontation with Zucco, in most of his origin stories, involves taking the photo that gets him arrested:

Dick (remembering): Twenty-four hours later, we were on the trail of Boss Zucco... and when he murdered his own henchman, I took the photo that sent Zucco to prison! (Secret Origins 13)

And in Batman: Year Three, he's furious when he thinks that Bruce might have arranged for Zucco to get killed - when Dick's calm and thinking clearly, he believes it's wrong to kill even people who are clearly evil. It's only when he's swept up in emotion that he'll get violent.

Anger at Bruce

... Look, I had to give Bruce his own category.

Dick and Bruce have a lot of fights. Like, a lot of fights.

Now, this isn't at all particular to Dick! Dick's just one of many, many, many people in Bruce's life who periodically get fed up with him. So I wouldn't gloss this as Dick being unusually short-tempered - post-Crisis Bruce would provoke a saint (and does! at one point Clark briefly votes him out of the JLA!). And Dick doesn't always get angry when Bruce is being a jerk to him - sometimes he's just discouraged, or depressed.

But at the same time, Dick's not a pushover, and when he's sufficiently provoked, he'll often track Bruce down to confront him / demand an explanation / demand better behavior / etc. Paradoxically, I actually tend to see these confrontations as an expression of Dick's faith in Bruce. He gets angry because he expects better.

Here's a small sampling of Dick-angry-at-Bruce moments (some confrontations, some where Dick's just fuming on his own):

Bruce: Listen to me. Dick: Listen to you? You hand Gotham over to that nutcase altar boy. You leave this kid out to dry without a snowball's chance. Then you throw everything you’ve lived for aside like it was nothing! Killing this creep doesn’t make you as bad as the scum we hunt. It makes you worse. Because they never stood for anything. (R 8) Dick: If you say anything about 'finding myself,' I think I'll puke. Bruce: I thought you'd be glad to see me back. Dick: That depends on why you came back. Bruce: To take up the mantle again. To take back my place. Dick: For how long this time? Bruce: Not now, Dick. We can talk about this when - Dick: Right now. We're settling this right now, Bruce. (R 12 - Bruce has abruptly reappeared in the Batcave after leaving Dick and Tim in charge during Prodigal)

Dick: It was you who told us to stay out of Gotham. I’ve got a life here. I can’t just walk away from that. You’ll have to - (Bruce hangs up on him) Damn you! (N 34 - Bruce has been AWOL for months and now abruptly summons Dick to join him in No Man's Land) Dick (internally): Bruce is playing martyr. Keeping us at a distance. […] Why does it have to be this way with us? WHY? (He punches his car, and his hand comes away bloody.) Uncontrollable rage. The same rage I felt when I killed the Joker. Thought I had it under control. (N 65 - Bruce is accused of murder and freezing out the Bats) Bruce: What are you doing out of bed? Dick: You did it again, didn't you? You pushed everyone away! (N 99) Bruce: I assume this isn't a social call? Dick: What the hell is the matter with you? I mean, aside from the obvious! Ignoring the many layers of denial, and the fifty feet of psychological body armor that you throw up to avoid feeling anything! Aside from that! And the pathological need to control everything on Earth and beyond! Ignoring all that! What exactly is your compulsion, your burning desire to deceive, lie, and manipulate the only people who give a good god damn about you?! Bruce: You getting to a point? (O 21 - Dick just found out that Bruce was secretly funding the Outsiders)

Dick's relationship with Bruce is Complicated (TM), because he's also incredibly loyal, and - despite everything - he loves Bruce a lot. A lot of Dick's anger comes out of this frustrated loyalty - Dick feels betrayed and hurt because he loves Bruce so much. Here's a panel from later in Outsiders 21:

Bruce: You shouldn't place that much faith in me. Dick: I have more faith in you than anyone.

Reasons why Dick gets angry: an incomplete list

So if Dick isn't really the type to, say, rage-quit a game, then what does he get angry about (other than criminals and Bruce in general)?

