#nor do i want to throw this into the fandom tags i frankly wish to remain utterly anonymous and faceless in my little corner

[some-random-fandom-chick]

I saw this incredible piece of fanart last night and my amateur tarot reading ass was *inspired* so I wrote in the tags that I could write an essay on the incredible choices. Two of my friends saw this and dared me to go ahead and do it so uhhhh here's an essay about fanart and tarot, I guess???

Assigning Tarot cards to characters is nothing new and has varying levels of effectiveness depending on the person making the art and the person viewing/interpreting the art. This set in particular is intriguing and has definitely had a great deal of research and love put into it. For the sake of transparency, I'm sticking with the Raider-Waite interpretations of tarot we can talk history another time Dick Grayson: The Fool The Fool is the first card of the Major Arcana, assigned the number zero for, to borrow a quote from the persona series, "its limitless possibilities." Historically, before its links to fortune telling, Tarot was used to tell stories and as such, The Fool is the first chapter, it's the hero starting out their journey and is who we come back to at the end of the journey. The imagery reflects this; a young man wandering along a path and getting a little too close to the edge, a canine companion at his feet perhaps playing with him or maybe warning him of the danger. We can't see what's over the edge of that cliff, perhaps it's just a short drop into some grass or perhaps it's certain death and we get no signs from the Fool himself as he seems either unaware or unconcerned.

The general meaning of The Fool is that you are on a new path, you are starting a new journey, it could go well or it could go poorly it's all kind of up in the air right now what these being your first few steps. The Fool often also describes an innocent, spontaneous kind of person. The exact manner of its position in a spread combined with the question asked determines whether this is a positive, negative or neutral sign in general.

Now, for how this pertains to our favourite acrobat~

His journey with his parents and the circus ended tragically. However, a new one soon began as he was taken in by Bruce Wayne. Neither of them had any idea how this would go, weren't even sure they would even bond but they did. Dick Grayson created the legacy of Robin and truly started a whole new path the day he went out for his first patrol with his foster father; he truly embodied the traits and keyword of The Fool:

Innocence Spontaneous A New Spiritual Beginning

And given how he sassed constantly and was incredibly showy with his acrobatics even as a Smol™️ I think we can all agree that he embodies these key words and phrases. There's more but again, some of those key words and definitions depend more on specific placements in a spready and specific kinds of questions so I'm mostly using the general overview meanings of the cards.

Now fascinatingly Robin is The Fool but Dick Grayson, I believe, is the Reversed Fool especially as he gets older and starts to outgrow the ideal he created. The Reversed Fool is very negative thing; naive, poor and rash decisions, a lack of experience, impulsive, reckless, playing with fire and both a lack of compliance and obeying too much.

Dick absolutely flips to a Reversed Fool multiple times in his life and it's always when his personal world is about to shatter or has shattered. Realising he's outgrowing his father, not being adopted when Jason basically got adopted right away, surviving being raped twice, the loss of his team and friends as a result.

So yes, The Fool is utterly perfect for Dick Grayson, The Last Flying Grayson, The First Robin, Nightwing, The Next Leader of The Justice League

Jason Todd: Death Ah, Death, number 13, both a lucky and unlucky number depending on culture, the number is everywhere you look including, funnily enough, the average deck of playing cards. 13 cards per suit. Interestingly, playing cards were the predecessor to tarot for cartomancy.

Death is depicted as a skeletal figure in armor riding a white horse as he carries a black flag with a white flower insignia. There's corpses at the horse's hooves and a man, presumably a priest with the yellow robes, standing in front of him. Perhaps to drive Death back or perhaps to greet him, who can really say. All are standing on a riverbank.

The card itself carries several meanings, the main one yes being literal death and we could end Jason's section there but there is a great deal more to this choice. Death is a cycle not a definitive end. It is a sign that one cycle is ending and another is beginning, that much needed change is afoot and it is time to sit down and take stock of things. For Jason, he's been through this cycle multiple times; from street child to the son of a billionaire. He was the first to continue Robin and officially turn it from a one off into a mantle, a name and reputation to pass down. And then, he died and was quite literally reborn, wandering around as a catatonic or braindead corpse depending on your personal headcanon and which line of comics you're reading. And then he was reborn again thanks to the Lazarus Pit and has been through numerous cycles since then, again depending on which comics line you're reading and which games you're playing.