I've tried to loosely categorize what seem to me to be the main things that can make him lose his temper:

as above, somebody Dick loves has been hurt and he's furious at the person who did it (so e.g. trying to kill the Wildebeests when they threaten the Titans, trying to kill Hugo Strange for trying to kill Bruce, lashing out at Tumult when he hurts Tim),

he's feeling attacked or betrayed and he's lashing out in self-defense (so e.g. a lot of the fights with Bruce, punching Roy after Roy fires him in New Titans, or calling Roy a junkie when Roy tells him he's just like Bruce in Outsiders, or yelling at Tim when Tim's insisting he should be Robin again),

he's angry about a lack of loyalty (so e.g. he's furious and feels betrayed when he learns that Bruce has replaced him with Jason; he's angry at Bruce for picking Azrael as Batman instead of Dick; he's angry at Tim when Tim suggests Bruce might be a murderer)

he's jealous (so e.g. he's hurt and angry when Kory marries someone else; his resentment of Azrael is much more about Bruce than it is about Azrael)

he's angry at another vigilante for behaving too violently/irresponsibly (so e.g. he has multiple fights with Kory insisting that she can't kill anyone; he's similarly furious with Bruce when he thinks Bruce has tried to kill someone; he snaps at the Titans in general after a failed mission; he's harsh about Tim and his team during Graduation Day)

he's unhappy and taking it out on someone else, often to drive them away (so e.g. he snaps at Donna and Alfred when he's depressed about Kory's marriage - arguably there's some supernatural influence here, but IMO he'd do it anyway; he gets snappish with Tim when he's depressed about his own lack of progress with Chulo/in Blüdhaven and also when he's actually mad at Bruce about Jean-Paul; he's very harsh to Babs and Wally when they try to comfort him post-J:LL; arguably most of his behavior in Outsiders after Donna's death falls under this category too),

he's unhappy and he's taking it out on an inanimate object (so e.g. smashing things after hearing about Kory's potential marriage; punching his car until his hand is bloody after Bruce has been a jerk to him, smashing a sign when Babs is jabbing at him by comparing him to Bruce),

his privacy is being violated by paparazzi (Dick hates photographers and will not hesitate to punch them or destroy their equipment)

I think something important about all these reasons is... they're understandable? It's not surprising that Dick is upset about the woman he loves marrying someone else; it would be stranger if he wasn't upset. It's not surprising that he lashes out defensively when he's feeing attacked - this is an extremely common thing to do! Dick's anger isn't a weird cloud of rage that just descends on him for no reason; he gets angry when he has something to get angry about.

That said, he does have particular things he's especially touchy about - loyalty, privacy, control, etc. And his anger can be physical - he does break things.

Dick + annoyance with friends/teammates

Dick calls a team meeting to rebuke the Titans in Titans 13

This is lower-key, so I wouldn't always describe this as anger per se, but it feels relevant: Dick can get snappish if he's in a bad mood, though he'll usually back off if it's pointed out to him:

Dick: Half this world goes to hell in a handcart and you do nothing? Donna: Hey, don't shout at me because your personal life has gone crazy. We had a crisis… Dick: You had a crisis? Who hasn't? And my personal life, for what it's worth, is a: just fine, and b: none of your business. Do me a favor and go. I want to be alone. (NTT 18 - Dick's upset because Kory is marrying someone else)

Dick: Roy! What the hell is this? Why is Lian in the way? She should be in a crib or something, not where people can step on her. Roy: Dick, my daughter is in nobody's way, and I'm watching her every move. Dick: Oh, yeah? Well, I've had it - Roy: Dick, your friends are here to help you and you're not making it any easier. C'mon, pal - calm down. Dick: You're right. I'm sorry. This is all getting to me. Roy: Really? The immediate world and I never noticed. (NT 100)

Dick (surprising Tim): You should've known you wouldn't hear anything. Not in this wind - but if you'd been downwind on the other side, you might have scented me. Tim (startled): Nightwing! Dick: You did want to meet - or do you just like playing computer games? Now let’s make it snappy - I’m in New York on my own business. Tim: And a big fat hi to you, too. (Showcase '93 11 - Dick's upset because he's blaming himself for someone Chulo murdered)

Dick: He didn't send you to check up on me? Tim: Huh? Dick (scowling): Don't play dumb. Tim: Batman? I came down on my own, Dick. What's with the attitude? Dick: Sorry, Tim. I haven't been making a lot of progress since I got here. (N 6 - Dick's self-aware here - he's on edge because he thinks he's doing a bad job)

Babs: Okay, calm down, take a deep breath, and explain again why you’re so angry… Dick: Why am I angry? I’m not angry, I’m–I’m–I’m dismayed, okay? I’m dismayed that there can be a Robin who believes Batman could be guilty of murder! How could that happen, Babs? How could that happen?! (GK 26) Kory: You could say goodbye to your teammates. Dick: They're not my teammates anymore. Kory: They noticed. (TT/O Secret Files 2005)

You'll notice that several of these include Dick backtracking and apologizing. He doesn't hold grudges or fume forever! And Dick's generally self-aware enough to realize why he's snappish once he takes a step back:

Dick: I…I’m sorry…I know this isn’t your fault. Here I’m attacking you - and you’re probably just as scared as I am. I just feel so frustrated. Batman could always remain calm in a crisis. I guess that’s just another difference between us. Maybe I’d be better off if I just cut myself off from all feeling like he does. (NT 77)

Something Dick generally isn't apologetic about: Dick is intensely self-critical about badly-done vigilante work, and in a team setting, he's not that patient with other people's mistakes.

Here's Dick calling a team meeting so he can scold the team in Titans 13:

Dick: Lock the doors, sit down, and pay attention. And that's an order. ... Our performance against Tartarus and the HIVE was unacceptable. Each and every one of you should thank God you weren't killed.

Here's an argument between Dick and Donna in Graduation Day 2 - the context is that Young Justice just screwed up an earlier fight, and Tim's berating himself and Conner while Dick and Donna eavesdrop (you'll notice that like Dick, Tim tends to be pretty self-critical + impatient with teammates):

Conner: The Titans got their lumps. Tim: No, the Titans got our lumps. They were looking out for us. There we were, shoulder to shoulder with the inspiration for Young Justice. And we lose half our team and half of theirs. Conner: Tim, I bet they were a lot like us when they started. Tim: No, I don't think so. (Donna and Dick are eavesdropping.) Donna: He's being awfully hard on himself. Kind of reminds me of someone. Dick: I don't know what you're talking about. Donna: You could tell him he's wrong. Dick: Is he? Donna: We stepped in it plenty of times, Dick. Plenty. We got beat by Dr. Light. Completely pantsed by Trident. We had the ill-conceived idea that the Mad Mod was a threat. There was that time in South America when we left Garth in the sun for three hours. Lots of stuff… We even got kidnapped by Count Vertigo. How embarrassing was that? Dick: I didn't get kidnapped. I got nabbed when I was coming to save Roy. Donna: Nevertheless, they could use a kind word. Dick: I'm not sure a kind word is what they need.

The upshot is that Donna goes to comfort Cassie while Dick goes off alone.

Again, the point is not that Dick goes around fuming about his teammates 24/7! He cares about the Titans and trusts them to watch his back; he feels the same way about Tim.

But in the heat of the moment, he'll sometimes get snappish or impatient, especially with people he's close to. The friends that Dick has who stick around are the ones who are tough enough to stand up to him, and who understand him enough not to take his occasional moods personally.

Dick + lashing out at loved ones

This one's a bit meaner. Dick's really good at picking out other people's insecurities, which he almost never uses against them ... but when he's retaliating, he's got an instinct for what will hurt the most:

Dick: No, I won't stop it. How dare you tell me what to do when you screwed up so badly Raven could be dead by now? Who knows what Mento did to Gar and Vic? Maybe your failure killed Kole. No, I won't stop. I won't! Donna (punching him): Shut up, Dick! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore! Dick: But you're going to, Donna. You made me listen to what you had to say. But you don't like hearing the truth about yourself, do you? The perfect Donna Troy maybe isn't so perfect after all. (NTT 19 - Dick's under an ambiguous amount of Brother Blood influence during this period, but he's also just really upset about Kory, and I tend to interpret BB as "reducing his self-control" not "he's a totally different person")