Jason is truly a man of Death.

As a survivor of poverty (and potentially domestic violence), he knew where to hide, where to get food and how to make money. And then he was caught stealing tires and the next cycle began.

As Robin, he was a breath of fresh air, known for his sweet attitude and often refusing to patrol until he'd done his homework. As powerful as Dick, likely picking up many of his little mannerisms as he learned the skills needed for a little boy to survive facing the many rogues of Gotham.

This cycle ended rather violently and abruptly.

As a body, part of him still held onto the ideals of Robin and as a protector. No one knew who he was, and he had no way of giving or remembering that information, but he had a reputation for beating up anyone disturbing the peace of whichever homeless camp he'd found himself in. All he needed was fire and some food and he was... as close to content as a catatonic person can be.

And then Talia arrived to kickstart the next cycle.

Red Hood was born in violence and fear and made his name in blood. He brought Death to those who refused to change and gave heavy warnings to those who hesitated and seemed stuck. And those who couldn't move onto their next cycle despite trying their hardest? Red Hood was the one to help them out and guide them to their next new beginning and give them the chance to leave old things behind.

And since then, that is the attitude he has stuck with, softening over time depending on storylines and writer. In many comics, he's fully reintegrated back into the family and a firm ally and in many others, he remains on the fringes still doing his own thing.

Interestingly, The Fool is considered Death's opposite with The Fool being beginnings and Death being considered an ending and isn't that just a fantastic way to paint the bond between the two brothers? Even across the varying Bat related medias, whether they're friends, family or foes, they are opposites of each other. Dick was bristly (mainly at Bruce) while Jason was literal sunshine. And now, Dick is a Leader while Jason is everything most of the Bats stand against.

Jason is not always happy with the changes he's been through but he never resits them so, unlike Dick, I believe he is not a reverse at any point. Jason never resists change, typically because he's never really given the chance to. He had no say in digging his way out of his grave or in his body being thrown into the Lazarus Pit and the less said about Gotham War the better. Jason is someone in constant flux, and so, perfect for the Death card.

Tim Drake: The Magician Now, some of my own biases may jump out here because Tim is my favourite of the male Robins.

The Magician is number 1 in the Major Arcana, the first ally the hero meets in the story and often, the catalyst of the plot. So it only stands to reason that the card also typically describes a person or a catalyst in a situation. The Magician stands in a garden with a table at his side. On the table are items of power; a wand, a chalice, a sword and a pentacle, the signs of the Minor Arcana. He holds a wand in his hand as the infinity symbol sits above his head. A man of power and knowledge but in a slightly different way to the other knowledge based Major Arcana cards.

This card is a beginning. It is power, focus, action, transformation and mastery of a kind of wisdom.

And doesn't that just describe our favourite little stalker to a T~?

Tim is the catalyst that brings Robin back to Batman's side and keeps Batman from drowning in grief after the loss of Jason. Tim himself transformed a few times as he gained experience and mastered the skills needed to assist the city during the 90s as the digital age arrived. He learned to fight, he learned to negotiate, hack, not trust books by their cover (sometimes the woman is in fact the villain and not a hostage... the 90s were very weird and so was he and not always in a good way) and even eventually gained a team of his own.

Tim is constantly taking action, age and experience just help him hone those skills and temper them with his intellect. This shows much better by the time he takes up the name Red Robin, a suit and mantle he stole from a terrible man so that any questionable choices he made would not be connected to Robin and therefore, to Dick. Tim is in the middle of the action for many huge plots in his run as Robin: Knightfall, Contagion, Legacy, Cataclysm, No Man's Land, just to name a few. And each time, he is tested and comes out of it with a whole new understanding of himself.

Much like Dick, Tim also flip flops between the Upright and Reverse meanings of The Magician but his changes aren't as clear cut. Because yes, he has hidden talent but at the same time, his planning isn't always the best (especially in the earlier days) and I think we can all agree that he has some control issues. He has bouts of selfishness and depression and arrogance. The former is understandable for a 13 year old and the latter two are kind of expected with the vigilante lifestyle and the amount of people he's lost over universes and timelines, and also he's the second best detective in the world, the arrogance, annoying as it can be, is unfortunately well earned.