Bruce: I didn't expect to see you again. Dick: I heard about Jason. I'm really sorry, Bruce. Bruce: You weren't at the funeral. People asked about you. Dick: C'mon, Bruce - talk. Don't turn your back on me. I'm here… now. Bruce: You were lucky. When you didn't listen to me, your injuries weren't fatal. Of course, by the time I properly trained you - Dick: Bruce, c'mon…lay off. I'm not here to fight. Bruce: Then don't! Dick: Are you blaming me? I left, so Jason replaced me, and because I left he died? No way, pal. Jason wasn't me. I was a trained acrobat. I could think quickly in perilous situations. But why did you let him become Robin before he was ready?!? Bruce (punching him): Don't you dare blame me for Jason's death! Don't you dare! (NT 55 - this fight is ofc 110% Bruce's fault even before the punch, but Dick absolutely is blaming Bruce for Jason's death here) Dick (trying to punch Roy): GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU TRAITOR!  Roy: Dick, I'm your friend… Blast it, man - why are you doing this?  Dick: Friends don't turn on friends, Harper. I've been there every time you called me. I sat up with you all night while you were detoxing. That was not a pretty sight.  (NT 101 - Dick's upset about getting fired as team leader)

Dick: I disgraced myself and my uniform. Both uniforms. I have to learn to live with that or quit. No more surprise visits, Babs. Don't make me sorry I put an elevator in this building. (BoP 37)

Roy: Look at you! Your greatest fear in life, the thing that eats at you - is that you're terrified of becoming Batman!! A cold, detached, emotionless loner. I've got news for you, that's exactly what you are. You've become the man who raised you. Dick: Yeah…and you're just like the man who raised you. A shallow, self-loathing, womanizing thrill-seeker. Except he was never a junkie. (O 16) Gar: I guess it doesn't bother you that your new teammate killed your old one? 'Cause it sure bothers the hell outta me. Dick: Enough. I'm here to find Kory and Tim. I don't need Terra's best friend lecturing me about loyalty. (TT/O Secret Files 2005)

Dick + 1st meetings with future siblings (+Steph)

I hesitated including this on the list because it's lower-key and not always anger per se, but I think a lot of times when people say Dick "has a temper," they're not necessarily talking about his angriest moments so much as pushing back against the idea that he's happy or welcoming all the time.

If you're reading post-Crisis canon, Dick's a prickly introvert who can be slow to warm up to newcomers in Gotham. He's not exclusively cranky by any means! But he's not all smiles, either. Here are some snappish moments from first meetings with Jason, Tim, Cass, Damian, and Steph:

Dick: They'll probably switch to another lab, now that you've spooked them. Jason: Then it's no big deal! We'll just locate their new digs and bust them when they take possession. Dick: Wrong! I'll locate the new lab all by myself! You're going home to tell Batman how you screwed up tonight! Jason: Come on... (from Dick's first meeting with Jason in B 416 - Jason attacked a group of criminals too hastily)

Dick: Now, who the hell are you? Tim: That doesn't matter now. Dick, look at this please. Dick: Kid, I don't like games. (from Dick's first-technically-second meeting with Tim in LPoD - Tim's been chasing him all around the circus, and although Dick doesn't yet know this, also broke into his apartment)

Bruce: You can trust her. Dick: Six months ago, that would've gotten you further than it will now. Now, I'm not sure it's enough. Bruce: What more would it take? Dick: An explanation of who she is for a start. (from Dick's first meeting with Cass in B: LotDK 120 - Bruce went AWOL for months and has now resurfaced with a protégé) Jason: It's a new world. It's not all backflips and balance bars. You were good. Were. But Gotham needs a tougher Robin now. Dick (internally): A sneaky, mean little punk. Maybe you hired him before the Joker could. (from the retold version of Dick's first meeting with Jason in N 104 - Bruce gave stupid instructions leading Jason to misunderstand and pick a fight with Dick)

Dick (internally, when he notices Damian's makeshift Robin costume): Damian's costume. Note to self: smack a clue into this kid. Damian: You're embarrassing me! Dick: You do that just fine on your own. (from Dick's first meeting with Damian in N 138 - Damian's probably scared, which means he's snarky; he's making rude remarks and resisting Dick and Tim's attempts to protect him)

Dick: What in the hell were - are - you thinking, throwing someone so reckless into the field like that? Babs: Gosh, Dick - I'm sorry I haven't spent more time trying to train a murderous little twit. (from right after Dick's first meeting with Steph in BG 5 - Steph accidentally froze Damian)

How much you weight these moments depends a lot on your personal aesthetic preferences! I love conflict, and Dick's initially kinda thorny relationships with his siblings are part of why I enjoy him as a character. I don't feel the need to "fix" this kind of grumpiness and honestly I don't even really see it as a flaw? Dick's not morally obliged to like his future siblings on first meeting them, and if he never got snappish with any siblings ever, no matter how annoying they were being, he'd be a lot less interesting to me personally.

For me, Dick's prickly side adds an important nuance to his characterization, and makes it more compelling. He's a human being, not a conduct book! His strength is that he's willing to reconsider his first impressions, not that he never has negative first impressions.

That said, obviously genre and context matter! I have enjoyed plenty of softer takes on the Batfamily in fanworks, and in a softer, gentler world like e.g. WFA, it would be weird to keep Dick's grumpier moments. Also, Dick obviously isn't 24/7 harsh to his siblings - he can also be really empathetic and protective, and although he never gets especially close to e.g. Steph, he does change his mind about her, and he's ultimately a huge source of emotional support to Tim and Damian (they grow on him! ... eventually).

In Conclusion

One of my favorite Dick stories of all time is Nightwing 139, and I think it nicely encapsulates how I see Dick's anger - it's an important contrast to his softer side. He's a person with an instinctive temper, and compassion and understanding aren't always immediate or easy or effortless for him. But he's also a loving person with a big heart, and it's the love that always matters to him in the end.

Here's Dick discovering that Tim is thinking about using the Lazarus Pit, getting angry, and leaping down to try to physically stop him ("He may not stop you, but I sure as hell will!")

Dick (sarcastically): So, Robin... you think maybe we can hug this out?

It's important to me that Dick's first instinct is to have a physical fight, not to try to talk! He does all the wrong things before he does the right thing! He doesn't magically know the right thing to say to Tim right away!

But doing the right thing matters to him, and Tim matters to him, which is why he gets there eventually. When Tim tears up Dick softens at once:

And in the end Dick backs off and lets Tim make the choice, which isn't easy or instinctive for him either! But it's the right thing to do, and it's what Tim needs to pull himself out of the power struggle and realize he's making a mistake, and then Tim stammers apologies and Dick reassures him and they do hug it out, and it's very tender:

Without Dick's anger, you don't have a lot of his stories. But his anger doesn't define him - he doesn't let it. As Dick puts it,

"Yeah, I get angry. Sometimes I get so pissed I want to break everything in sight. But everyone gets mad. Everyone gets frustrated. But I don't fight out of anger! I fight when there's something wrong that needs to be stopped! And that's why I'll never be you! I don't fight to kill - I fight to protect!

And that's a big part of why I think he's great.

[luminouslumity]

Speaking of Bridgerton—and again, I say this as someone who's read the books and really liked WHWW—I really feel like the hate has been overblown.

The only thing I can kinda agree with is feeling like Francesca already being attracted to Michaela invalidates her feelings for John, especially when she just got married, so if anyone had to be tongue-tied, I honestly would've preferred it if it had been Michaela. On the other hand, obvious outcome aside, it is important to acknowledge that attraction doesn't always necessarily equate to love and we're also still talking about an introverted eighteen year old Regency woman who not only got married after knowing her charming husband for what had to have been only a month or two at most, but also just got introduced to his equally charming cousin.

I don't know, I guess I'm just looking at this scene with a kinda "it is what it is" approach if that makes any sense, but I do hope it gets addressed in one way or another. I absolutely love John, and even though I'm very excited to see Michaela again and see how the show further adapts her story, I still want him and Francesca to be happy together, for however long they have.

As for the rest, I'll be delving into book spoiler territory (yes, even more so than the above), but basically the whole point I'm trying to make here is that I think it's far too early to judge, especially since Michaela has only had a few seconds of screentime, so I'm willing to wait, but my overall opinion will really all depend on the execution.

Okay, so in WHWW, we know that Francesca suffers from infertility issues, and if losing John wasn't bad enough, she also miscarries. This is, of course, an important plot point and one that resonated with many and I think that's beautiful. What confuses, however, is why some people think they'll get rid of this plotline now that the two leads are the same gender, as though those in queer relationships don't have these same problems as well. And maybe it's just me, but I really think there's a lot you can do with a story about a young woman who suddenly loses both her husband and the child she'd so longed for, tries to look for a new husband years later for the sake of wanting to try for a baby again, only to end up falling in love with her husband's female cousin, therefore causing both internal conflict on the woman's wants (a child of her own), as well as external conflict in terms of what would and wouldn't be considered socially acceptable for the time (being in a same-sex relationship).