Tim is in the unique position of being both the upright and the reverse all at once usually at the same time. Because of course he is.

Damian Wayne: The Hanged Man Oh Damian, the layers you have are intriguing and you do not deserve the hate you get.

The Hanged Man is number 12, considered a powerful number in folk practice as well as maths. We are at the halfway point of the story, our hero has been through some trouble and is now forced to stop and take stock and finally think.

A man hangs upside down from a tree, tied there by one ankle, leaving another leg to swing freely. Both arms are also free. Perhaps he was strung up, perhaps he asked for assistance to do this. There is inspiration from mythology here, primarily Odin of Norse mythology. There are quite a few meanings here: you are either already unstuck (upright) or need to get yourself unstick (reverse), you either need to pause or sacrifice. The Hanged Man is both simple and something of a paradox and as a result, can be a tricky card to properly read when it does turn up.

And stuck or recently unstuck is pretty fitting for Damian.

He was very much stuck in an awful situation with the League of Assassins. Yes, it may be a group that fights for the natural world but it is still a cult of assassins and killers. Damian was born into a cult and he will spend the rest of life getting himself unstuck from the various ideas and behaviours he learned whilst there. He has learned to let go of things, he has sacrificed many of his original ideals and therefore some personal ties, he was on the path to being a sacrifice and was able to get out and back to his family.

He was the reverse of this card; unsatisfied, bored, listless, he was sacrificing so much of himself for the ideals of his mother and grandfather, he was stuck and there was no resolution and frankly, he wasn't looking for one and didn't believe anything was wrong.

And he is now the upright; altruism, commitment, flexibility, adaptability, breaking the past. He's gained a new unique perspective on things, he gaining independence and either been through unwanted changes or was part of the unwanted change. Damian absolutely embodies this card and all of its paradoxes and complexities. I would provide more canon proof if I had a greater level of familiarity with it so unfortunately, his entry remains short.

And it absolutely makes sense that The Magician is its opposite; The Magician being of action and The Hanged Man being contemplation and Pause.

In conclusion, OP, you're fantastic and when my brain isn't partially fried, I might try and figure out where darling Stephanie sits in regards to the Major Arcana

[sorry-i-ship-drarry]

Hi, honey! I'm so sorry you had to face the hate. I feel guilty now😭 I didn't mean to stir up conflict between the-boy-who-bottomed and the rest of the fandom at all. I'm really sad about what's going on right now😭 As an autistic person, it really hurt me that the-boy-who-bottomed added tags incorrectly, specifically to piss off the other Draco! bottom stans. This is wrong. And I really wanted to discuss it with someone. Thank you for listening and supporting me! I'm very sorry that the-boy-who-bottomed received hatred and wishes for death. It's horrible. But that's no reason to feed this vicious circle of "hatred" between the two sides. So if you want to write a hateful message to the-boy-who-bottomed or anyone else, PLEASE don't do it. I think that's all I wanted to convey. Please, can we just be kind and respectful to each other? Love and peace to all! ❤️

Hey dear, only one thing I'd like to correct, i didn't receive hate as i expected or at least not the explicit hate Frankly but I understand what you mean but please don't feel guilty. The supporters outcasts everything else.

Secondly, if you didn't mean it, it sort of happened but I can assure it's settled now.

Thirdly, they have corrected their mistake and will make the improvement of not adding wrong tags and if they do so accidentally, plead forgive them.

I'm always here and I'm glad you reached out to me, not that I believe it became a huge drama but a little one and I think it did at least something. And to be honest if you hadn't reached out I might've never heard their side of the story, so I'm actually thankful for that.

I agree of requesting to not throw hate on them and also my fellow pals who faced it because of me.. it's saddening to see my dear friends like @drarrywords being hated upon when they don't deserve it, nor as well @the-boy-who-bottomed deserves it..

Spread love and peace.