And as for the inheritance, how can Michaela inherit Kilmartin if she's a woman? After all, inheritance laws at this time strictly favored men, right? Well, not necessarily. Noblewomen gaining their own lands and titles isn't exactly a new concept per se—though it is obviously a rare one—and this especially applies to Scotland, where Kilmartin is located. For example, during the 18th and 19th Centuries, Mary Hay succeeded her brother and became the Countess of Errol after his death, while the Earldom of Orkney had three consecutive generations of countesses: Anne Hamilton, Mary O'Brian, and Mary FitzMaurice.

Furthermore, we know that PoC being ennobled is still a pretty new thing in this universe, and as we see in Queen Charlotte, there was a genuine concern for what would happen next, especially in terms of succession. It's why Danbury interacts with Sophia Augusta at all! So, either there's going to be an entirely new character to inherit the Earldom, Michaela has to get married before the title can go to her, or the Earldom of Kilmartin was created "with remainder to the heirs whatsoever of [the first ennobled Stirling's] body" so as to prevent a potential crisis, thus leading to Michaela to inherit the title in her own right, with or without a husband (maybe give or take some artistic liberties). That said, I certainly won't be surprised if there's a lavender wedding anyway, or at least a Gretna one.

[cursedvibes]

Hi..... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from JJK? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series (until now)? Thanks....

No problem. It gives me a great excuse to whip out this image of my top 9 jjk faves

They're not in order here, but compared to other categories, I don't actually have such a hard time ranking characters.

Kenjaku

I've talked about them a bunch, most recently on the last ask about my favourite characters, so I'll just summarize what I love about them: mad scientist + family drama + trans + chill & genre-savvy + Japanese history + body snatcher

2. Yuuji

Also like him for how he's a pretty unusual shonen protagonist. He's not overpowered, he doesn't want to become the jujutsu king/kage/president and almost every shonen mc trope he does exhibit gets punished or beaten out of him. He nontheless doesn't lose his base compassion for people. That compassion is also what will drive him to kill if he has to, something for the few people he actually hates. He's selfless to the point of suicidal. His whole character arc(s) revolves around him finding a satisfying way to die and now being forced to also find a satisfying reason to live (with how jjk is going, I don't think he'll find that but he's not able to die either). His conflicts with the villains are deeply personal, he doesn't just challenge them on the basis of them breaking the law or being some nebulous depiction of a bad person. That's how it starts out, but he can't beat them on that basis alone. He was only able to really hurt Mahito and defeat him after he accepted their personal connection and similarities.

3. Tengen

Problematic conservative grandma. She's really the root of all of the problems in jujutsu society, she's the one who build up the entire basis of the series from world building to the antagonists. Without her Kenjaku wouldn't be who they are right now, they would likely not try to challenge the system and forcefully advance humanity in the way they do and might even be dead for hundreds of years. Gojo wouldn't exist without her either. Riko wouldn't either and she also wouldn't have died the way she did. Same for Yuki. Sukuna might largely be influenced by her as well. She's responsible for so much of what's happening in the series, but gets all too easily overlooked both in-universe and outside. Her whole backstory is so fascinating, her relationship to Kenjaku drives me crazy and I do find her stubborn, kinda grumpy personality quite charming. Also gnc as fuck.

4. Uraume

While in Sukuna's case I really care more about his backstory than him as a person and find his personality not that exciting, it's the opposite for Uraume. I do want that Heian flashback and also see where Uraume came from and how they met Sukuna, but what I really like about them is their personality. At first glance they appear so calm and collected, just a loyal servant without much autonomy, but they're actually so much more. There's so much passion in them, they are so easy to tick off and always ready for violence. Especially in combination with Kenjaku they are so entertaining. I need to see them cook more often. Preferably human. That brief glimpse we got when they prepared Sukuna's bath was so good. The way they pinned down and sliced up those curses without destroying them...I want to see them do the same with humans.

5. Angel

Heian era's craziest paladin. I just love how hypocritical and bloodthirsty she is. She has her sense of justice and right and wrong, she doesn't pretend like everyone has to agree with it, but she will still mercilessly kill everyone in her way or who she just doesn't like for one reason or another. If Kenjaku is a social butterfly, she's a social caterpillar. I miss her just blatently telling the protagonists that she doesn't care about their goals or innocent people dying. She must have been wonderful to witness in politics. I'm really curious how her relationship to the Abe clan looked liked. It's such a shame that all that got toned down, so Sukuna didn't get one-shotted and Gojo could be freed. The volume 24 extra show though that Gege does care about her or at least her technique, giving me some hope that she will actually get something to do again soon. Once we get her backstory, she could easily rank above Uraume. Btw, I want more panels where Angel is just a mouth. No Hana, just that mouth with a monotone background and overly detailed teeth. It looks so fantastically creepy.

Favourite Moments

1. Kenjaku talking to Kogane

It's just such a good moment that does a lot for Kenjaku's characterization, their goals and relationship to Tengen (and arguably also Yuuji). Still feeling pretty ambivalent about ch222, but this was undeniably a highlight. It has had a tight grip on my mind ever since. I could write whole essays about it, starting with the scenary of it all. Kenjaku sitting alone, the only one in focus and the only one in the light, while being in front of a game console with two controllers that remain untouched and without a game running while talking to someone/something that/who can't hear them or can't understand them. Kogane is basically just a computer. It can't give insightful answers or challenge Kenjaku's beliefs, while Tengen has also lost all autonomy and most of her personality I assume. She also can't talk back, probably can't hear them and isn't even there, but Kenjaku still directs their musings at her, knowing she won't/can't answer, but still asking for her input, challenging her and leaving space for what would be her own words. They hate her, but also want her to do better and this scene really shows that while Kenjaku's plans my succeed, they probably won't get what they really want.

2. Yuuji chasing Mahito

Pretty easy pick. I'm really looking forward to seeing this animated soon. It's not just the beautiful imagery or how their roles have now reversed, but also what leads up to it. Yuuji accepts who he is, how he is not so different from Mahito. He discards any pretence of high and mighty reasons for why Mahito should die and embraces his hate. He's not pretending to be any better than Mahito, no "I'm not gonna kill you because I'm not like you", he says with absolute senserity that he will kill Mahito as many times as it takes. He's gonna hunt him down just like Mahito did. It's also the start of Yuuji giving into the role jujutsu society has put him in and starts thinking of himself as a cog, a mere object that serves others and blindly obeys its function (killing curses). I think getting Sukuna out of his body was the start to him evolving past that thinking, but this was a very necessary step. He needs to be broken down before being build back up. It was a great end for Mahito as a character as well.

3. Kenjaku & Tengen get Sukuna's body

This whole scene is so interesting. Like in the first moment it's basically just Kenjaku talking to their hand puppets again, but this time there's a bit more outside input. Ngl, the mere fact that Kenjaku and Tengen are together, talking to each other and working with each other excites me already. There's not much of Tengen's consciousness left and she can't actually refuse anything Kenjaku does, but their interactions were still very fascinating. What's also interesting is how they (both of them) treat Sukuna's corpse. They stroll up to it so casually, as if they have done it in the past. Kenjaku asks Tengen if they can take it and she says yes, but neither of them consider Sukuna and his wishes in all this. Kenjaku even jokes that it's their souvenir for him. It makes me so curious about how they are connected to him and what kind of relationship the three used to have. It gets even better now that we know that Tengen was the one who prepared his corpse (without his knowledge) and Kenjaku was the one who turned Sukuna into a cursed object. These two have clearly passed around Sukuna's corpse between them before. "Do you mind if I take his fingers?" "No, go ahead, I don't need them" This scene gets better and better as the story progresses.

4. MCs meeting Tengen

Speaking of scenes that get better with time, ch145 and 146 have been one of my favourites for a long time. They have to be on this list for how many times I've reread them alone. The more information and backstory we get, the more interesting this whole info dump becomes. There are always little phrases and moments that become a lot more meaning full on a reread. We also got so many hints. Tengen's connection to the Star Plasma Vessels and Six Eyes, Yuki being able to hear the other SPVs, Tengen and Kenjaku's relationship (many hcs were spawned by Tengen casually calling Kenjaku a child and I'm happy to see that many of them are turning out to be true), the first hints at Kenjaku's plan, even though a lot of depth was missing of course and Tengen underestimates some of their reasoning and end goals, and Tengen's utter failure to understand Kenjaku as a person (they aren't even that shy to talk about their reasons, especially to her! grandma please...).