(To the rest of the messages I haven't been able to get back to, I will. I don't want to bother people with the compliments over their feed page)

Still tagging- SHIP AND LET SHIP

[filthyjanuary]

Hi, how about N, O and P for the fandom asks? Sorry if somebody already asked those and I missed it <3

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

I don’t know what my main fandom is at the moment frankly, my brain is always going a mile a minute so I’ll just answer this in a general way

More room for different ships? None of this is real. A smaller ship isn’t going to take any power away from the big fan favourite ship, nor is it going to make a ship any more or less likely to go canon.

I am guilty of this myself, but more attention to women and people of colour and ESPECIALLY women of colour. I think part of it is a lot of the media we consume doesn’t give attention to women/poc/woc BUT, I think if people are going to sit around doing legwork for white men with no backstory/personality, then that excuse kind of falls flat. Like obviously, fandom shouldn’t feel like homework or a chore but I think it’s also like always a good idea to examine your own internal biases and see how that affects the way you interact with media.

PLEASEEEEE REBLOG FROM CREATORS INSTEAD OF ONLY LIKING THINGS. REBLOG ART/FICS/GIFS/ETC. Reblogs are the lifeblood of content, it’s how things get shared/seen, especially with how fucked up the tumblr tag system is these days. Stuff will NOT show up in search/tags for some reason sometimes, so reblogging is vital and will motivate creators to make more things, I promise.

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

Shuffle just put on Drive by Halsey which is THEE ship song in my humble opinion just because i think there is no way any ship will not be in a situation where it works like they’ll always need to GO somewhere so pining in silence in a car (or next to each other on horses or whatever alt mode of transportation your specific setting requires) is like universally juicy.

THAT BEING SAID

I think of it most strongly in relation to [redacted]

But it’s ALSO an Awtto song and I DID make a gifset for that explicit reason.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)

Oh, I am bad for this. I don’t usually read AUs, just because what usually pulls me into a ship/fandom is like... the canon environment. That’s why I can’t really read things that are total AUs. I just feel like the characters are usually so shaped by their environment that if you take them out of that environment and throw them into like... high school/college or like a coffee shop AU or something, I can’t get into it? Either the personalities change a lot and it just feels like I’m reading about OCs that look the same/have the same names ORRRRR they act the same but I’m like ??? why are you still unhinged in your normie life???? So I like to stick to canon compliant or canon divergent concepts, personally. There’s a few concepts that I think have potential to work though, like Royalty AUs or whatever, you can kind of transplant canon trauma into that setting in a different way that can be very interesting and still feel true to character.

THAT BEING SAID.... I love a good soulmate AU. Also hockey AUs. That concept literally goes against everything I JUST SAID about AUs not making sense and making the characters OCs, BUT, I am a Canadian bitch through and through. Make someone a hockey player and I go BRILLIANT SHOWSTOPPING NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE even if they become OCs in the process. Anyway, so, that being said.... RK1K hockey rivals please. Markus is the star player and captain of the Detroit Red Wings. I’m trying to decide what team Connor’s on. Precedent would say the Chicago Blackhawks, but the Red Wings got moved out of Chicago’s division... but if we pretended they were still in the same division... that would be the most historically and probably geographically sound way to do it. Connor’s not captain (yet? ever? I don’t know Markus is more leader-y than Connor is but could Connor get there one day? YMMV?) but he’s quickly become one of the best, if not THEEEEE best player in the league, and Markus doesn’t like someone taking that title away from him. When they play against each other, it’s always intense. Does Connor get traded to the Blackhawks somehow? No idea! I can’t decide if I want them to stay on rival teams or not but ANYWAY I LOVE HOCKEY AUS!!! MORE MEN WITH KNIVES STRAPPED TO THEIR FEET SHOVING EACH OTHER INTO WALLS.

send me fandom asks

[blueskyheadleft010]

Analysis of Stevenbomb: Wanted

There be spoilers under the cut

Ok, so first off I want to say that I am very pleased with this strong narrative Season 5 has started with and am dying for the next episode(s) to come out even though we have none scheduled as of yet. (I swear to goodness it better not be an entire month before we get another episode I’ll be frothing at the mouth and dying by then).