5. Noritoshi preparing to die/visiting his mother

It's this scene of Noritoshi finding his mother again plus the context of her side of the story at the end of the Sakurajima colony and Maki's advice re matricide that really moves me. Probably Noritoshi's best scene so far. I really hope the reason he isn't with the others is because he went back to his mother to finally talk to her openly. I swear, these two are so horrible at communicating. It's so heartbreaking to see Noritoshi lose all will to live and being ready to die in battle to do at least something useful with his life. He dedicated everything to changing the Kamo from within for his mother, only to get kicked out of the clan and find out that his mother has moved on. Everything he has done so far becomes meaningless. However, it is what comes afterwards that makes it even more clear how toxic his mindset was. Noritoshi thinks poetic words about how he's gonna die for his friends, only to be interrupted by Daido and Miyo. It shows that this way of thinking is entirely unnecessary and something he has to break out of. It's what sets him on the right path to reunite with his mother. Kenjaku forced him out of the clan and gave him no way to return. His mother showed him that there is a way to live a happy life despite the abuse both of them suffered from the Kamo clan, it is possible to move on. Daido & Miyo disrupted his suicidal thoughts and took over the fight for him aka he has to rely on others and accept their "help" without giving anythign in return. Maki taught him that there might be a way to reconnect with his mother and that he should ask all the questions he has for her regarding his purpose and name openly. I really didn't care much for Noritoshi before, but this whole arc elevated him so much for me.

[mixelation]

Its really hard to explain the difference between JJK and MHA, but I think your point about the comic book logic is what makes MHA hold together much more for me. I also found the fights much easier to follow whereas I had to keep pausing mid JJK fight to reread to try to figure out what the fuck is going on because I didn't understand how the powers worked and couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be doing at any time. JJK feels kind of like a Naruto fanfic that got badly of hand trying to explain the magic system and made things worse

I will say I prefer MHA for a lot of reasons, and one reason IS that I found the fights easier to follow, but also I consumed JJK mainly through manga and MHA via the anime. I've watched a few rando bits of the JJK anime (usually when my sibling and I get together, we end up watching anime, which is how 90% of the anime i watch gets consumed), and the fights seem much easier to follow when animated. Like, the explanations are still bad, but it's easier to figure out who hits what and what powers are supposed to actually look like. Like, one of my bigger criticisms of the JJK manga IS that the fight choreo is extremely difficult to follow, even when a character is narrating what is happening.

While I can't comment on the MHA manga vs the JJK manga specifically and can only really do MHA anime VS JJK manga, I will say that the MHA internal logic seems to make more intuitive sense than the JJK internal logic, and that helps a ton with just... following the plot. Like, I will say that I love the concept of the world of the world of JJK, which is more in the vein of Yu Yu Hakusho or Supernatural (both being series that I ate up) than western comics inspired MHA. But even if you remove your own cultural understanding of superheroes, I still think MHA is more consistent? Everyone has a superpower, which comes with defined rules and limitations (which can change as the character grows and develops, but these changes are usually explained). Society has a bunch of special laws and jobs based around these superpowers, and there's exploration of social problems caused by the existence of superpowers. These explorations are set up in a way where we learn things bit by bit in a mostly understandable way. I'm not arguing MHA is flawless and always makes perfect sense, just that throughout the two seasons I watched, I did usually feel like I understood what was happening and why. Some pieces of real world logic might not apply to the superpowers or characters' actions, but we as viewers at least understand the logic of the universe.

Meanwhile, I still don't super understand domain expansion in JJK, despite my sibling's attempts to explain it (and my sibling also admitted some parts just don't make sense?). Like, it really seems like a lot of fights are determined by which character remembers they can do that first. It's never made super clear what "curse energy" is and why only three families can do shit with it. Gojo's eyes are pretty but I don't understand what they do. Character motivations are defined fine enough and I can get the gist of the conflict in the world, but when I don't understand what is happening on a chapter by chapter basis, the flimsier pieces of characterization/plot start to become more obvious because I don't have cool fights to distract me.