I’ll go ahead and skip analyzing Stuck Together since it aired early and most of the internet has already seen it. Having said that, let’s proceed to The Trial.

While there’s a lot to say about this episode, I’ll try my best to summarize it as just WOW.

True to her word, Rebecca has done it again by giving the fandom exactly what it has been waiting for since Jailbreak Season 1. A meeting of the Diamonds with Steven acting as a key factor. To be honest, I was honestly surprised we were getting straight to the point with this episode, seeing how Steven just sorta decided to surrender at the last moment in I am my Mom, but I’m grateful the Crewniverse wastes no time throwing us into the hellfire of a 6,000-year-old grudge against Rose Quarts as we finally get to see exactly what roles the Diamonds play on Homeworld.

I absolutely adored Zircon in this scene; trying her best to be a good lawyer and losing her cool, and yeah I get the show’s ‘logic’ is supposed to for kids, but honestly her dialogue had me raising an eyebrow or two as she tried to state her case, and I think even Steven knew she was getting nowhere with her argument.

Speaking of that, the attitudes that the different Zircons and Pearls have towards their own kind ruled under different Diamonds was an interesting little bit of information that clearly shows gems don’t seem to find ‘compassion’ and ‘friendship at the top of their list; at least when it comes to other gems ruled under another Diamond. (I also loved how Y-Pearl typed her entry in, while B-Pearl drew pictures. :3)

Adding Lars in for the trial was an interesting touch that I think surprised just about everyone, seeing how up until now he hasn’t really been significant to the plot other than for comedic relief and furthering Steven’s own maturity. I like how he’s just sorta dragged around by the gems, yet is still allowed to do his own thing to an extent. (So long as he doesn’t interfere with whatever the gems are doing). Seeing how he helps keep Steven grounded and focused on the mission I think is what makes him an important plot piece in the episode, as otherwise I think Steven would be very overwhelmed without a direct goal in mind. (And that goal is saving Lars and getting out of there.)

Blue Zircon really makes her debut after the brief court recess, as she finally gets her act together after Steven provides her with some actual evidence, and completely turns the tables around as she goes as far as to accuse the Diamonds of sabotage based on the factual evidence and eye witness accounts.

Here’s something I found funny. Eyeball as a witness. She had no real reason to be there, and frankly made herself look even worse when she admitted Steven healed her during the trial. Why would a Diamond shatterer heal an enemy gem? ;) Still, it was a nice little touch the Crewniverse added for comedic effect and I loved it all the same.

I’ll wrap it up by saying that Yellow seemed pretty mad to be accused of treason, though I have my suspicions that she’s not the real culprit here, nor is Blue. (Though dang Blue’s emotion manipulating abilities are something to be afraid out.) It might be White, since she’s not been seen yet, and she may not even exist I’m just spit balling, or it might be a color switching/shapeshifting alien/gem? We’ve never seen before.

Point is, Rose is pretty much confirmed to not be the killer of Pink Diamond. I’d bet my two cents that she loved PD, and that Pink was actually trying to help humans. :O

Off Colors

Oh you sneaky writers, you ;)

I really like how the title not only foreshadows Lars’ death, but is also a slang term for ‘defect’ on Homeworld, which I never guessed either would be canon in my wildest dreams.

So, we basically meet 3 new gems (8/9/10 ½ ??? If you count the fusions and whatnot) and Lars becomes a hardcore hero who sacrifices himself to save his new friends.

I have to give props to Lars for doing what he did, seeing how he’d basically been a yellow-belly this entire time and only ran away from his problems. Honestly I expected him to do the same this time around, but when I watched him interact with the defects I realized that he saw something he’d never expected to see in those gems. Himself. And why is this significant?

Let me put this in perspective for ya,

Have you ever looked at an old photo of yourself doing something either embarrassing or something that reminds you of a darker time in your life and go, “If only I had a time machine and could go back and tell myself not to do ‘x’ or that life will get better if you just hang on a bit longer… Then life would be so much better for the both of us.” This is Lars seeing his past-self reflected in these, scared, defenseless gems, who have no one to help them.

So this is why Lars decides to become courageous and be the hero he’s always wished he could be but was too afraid to act, and goes ape sh*t on the robonoids because he knows he’s the only line of defense they’ve got.

So ya, needless to say I’m very proud of Lars for sticking up for himself and protecting the defects from Homeworld.

(Also A+ writing for the team thinking about Lars being ‘invisible’ to the Robonoid’s scanners and using that against them! It was amazing and heroic and alkjfhdgjkdhfjgkhfj!)

Lars’ Head

So a bit of a misleading title, but understandable given it’s hard to explain what’s just occurred in a few short words while simultaneously not spoiling the episode. (Even though everyone already knows that Lars is Pink Lion 2.0 from the previous episode).

So wow, again I never expected this to be a canon thing in the SUniverse.

I can’t really express the excitement I got when Lars was revived by Steven, the team discussing death (briefly and without literally saying that word ‘death’ just ‘away from life’), and Lars is PINK now. (And has what I assume is a BA permanent eye scar, along with the fact his ear lobes are probably stretched out forever now hahahaha sucks to be you Lars! ;D)

I think Lars accurately summed up everyone’s thoughts when he asked Steven “Am I a zombie now?!?” because let’s face it, yes Lars, you are in fact a very, very, magical pink zombie. J

So yeah, let’s talk about the defect gems for a second since I totes forgot about them in favor of paying attention to my Pink Son for a moment.

We’ve got the Twins of Rutile, Rhodonite, Flourite, and  Padparadscha Sapphire (Which I’m gonna call P-Sapphire for now).

The twins are rather interesting, as they seem to be the most level-headed of the team, as well as quite possibly two of the brighter gems in the group. I just really love how they don’t seem to be all that concerned about their appearance, and more concerned about the group, which really shows how compassionate they are in comparison to some of the other characters on the show which are way more hung up on their looks than caring for others.

Rhodonite wasn’t a major shocker for me, seeing how we’ve already been filled in about Garnet’s past, but it did raise some eyebrows about how two gems fused on Homeworld and weren’t shattered right away for doing so, just merely replaced. I think theirs’s a lot more to their story the Crewniverse didn’t have time to put in, but hopefully somewhere along the lines we’ll see her again and get to know more about the two of them.

Flourite is… Interesting. Besides the obvious fact that she looks like the Hookah smoking caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, her personality and combination of gems is so distinct from the others that it’s amazing she’s actually a stable fusion. I get the underlying theme is polyamory for her, but besides that it’s something else to see such a massive fusion remain so gentle and kind while not bickering between herself since she’s got like 6 or 8 gems… Sidenote: something interesting I wanted to point out was how slow Flourite talks when she’s speaking, and one can only assume that’s because of how many gems she’s comprised of, which is fascinating. It speaks volumes that the more gems involved in a fusion, the more time it seems to take to sync up thoughts and even actions, as demonstrated by Flourite’s behavior.

Lastly, P-Sapphire. A classic Rosalina appearance with a heart of gold. I’m really curious to know how the heck she survived this long and how she found this rag-tag misfit of gems since she can only predict the recent past, as she seems to constantly be stuck in her visions as demonstrated by her actions. Regardless, she’s still really cute and I love how eager and excited she is about everything, so hopefully we’ll get to see her character arc grow past just comedic relief.

Anyways, back to Lars. The fact that Lars is essentially a portal home is cool enough, but when Steven steps inside it’s shown he’s got his own tree in there too. So I get Rose can do plant stuff, which explains the tree on? in? Lars, but what I don’t understand is the portal power since it doesn’t seem to be connected to either of her abilities.

The fact Rebecca decided to leave the defects and Lars on Homeworld was a surprise, but an understandable one, not for the story’s sake, but because trying to fit Flourite through Lars’ hair would be a nightmare that I don’t think anyone would want to explain.

So Steven discovers he’s a necromancer and that Lion’s his undead slave pet, and then the gems and Connie and Greg all show up just in time to have a reunion and happy tears are shed. (And then Steven proceeds to eat everything in sight, prompting Greg to go out and buy the boy some more bread lol).

So much has been left out in the open, and I get the distinct feeling this is gonna be the least season for this show. L Still, I feel like everything’s gonna be amazing when we get the next episode, so for now I’m rather content. :D